* Moll's freshman national record-setting 4.36 meter pole vault mark
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Say hello to the country's newest young pole vault standout, Amanda Moll.
The rising sophomore at Capital High School in Olympia, Washington -- and a member of the Northwest Pole Vault Club -- scored a new freshman national record and 15-year-old age group record in the pole vault at the Northwest Pole Vault Summer Invitational on July 15, skying high for an incredible clearance of 4.36 meters (14-3.50).
The performance also is now US No. 3 for the 2020 season.
That performance easily shattered the former marks held by Margaretta's (OH) Kenna Stimmel, who went 13-5 in 2019, and it furthered a 15-year-old age group record held by Monarch (CO) graduate Mia Manson, who cleared 13-4.25 in 2017.
However, according to International Track Records, Moll's clearance came up just shy of a world age group record of 4.40, which was accomplished in 2010 by Liz Parnov in Perth, Australia.
And yet, in the pole vault, few things can obscure a record-making performance.
If an athlete clears a specified height, the bar doesn't lie -- other than, maybe, having incorrect pegs.
So even though this performance was accomplished over the quarantine season, it seems there's a good chance this record stands.
Which is great news for Moll, because according to her coach, Tim Reilly, she achieved personal and national record-setting marks on her own before this attempt. According to Reilly, Molly surpassed a height of 13-6 in the weeks prior, and then followed with another mark fo 13-9.
By that point, he said, Moll was eyeing up Stimmel's and Manson's freshman marks ... officially.
But Reilly didn't want to put too much pressure on his young talent, so when the time came to raise heights beyond those 13-foot bars, he moved the bar to 4.32 meters.
Moll, 15, nailed it on her first try.
Next up was 4.36 meters.
Moll hit that mark on her second try.
Interestingly enough, she isn't even the only standout pole vaulter in the family. Her sister, Hana, is also over 4 meters.
Which is funny, because we've seen that before, too. In 2015, sisters Lexi and Tori Weeks, graduates of Cabot High School (AR), were both over 14 feet.
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