3A Pole Vault Reaches New Heights

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Pole vault in the state of Kentucky has has an incredible surge over the past five seasons. One local coach said,

"Pole vaulting is on the rise in Kentucky, with more and more atletes rising to meaningful national rankings. This can be traced to several circumstances. The first is the efforts by a number of school to actively promote the sport, obtaining better equipment and recruiting better coaches. The other big change in Kentucky has been the rise of club vaulting. 

                                - Monte Orchard (Kaizen PVC)

Orchard identified a handful of clubs that are promoting the sport and we got to see the fruits of those labors in the Class 3A state championship. Sarah Ferguson of Lafayette and Wyatt Stewart of Madison Central both set a new overall state meet records. Ferguson broke Jaci Bickett's 2017 record of 13' 3" by 3 inches when she cleared 13' 6". Stewart broke his own record from 2021 (16'1") after he cleared the 16' 3" vault this weekend. Keep in mind that Stewart broke an early 2000s record of 16' set by Chip Heuser last season. 

One other point to emphasize is that all three classes as well as the overall state record are now held by performances that took place in 2018 or are more recent. This is a testament to the work that is being put into the training and accessibility of the event for all athletes across the state of Kentucky.

Pre-State Interview with Sarah Ferguson