Buderer stands tall, despite not placing

Ohio Northern senior Andrew Buderer (Oak Harbor) competed in the pole vault as Ohio Northern’s fourth and final qualifier at the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships at the SPIRE Institute.

Buderer no-heighted and did not place in the event.

He qualified for the national meet with a mark of 4.86 meters at the Mount Union Last Chance meet on May 19 and entered as the No. 17 seed among 20 competitors. That mark ranks third all-time at ONU.

Despite not being able to clear the initial 4.50-meter height on Saturday, Buderer maintained great perspective on the result.

“I was excited to get to compete today,” he said. “Today felt more like a graduation day than actual graduation across the stage did. I’ve had some ups and downs, and I finally had one thing going in my direction, and I felt great. Getting three attempts and no-heighting is better than not being able to compete here at all.”

Buderer, a seven-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference performer and a three-time OAC champion in indoor and outdoor pole vault, qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2020, but the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was All-OAC with second-place finishes in the OAC indoor and outdoor championships this season and ends the year in the top 20 nationally in the pole vault. He said qualifying for the national meet spoke to his persistence and dedication.

“I came in as a freshman and only jumped 14 feet once, and I was primarily a 13-foot consistent jumper. By being dedicated and having teammates who are dedicated helped build a culture of who I am and being dedicated to being able to do these kinds of things,” he said.

Buderer leaves behind an ONU career in which he hopes his legacy speaks to setting an example as someone who enjoys the process and the journey just as much as the final results.

“The legacy that I’m leaving is that you have to be fearless and ruthless when you get on the runway and in the weight room and when you’re doing your regular practice. But you also have to have perspective about a lot of things. You need to stand back and absorb the moment because if you don’t, there’s no point in dedicating so much time to doing this in the first place,” he said. 

“There are a lot of ways to measure success, and a lot of people get caught up in the numbers, so I’m hoping the legacy I leave behind is that it’s not all about the numbers and that it’s about the people that you get to do this with and the celebrating with other people.”