The 10-minute interview - Jaret Willi

Jamie: Since you grew up in DuQuoin, Ill., did you spend much time at the DuQuoin State Fair?Jaret: Oh yeah, every year.

What was the best thing about it?Jaret: Eating all that junk food and hanging out with friends. You'd see friends you hadn't seen in a while. It was a good time.

Most people probably don't see you as the type of person who eats a lot of junk food.Jaret: I really do, though. Everybody says athletes have to eat well, and I try to. But I'm always eating candy or something sweet. I'm not gonna try to eat well all the time. I just try to moderate it.

With all that junk food, were you a chunky kid?Jaret: Nope, not at all. But all my friends and my brothers, we were always eating candy. My mom would say, 'If I catch you in the kitchen before dinner, you're gettin' in trouble.' But they'd always have snacks around the house. Me and my brothers, we were always really small anyway, so they were usually just trying to get us to eat.

What candy can't you pass up?Jaret: Anything sweet, especially chocolate.

At the fair, what was the best ride?Jaret: It was so long ago, but there was one I rode with my aunt and my older brother. It was called the Zipper, or maybe the Gravitron. I thought I was gonna die.

So you're not afraid of heights, right?Jaret: Nah. If I was up on a big tower with the wind blowing, yeah, maybe.

What are you afraid of?Jaret: I really don't like spiders. If I see one, I'm stepping on it. I don't like snakes at all, either. And being in spots you're not familiar with and not having a flashlight, I wouldn't like that. I'd probably keep hearing noises and be wondering what it was.

What do you miss most about DuQuoin?Jaret: Family and friends. I have a lot of friends who commute to SIU and live in DuQuoin. I know almost everybody there.

Why pole-vaulting?

Jaret: I was in the seventh grade and our track coach picked about four of us to try out