Putting Paige Sommers' Dominance in Context

Jun 02, 2021

Context 3: US Class of 2021 Four-Year Pole Vault Progression

Sommers was the top vaulter in her class, nationally, three of her four years in high school. Her 9th-grade stats, in particular, show how far she was ahead of competitors of the same age when she entered high school. She had what I guess you could call a "slump" in her sophomore year, when she only improved 5.5 inches and landed in a tie for the third-best 10th-grade performance in the country. Once again, her ability to train and excel through the pandemic becomes clear when you look at the last two years, especially seeing how many athletes didn't get to record a mark at all during the 2020 season.

Athlete	2018	2019	2020	2021
Paige Sommers - Westlake High (SS)	13-0.5	13-6	14-6	14-9
Olivia Lueking - Clear Creek	11-0	12-3	13-6	14-3
Ashley Callahan - Rancho Bernardo High (SD)	11-11	13-6	13-0.75	14-0
Tori Thomas - Rock Island Alleman High School	12-0.5	12-0	13-0	13-9.25
Lianne Kistler - Ballard High School	11-2	14-1	13-9	13-6
Payton Phillips - Pole Vault Atlanta	12-4.5	13-7	12-7.5	13-5.5
Belle Peters - Smoky Valley High School	12-10	12-8		13-3
Erin Kelleher - Padua Academy	11-8.5	12-7	13-4	13-2
Kendra Wait - Gardner-Edgerton High School	11-8	12-0		13-0
Kyla Davis - Yukon High School	11-7	12-9	12-0	13-0
Taylor Shriver - Waynesburg Central	11-3	12-9		13-0
Rhiannon Held - Mt. Zion High School	12-0	12-5	12-5.5	12-11
Audrey Wuerffel - Harvest Community School	10-10	11-5.75	12-2.75	12-9.5
Grace Shaffer - Cody High School	11-9	11-6.5		12-9
Avery Brooks - Georgetown High	11-0	12-6	12-7	12-9
Johanna Duplantis - Lafayette High	11-9	12-0	10-6	12-8
Hadley Jetmore - Pembroke Hill School	11-6	12-0		12-8
Elliotte Stockham - Gooding High School	10-6	10-6	11-1	12-8
Sydney Mccann - St. Mary's Academy	10-6	12-1	12-6	12-8
Katie Schlather - The Woodlands	12-8	12-4	12-0	12-6
Windsor Roberts - Tri-Valley High School	12-0	13-5	13-5.75	12-6
Margaret Lear - Garfield High School	12-0	12-6		12-6
Rachel Valentine - Walton High School	11-0	12-1	11-6	12-6
Elizabeth Lydon - TVC	10-8	11-7	11-1.75	12-6
Emma Stone - Marvin Ridge	10-6	11-9		12-6
Alexis Rickenbacher - Liberty-Benton	11-8	12-4		12-5
Dianna Goodman - Winfield	11-6	11-9		12-5
Tristan Barr - New Castle High School	11-2	11-6	10-9	12-5
Katie Clifford - Grand Rapids West Catholic	11-6	11-6		12-4.75
Joanna Yu - Kings Academy (The) (CC)	11-1	11-3	11-0	12-4
Josephine Gery - Homestead High School	11-3	11-9		12-3
Allison Casey - Fishers High School	10-6	11-9		12-3
Sophia Perez - Eleanor Roosevelt (SS)	11-0	10-7	11-4	12-2
Reanna Maroon - Barlow	10-6	11-0	9-10	12-2
Kai Eisenhardt - Montverde Academy	11-0	12-0	10-11.75	12-0.5
Kyndal Payne - Northwest Eaton	11-9	12-3	11-6	12-0
Paige Bauer - North Branch High School	10-8	11-6		12-0
Carter Hawkins - Centralia High School	10-6	11-0	10-6	11-9.75
Dylan Beveridge - Aliso Niguel High School (SS)	10-7	11-2	12-1.5	11-9
