Jimm Stack’s journey with pole vaulting began in 7th grade when his older brother brought home a pole painted in Hobart High School’s purple and gold on loan from James Johnston Sr., who would later become his coach and mentor. With a makeshift setup in the yard—a rope crossbar tied to a neighbor’s fence and a wooden box in the grass—his passion for the sport took root.
By age 14, he had set a national age-group record with a vault of 14- 6 and placed third in the Indiana state meet as a freshman. He went on to finish in the top four at the state championships every year, eventually becoming the Indiana state champion and earning high school All-American honors in 1986 with a personal best of 15-9.
Stack continued competing at Indiana University under coach Marshall Goss, where he won the Big Ten pole vault title in 1991. That same year, Indiana won the conference title and he was honored as a collegiate All-American after achieving a personal best of 17-10½.
After graduating, Jimm stayed connected to the sport by coaching sprinters and vaulters with the National Junior Development program in Jakarta, Indonesia, for two years. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1993, he was selected as an alternate for the U.S. bobsled team before an injury ended his athletic career. He then spent several years overseas teaching and coaching in Guayaquil, Ecuador, before eventually settling in Boulder, Colorado, where he taught and coached for 15 years.
Today, Stack lives in Colorado with his wife Victoria and their three children, working in the field of utility-scale solar development and land reclamation. He is grateful for the experiences and opportunities athletics and education have brought into his life and continues to find fulfillment in contributing to meaning ful work and family life.