Hunter Mallard is spending the month preparing for a shot at a national championship. Already a state champion in Class AAAAA during the high school season, Gainesville’s rising junior pole vaulter will go up against the nation’s elite in the U.S. Track & Field National Junior Olympics for 15 and 16-year-olds, starting July 27 at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. “I feel hyped right now,” said Mallard, who works each afternoon on his craft at Gainesville High.