Club teammates Amanda Moll, Hana Moll and Ally Neiders, all representing Washington, become first prep competitors to each clear at least 14 feet in same event in Big Red Barn summer finale; Arizona Pole Vault Academy standout Logan Kelley secures another 17-foot clearance to capture boys title

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Call it NWPV to the Power of Three.

For all the success achieved by Washington high school girls pole vaulters in the past three years at Northwest Pole Vault Club under coach Tim Reilly and for all the history created during the past 14 months at Vaulter Club Vaulter Magazine events at the Big Red Barn facility, it was only fitting the nation’s deepest prep training group closed out the summer schedule in Sun City, Calif., by adding its own memorable chapter Saturday night.

Amanda Moll, Hana Moll and Ally Neiders became the first three prep female vaulters, let alone club teammates, to all achieve 14-foot (4.27m) clearances in the same competition, sweeping the podium at the Vaulter Club Vaulter Magazine National Championships.

INTERVIEWS

Amanda Moll, an incoming junior at Capital High in Olympia, won the event by clearing 14 feet on her first attempt. Hana Moll, her twin sister, placed runner-up after achieving the clearance on her second try and Neiders, entering her senior year at Holy Names Academy in Seattle, came through with a clutch make on her third opportunity to secure the unprecedented success for the trio.

It marked the latest historic achievement at the Big Red Barn facility since father and son Doug Bouma and Derek Bouma built the facility and held their first event during the pandemic in June 2020.

Leah Pasqualetti of Orchard Park High in New York and Paige Sommers of Westlake High in California have both produced national high school outdoor records at the venue. They also became the first prep pair to both clear at least 14-1 (4.29m) in the same competition last June.

Neiders and the Moll sisters added to the Big Red Barn legacy Saturday after all three athletes placed in the top four July 1 at The Outdoor Nationals, presented by Nike, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Hana Moll won that event with a personal-best 14-4 (4.37m) clearance and Amanda Moll, already the freshman and sophomore class national record holder, secured her own national championship.

Amanda Moll, who became only the sixth prep vaulter to clear at least 14-7.25 (4.45m) on June 6 at the High Performance meet at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, will return to the venue Sunday to compete in the Pre Tokyo 2021 Tuneup. Hana Moll confirmed Saturday was her last outdoor meet of the season to rest a sore back.

In addition to Neiders and the Moll twins, Reilly has also guided recent Ballard Community graduate Lianne Kistler and national high school indoor record holder Chloe Cunliffe, a 2019 West Seattle High grad and PUMA professional athlete, to 14-foot clearances in the past three years.

With Neiders clearing 14 feet for the first time at The Outdoor Nationals, presented by Nike, Northwest Pole Vault Club has produced three of the nine prep athletes in the country this season with 14-foot clearances and five of the 13 vaulters to achieve the feat nationally since 2019.

Amanda Moll now has eight career 14-foot clearances, including six outdoors, with Hana Moll achieving four and Neiders producing a pair, giving them 14 total as a trio entering the event Sunday.

Avril Wilson, an incoming senior at Cedarcrest High and also representing Northwest Pole Vault Club, finished fourth with a 13-foot (3.96m) clearance. 

Logan Kelley, an incoming senior at Valley Christian High and representing Arizona Pole Vault Academy, won the boys competition with a 17-foot clearance (5.18m).

It was the second straight meet that Kelley cleared at least 17 feet, rebounding from a meniscus injury suffered during the long jump competition in May at the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division 4 state final.

He joined Anthony Meacham of Woodsboro High in Texas, who won the national event last year by clearing 17-2.75 (5.25m), as the only two prep athletes to produce 17-foot efforts at the Big Red Barn facility.

Kelley cleared a personal-best 17-0.75 (5.20m) on June 19 at the USATF Arizona Youth National Tuneup at Westwood High, the top mark by any vaulter in the class of 2022. He became only the seventh prep competitor in Arizona history to achieve a 17-foot clearance and ranks No. 4 all-time in the state.

Garrett Brown, a recent graduate of La Costa Canyon High in California who has signed with Stanford, placed second with a 16-6 (5.03m) clearance.

Brown, who placed second July 1 at The Outdoor Nationals, presented by Nike, has three 17-foot clearances this year and ranks No. 3 among prep competitors nationally at 17-2 (5.23m). He finished second last year to Meacham with a 16-10.75 (5.15m) clearance.

Kai Miller of Carson High in Nevada, representing Raise the Bar, matched his personal-best clearance with a 15-6 (4.72m) effort to take third overall.