Two Richard Nixons.

That’s the response Carnegie Mellon junior pole vaulter Jo-Michelle “JoJo” Huczko gave to some friends when they queried her about what height she would like to clear in her event.

A bit of an explanation is required: Huczko, a Franklin Regional grad, is interested in politics and majors in ethics, history and public policy at CMU. In the fall, she did an internship and took classes in Washington, D.C., as part of her curriculum. So conversations with peers and classmates often veer to politics.

Hence her answer, a blend of her interests. Two Richard Nixons, by the way, are roughly 12 feet (3.65 meters in college track and field parlance).

Huczko was a rising — no pun intended — star when she arrived at Carnegie Mellon. A longtime youth gymnast who didn’t take up pole vault until her junior year at FR, she immediately showed promise, winning a WPIAL title that season and, before she was through, clearing 11 feet, 6 inches outdoors and 11-9 indoors.

She had every intention of carrying that momentum into her senior season and then into the collegiate ranks.

But circumstances got in the way. First, there was the covid-19 pandemic that wiped out her senior outdoor season and hampered the early part of her time at CMU. Then came her semester in D.C., taking away the first part of the 2022-23 indoor season.

The fits and starts in her schedule have left Huczko unable to equal her high school numbers. Her best indoor mark at CMU is 11-41⁄2 and best outdoor is 11-33⁄4, third and fourth, respectively, in school history. She also has earned two outdoor all-region honors and an indoor all-region honor.

Despite the accolades, there is a sense of what might have been.

“Honestly, no,” she said succinctly when asked if she is satisfied with her college efforts. “I jumped very well in high school very quickly, so coming into college, I really wanted to replicate that success.

“Part of it is my fault. I haven’t been able to do the things that I know I am able to do. The other part is I spent the first two years of college going through the covid pandemic. I lost my senior season of high school when I was expected to do really well. That was incredibly crushing. It took a really, really long time for me to get over that.”

Huczko said she finally feels like she is ready to reach her potential. The semester away gave her time to clear her mind and allowed her body to rest. With a couple of indoor meets out of the way to knock off some of the rust, she is ready to move forward.

CMU coach Gary Aldrich said he never has lost faith in Huczko despite her self-proclaimed shortcomings.

“When she decided to come here, we really felt we had our next big-time women’s pole vaulter, following in the footsteps of Grace Yee and Michelle Karabin from Greensburg Central Catholic,” said Aldrich, who coached the Team USA throwers at the recent Tokyo Olympics. “One of the things I have learned through these three years with JoJo is she’s really a perfectionist. … When you’re a perfectionist, you’re trying to oversucceed constantly, and she would get frustrated because she thought she should have been doing better.

“It’s never waned that I hoped she could be our next big-time vaulter.”

Aldrich cited some of the typical attributes when talking about reasons for his continued optimism in Huczko: athletic ability, work ethic, attitude.

Plus, he said, she has something Yee and Karabin didn’t have: a height advantage. While Yee and Karabin stood barely more than 5 feet tall, Huczko “towers over them” at nearly 5-6.

Additionally, her gymnastics background helps with her body control.

Huczko said she returned from Washington, D.C., not only healthy but in a better frame of mind regarding her event. She and event coach Michael Stark have been working on a regimen to help her ramp up toward her goals.

“I think now, even though I’m not, height-wise, jumping as well, I feel like a stronger athlete,” she said. “I took a bit of time away from pole vaulting to stay healthy and get strong. Now I almost remember how fun it is to pole vault, and I think that will make me a better pole vaulter in the long run.”

Two indoor meets remain for the Tartans before the University Athletic Association indoor championships Feb. 25-26 at Brandeis. Huczko achieved her college indoor best at that meet (3.47 meters, or 11-41⁄2) last season.

Huczko said she is confident she can work her way up to her desired heights by then and believes her best vaults are yet to come. At the same time, she is loath to put a ceiling on how high she thinks she can soar.

“In pole vault, there’s always another bar,” she said, “so I find it very difficult to set goals and be happy with them once I accomplish them because there’s always another bar, and I could always do one more bar.

“The short-term goal would be to jump what I did in high school. Then I think a long-term goal for me is to jump 4 meters. But I won’t say no to jumping more than 13 feet.”

That’s about two Abraham Lincolns.

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