Jake Winder ’11 started over as a student-athlete at North Central College, finding the academic and athletic environments to be far better for nurturing his ambitions in both arenas.
A highly prized prospect coming out of high school, Winder initially accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama before changing course and returning closer to home.
“I got down to this gigantic place and it was very overwhelming,” he said. “I was away from my support team, which is my family, and I realized quickly that I needed more support or I wouldn’t be able to make anything of myself.”
Upon enrolling at North Central, Winder found himself surrounded by a faculty invested in his success and also fell under the tutelage of his father, Tim Winder, who coached the Cardinals’ pole vaulters for more than 20 years.
“It was much more conducive to me being successful,” Jake Winder said. “I had smaller class sizes instead of thousand-person lecture halls, and professors knew my name. I needed that extra support, to feel comfortable talking to my professors and have them know who I was.
“I knew my dad was an incredible coach, but once I went out into the world in athletics, I expected some coaches would know more. It turned out most of them knew a lot less. I didn’t realize right away what I had, literally in my back yard.”
Jake Winder became the men’s track and field program’s ninth individual national champion in 2009, winning the Division III indoor championship on his first attempt of the competition. As a senior, he repeated as indoor national champion, this time needing just two vaults to secure the win, before prevailing in a tiebreaker to win the outdoor title. He contributed valuable team points to the Cardinals’ team national championships at both venues, marking the second time North Central won the indoor and outdoor titles in the same year.
“Heading into outdoors, I was in a bit of a slump but I was still seeded first,” he said. “None of the poles I normally jumped on seemed to be working that day. I had one pole that I usually just used for warmups and decided I’d just have to figure out how to get it done with that one. I’ll always remember going over that crossbar, turning to my left, falling down and just pumping my fist to the crowd there.”
Now a teacher and a coach in his own right, Winder has a more complete understanding of sport’s role in his life.
“I didn’t realize at the time that I wasn’t really doing it for myself,” he said. “In the end, I was going through all this so I could show other people how to do it. I was doing it so I could help other people overcome their challenges and reach their ultimate potential. North Central has done more for me and my family than I could ever repay. It’s been an incredible experience.”
