Steve Hardison grew up in Fresno and graduated from nearby Roosevelt High School in 1969. He was the California State pole vault champion while at Fresno City College in 1970, then transferred to UCLA. Injuries limited his success with the Bruins. He returned to Fresno, enrolled at Fresno Pacific College, and quickly earned the title as the school’s most honored athlete.
He competed in three NAIA National Championships, the 1973 indoor and outdoor and 1974 indoor, and won all three. He set a NAIA National Championship record of 16’ 6 ¼” in the 1973 outdoor championship in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Following graduation in 1974, he served on the staff Athletes In Action for five years. In 1980 he answered a Macadonian call from an AIA friend in South Africa, where he toured, competed and shared his Christian faith when apartheid made it extremely unpopular to do so. He retired from competition later that year, but not before he cleared a personal best 17’ 6”.
He returned to Fresno later that year to take over the family printing business. Ten years later, on July 15, 1990, his 40th birthday, Hardison launched a comeback with a vault of 16’ 6” to break the U.S.A. and World Master’s records. He is a devoted husband and father and continues to vault and share his faith whenever opportunities present themselves.
Read a feature from Ken Isaak on Hardison by
clicking here.
CAREER SUMMARY
Date Mark Track & Field Note
1967 13-02.25 Valley High School Class C Champion
1968 14-09 North Yosemite League Champion
1968 14-11 Valley High School Champion
1969 16-00 California State Community College Champion
1973 16-00 NAIA District Three Champion *
1973 15-09 NAIA National Indoor Champion
1973 16-06.25 NAIA National Outdoor Champion *
1974 15-04 NAIA National Indoor Champion
1975-79 17-01 Athletes in Action
1980 17-03 South Africa National Champion *
7/15/90 16-06 Master's World Record
