Kraack’s sights set high

At 5-foot-4, Kootenai High senior Tony Kraack is no stranger to looking up at things: basketball hoops, defensive lines and, this spring, the pole vault bar.

He’s also no stranger to overcoming them.

Kraack, named North Star League player of the year in both basketball and football this year, has his gaze trained on another lofty goal – a state title in the pole vault.

But, as with most obstacles in his life thus far, he knows it won’t be easy.

So Kraack, who has already gone as high as 12 feet in his high school career, is doing what he’s always done.

“Because of my size, or my lack of size, I have to work twice as hard and want it twice as much as anybody else,” said Kraack, third at state a year ago in the vault and the star point guard and quarterback for the Warriors. “You have to double your skills somewhere else, like speed or stamina. My heart has to be twice as big.”

He admits that he hasn’t always believed in his ability to succeed.

“When I was a freshman, I’m not the biggest guy out there, of course, and my skill level wasn’t where it is right now, so I did think of it as a negative,” Kraack said. “At that point, I wasn’t really depressed, and I didn’t know that I was going to be what I am now.

“I guess you just have to play the cards you’ve been dealt.”

Listening to him talk, it seems a safe bet that Kraack will have the winning hand this spring.

“I’ve been working out some with the Coeur d’Alene High School team, trying to round out my technique and trying to get some new perspectives on vaulting,” Kraack said. “I’m pretty close to the school record, and I really think I can get that, and I’m only about a foot off the state record.

“Plus, the two guys who finished ahead of me last year at state were seniors, so they’ve graduated, which helps my chances there.”

As for the individual accolades, Kraack is appreciative.

“It just shows that everybody is being watched out there,” Kraack said of being named player of the year on football and basketball teams that finished near the bottom of the NSL. “Just because your team isn’t winning the league or going to the state tournament doesn’t mean you’re not going to be acknowledged – everybody still has to give it their all.”