Chloe Timberg’s Progression Has Her In Rarefied Air In Collegiate History

NEW ORLEANS – Demi Payne set the indoor collegiate record in the pole vault back in 2015.

There have been 51 attempts by vaulters in the ten years since Payne cleared 4.75m (15-7) at the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to either equal or surpass the record. None were successful, as the former Stephen F. Austin standout and 2015 The Bowerman finalist still tops the list (Payne was just the second female vaulter to be named a finalist in award history).

Nine of those 51 attempts came from meets this past weekend alone: three from Chloe Timberg of Rutgers at the Scarlet Knight Open in New York; and three each from sisters Amanda Moll and Hana Moll of Washington at the UW Invite in Seattle, Washington. Throw in six more by the Molls several weeks ago at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada, and that’s 15 in 2025.

You have to go back to between 2018 and 2020 for the last time we’ve seen such an assault on the record. That’s when Olivia Gruver and Lexi Jacobus (nee Weeks) combined for 30 attempts of their own in those three years. Gruver, who topped 4.70m (15-5) at the 2020 USATF Indoor Championships, saw her promising senior year cut short by the COVID pandemic. Jacobus pushed the bar as high as 4.68m (15-4¼) in winning the SEC indoor title as a senior in 2019.

Gruver and Jacobus sat No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, on the all-time chart behind Payne as recently as this past weekend. That all changed once Timberg got done competing inside the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory, though. Timberg, the defending NCAA outdoor champion, surpassed 4.72m (15-5¾) on her second attempt to become the No. 2 performer in collegiate history and push Gruver to No. 3 and Jacobus to No. 4.

“I was in shock,” Timberg said during a phone interview. “It took me a few seconds to register what I had done (WATCH: Timberg becomes the No. 2 performer in collegiate history). I know long-term I could hit that bar and by the end of indoor I would be able to, but I didn’t expect it to happen that soon. My mind went from ‘What just happened’ to ‘Oh, my gosh. A new PR.’”

Little did Timberg know that the Moll sisters would be hot on her heels the next day. Amanda and Hana took it as high as 4.66m (15-3½) to equal former record-holder and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Sandi Morris at No. 5 on the all-time list. Morris and Payne famously pushed each other to unprecedented heights in 2015, which could happen again one decade later with the Molls and Timberg.

“[The Molls] are doing amazing things,” Timberg said. “I love watching them jump and the energy that they’re bringing to the sport, but they’re doing their thing and I’m doing mine.”

“At the end of the day, you’re just jumping against the bar.”

Fair or not, bars in this sport always come with attached heights. And if you’re an elite female collegiate vaulter in the current era, like Timberg or the Molls, 4.75 meters or 15 feet, 7 inches is ultimately what you’re measured up against as you climb the all-time collegiate chart indoors.

Do something that no one has done in the past ten years – let alone collegiate history – and whatever height you clear is the new benchmark. You are the new standard-bearer. For the Rutgers senior, who tries to mentally remove herself from the sport as much as possible in the days leading up to the competition, whether it be through rock climbing or most recently, painting and sewing, 4.80 meters or 15 feet, 9 inches – and obviously shattering the collegiate record – is something she has been hearing recently from those closest to her.

“Both of those things are great to hear, but lead to a little self-doubt,” Timberg said. “I have an issue of underestimating myself. Then again, I didn’t think 4.72m would happen this soon.

“If I get in my head, I try to remember that I really love doing this,” Timberg continued. “I really do. It’s seeing how far you’ve come in four or five years. Knowing that I started out as an eight-foot vaulter, poured my heart and soul into it and improved into a 15-foot plus vaulter.

“I feel powerful when I pole vault,” Timberg concluded. “Running as fast as you can with a giant stick. Planting that stick as hard as you can. Using all of your strength and technique to propel yourself over the bar. It’s a rush. But on top of that, you’re a female in the sport and displaying so much strength and you’re taking up space in a place you always deserved to be.”

Timberg will compete at the 117th Millrose Games on Saturday at 2:46 pm ET inside the same arena in which she became the second best performer in collegiate history. Iron sharpens iron and who better else to square off against than two-time Olympic medalist Katie Moon.