85-year-old Sisters HS pole vault coach shows no sign of slowing down

(Update: adding video and Anderson comments)

SISTERS, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Sisters High School pole vaulting coach Jim Anderson is hard to miss.

Through a sea of young faces at the Outlaws' track practice, one stands out.

Anderson has been coaching pole vault at the school since 1995, shortly after Sisters Middle School was built and a few years before the high school was.

He started coaching the discipline more than 60 years ago, at Clackamas High School. He's helped coach pole vaulters to district and state championships, but that's not why he started coaching.

“I’d like to think I am as excited about the kid that can barely get off the ground as I am about the champions," Anderson said Wednesday.

Taine Martin, a junior at Sisters High, could be next in line.

“Coach Anderson, he’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had," Martin said. "This is what he loves, and he’s still doing it. He’s 85 now, and he’s been coaching for 60 years. And it’s really what he loves.”

Martin and Sisters sophomore Gracie Vohs have been pole vaulting with Anderson as their coach since middle school.

“Pole vault has a special place in my heart, and Anderson is definitely a huge part of that," Vohs said. "He is just the one who is constantly wanting the best for us -- and even on our worst days, he’s always supportive.”

Helping kids seems to be the secret to keep Anderson going.

“It’s the kids -- it really is," he said. "The kids are fun, are tremendous fun for me.”

At 85 years old, Anderson is not sure when he'll stop coaching.

“I’d love to be coaching at 90, but I just don’t know," Anderson said.