Nick Dreska was a freshman at Rochelle Township High School when Hubs track and field coach John Dobbs handed him a vaulting pole for the first time.

Dreska had just three days to prepare for his first vault, and while he wasn’t sure what to think of the event at first, the young athlete had no issue being challenged by his coach.

“[Coach Dobbs] just threw me in pole vault one meet,” Dreska said. “He threw me in during one of our last meets my freshman year and I just stuck with it.”

A four-year track and field member who also played four years of soccer at RTHS, Dreska primarily competed in the 800-meter run before putting the event aside to focus on vaulting. He specialized in the pole vault during his junior and senior seasons, and his skills improved as he gained more experience in the event.

Today, Dreska is preparing for his final season of track and field at Loras College in Dubuque, where he’s spent the last three years vaulting with the men’s track and field team. He originally planned on attending Marquette University before turning his attention to the Duhawks, who he said presented him with a great opportunity to pursue an education while taking his athletic career to the next level.

“I’ve really liked the experience,” Dreska said. “All of the friends I’ve made are on the team and it’s really helped me meet new people. Growing as an athlete has been awesome because, as opposed to giving up on my dream, I was able to keep going for a couple more years… Loras gave me a very generous offer and I thought I would give it a shot.”

Dreska competed in 12 meets during his freshman year, vaulting 11-9 ¾ (3.60 meters) in his debut at the Spartan Duhawk Dual and recording a first-year best of 12-11 ½ (3.95 meters) during the 2015 Iowa Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He cracked the 13-foot mark for the first time at the Last Minute Invitational in April 2016, and his clearance of 13-9 ¼ (4.20 meters) in the 2016 Kip Janvrin Open remains his top mark with the Duhawks.

“We train really hard at Loras,” Dreska said. “Our season unofficially starts in August and it officially starts in November. We’re running year-round, whereas in high school you’re lucky to start running with a foot of snow on the ground… Track is a very interesting sport because you can definitely see where you’re progressing.”

One area Dreska said he has progressed is his core strength, something he said he’s spent countless hours working on since arriving at Loras College. While he admitted the increased training hours were an adjustment from high school track and field, he said he’s happy with the strides he’s made as a Duhawk.

“I’ve done hours upon hours of abdominal exercises,” he said. “When you step on the runway, you need to make sure your mind is clear, otherwise you won’t be able to put together all the techniques you need to make a vault happen… I never went over 13 feet in high school, but I’ve almost cleared 14 feet now. With track, it’s an individual sport, and you can really focus on how to improve yourself.”

When he’s not competing with the track and field team, Dreska said he is working in the classroom to pursue a career as a police officer. He said he’s currently double majoring in criminal justice and social work, and he’s in the hiring process with the Dubuque Police Department.

“I’ve always wanted to be a police officer, and when I got here my professor said that I should double major,” he said. “With my family being a foster family, it really made me care more about a social work major so I could get a better understanding of what goes on… I’ll probably be a cop for a while and then we’ll see where life takes me.”