Ashley Amico - Dalhart	10-6	12-0	10-6	11-9
Lindsey Shouse - Normal [University]	10-9	11-0	10-3	11-6.25
Tara Laird - Keller	11-0	11-0	10-6	11-6
Mira Olden - Chaparral High School	11-0	11-6	10-3	11-6
Mikelle Naatjes - Lakeville North High School	11-0	11-9		11-6
Charis Lawson - Spring Lake Park High School	11-0	12-3.5		11-6
Rylee Dallison - Clear Springs	11-0	11-6		11-6
Carolyn Tarpey - Eden Prairie High School	10-9	11-0		11-6
Katerina Bush - Canyon Randall	10-6	11-1	11-6	11-6
Audrey Bensmiller - Lucas Lovejoy	10-6	11-9	11-0	11-6
Kaylee Brown - Gordon Lee High School	10-7	10-9	9-6	11-3.75
Brooke Bonds - Texas Express TFC	10-7	11-6	12-0	11-3
Savannah Yates - White Plains	11-0	10-9		11-1
Bradyn Coarsey - McGill-Toolen Catholic	11-6	11-6	11-7	11-0
Olivia Cade - Club Vaultitude	11-5.75	12-9	13-0	11-0
Sadie Heisner - Mt. Vernon High School	10-6	11-9		11-0
Nina Jazdzewski - Lexington Catholic	10-6	11-0		11-0
Thea Aquino - Hatboro Horsham	10-6	11-0	10-6	11-0
Lily Bath - Snohomish Senior High School	10-6	10-7		11-0
Shannon Strassman - Corona del Mar High School (SS)	10-6	10-6		11-0
Mary McKay - John Handley	11-6	11-6		10-6
Kolby Weiss - Clinton High School	11-0	11-9.75	11-7.75	10-6
Maeve Milligan - Bay	10-9	11-3		10-6
Ava Bezaire - Minooka High School	10-9	10-3		10-6
Ashley Banaszewski - Keller	10-6	10-6	11-0	10-6
Mahayla Swayze - Lake Hamilton High School	10-6	11-0	10-6	10-4
Grace Chen - Grace Brethren (SS)	10-6	11-3	10-1	10-4
Abbie Junkin - Winfield City High School	10-6	10-0	10-0	10-3
Susanna Lepow - Mercer Island High School	10-9	11-2		10-2
Andie Aymond - Mission Valley Track Club	10-8	11-2		10-2
Allison Schrock - Eureka High School	10-6	10-6		10-0
Quinn Bolluyt - Eagan High School	10-6	9-7		10-0
Jackie Braselton - Woodward Academy	10-6	9-6	9-0	9-0
Kaylee King - Wills Point	10-9	12-0	11-8	8-6
Hana Hill - Lakeside High School	12-7
Brittany Bishop - Unattached (Club)	12-6	13-3.5
Kinsey Langin - Rocky Mountain High School	12-1	12-7
Abigail Craig - San Antonio Christian	12-0	11-6
Abby Kratzmeyer - Mineola	11-9	12-6
Landry Topo - Lago Vista	11-6	11-0
Hannah Pedigo - Brusly	11-3	11-0	11-7
Paige Rantz - Reeds Spring High School	11-3	11-6
Grace Hotchkiss - Mount Pleasant Track Club	11-1.75	12-8	12-9
Hannah Fay - Aledo	11-0	11-6
Jewell Solley - White Settlement Brewer	11-0
Isabel Simmons - Whitney High (SJ)	11-0	11-0
Emma Bechtel - Niles West High School	11-0
Dakota Betts - Glenbrook South High School	11-0
Kailey Tran - White Bear Lake High School	11-0
Eve Giancarlo - Sweet Home	11-0	11-3
Maddie Ritter - Westview High (SD)	10-11	8-6
Amalie Mills - Smithson Valley	10-9
Abbie Waddell - Cal. River Valley	10-9
Jackie Schumann - Bulverde Living Rock Academy	10-6
Margaret Maggie - Garfield High School	10-6
Taylor Cattarin - Comal Canyon	10-6	8-6
Caity Blundell - Gonzales	10-6	10-0	8-6
Rylee Wicker - Rockwall Heath	10-6	11-0	12-0
Skylar Maurer - Iraan	10-6	9-6
Elly Collins - Chelan High School	10-6	11-0
Audre Bensmiller - Lucas Lovejoy	10-6