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VAULTER
continued from page 7
better than anyone else because of
that."
Skipper picked up on selflessness
from time spent with his older
brother Art, who died in a small
plane crash in 2001 at the age of 31.
Tommy grew up watching Art ex
perience success in the javelin as a
Duck. While at Oregon, Art set the
school record (251-8, broken by
John Stiegeler in 2001, 252-10) and
was a two-time All-American. Tom
my said he thinks of Art every time
he competes in a meet.
"I think about him every day,"
Skipper said. "(It's hard) when you
lose the person that inspires you to
be better and to live life. He's my
motivation for everything. He hon
estly was my best friend."
Along with a humble attitude, Art
instilled a fiery desire to be the best
inside Tommy, who fell in love with
the pole vault in the seventh grade
and has been hard at work ever
since.
Despite his accolades in the pole
vault, Tommy said he was anything
but a natural at first.
"It was something that I enjoyed
so that kind of drove me to always
want to pole vault every single
chance that I got," Skipper said. "It
didn't come naturally to me. I had to
work at it every single chance 1 got."
Being able to stay focused and
maintain a strong work ethic are rea
sons Skipper has gotten this far.
From an athletic standpoint, it was
obvious he could accomplish any
thing if he put his mind to it.
Along with the pole vault, Skipper
also starred in the 100-meter dash,
the 200, the long jump, the high
jump and the javelin. Outside of
track and field, he was also a talent
ed prep football player. As a wide re
ceiver, he could out-jump almost
any defensive back in the Mt. Hood
Conference. When he wasn't catch
ing passes, he was showing off his
leg as an all-state punter.
And as if Skipper's athletic resume
wasn't impressive enough, the San
Diego Padres selected him in the
37th round of the 2003 Major
League Baseball Amateur Draft, de
spite the fact Skipper had never
played an inning of organized base
ball in his life.
With other options available, it
was Skipper's love for track and his
desire to be the best that kept him
Lauren Wimer Senior Photographer
Freshman Tommy Skipper, whose brother
Art attended Oregon in the early 1990s,
already owns the school's pole vault record.
focused. That same competitive de
sire has rubbed off on his Oregon
teammates in their pursuit of im
provement.
"His work ethic and his demand
for perfection (are motivating),"
Woods said. "He almost gets too
frustrated because he wants to be
too perfect. The attitude that he
brings about wanting to be the best
is what we feed off of."
While Skipper's marks in the pole
vault are congratulated by tean>
mates, it's his friendship that is ap
preciated. Getting into a conversa
tion with the freshman about his*
marks will likely lead to a quick
change in subject matter.
"If you start talking to (Skipper)
about how he did, he'd rather just
talk about how you did," sopho
more high jumper Jeff Lindsey said.
"He's such a laid-back guy that he's
fun to hang out with."
If Skipper's athleticism, attitude
and contributions to the Oregon
track and field program had to be
summarized in one word, head
coach Martin Smith prefers to use
the G-word.
"The thing about Tommy you en
joy is how genuine he is," Smith
said. "He's not about making him
self out to be better than everyone
else. He's able to bring other nice
qualities to the table. He wants to do
everything he can to help the team.
His strengths are deep-rooted inside
of him and he has a very mature
ability to carry himself in a way that
he's very comfortable around other
people. What you see with Tommy is
that he's very sincere."
Contact the sports reporter
at jonroetman@dailyemerald.com.
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