GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A historic indoor season ended in historic fashion for the Midway women's pole vault team on Thursday, as three different Eagles earned All-American honors at the NAIA Indoor National Track and Field Championships.
Emerson VanScoy broke the program record and tied for second place at 4.05 meters, while
Maddi Reed and
Makayla Brooks finished fifth and seventh respectively, Reed clearing 3.80 meters, Brooks 3.75.
It was the first All-American (top-eight) finish for all three, with VanScoy having a record-smashing day in her first national appearance in the event.
She became the second Midway vaulter in three seasons to tie for the top height at Indoor Nationals, after
Nevaeh Brown did it at
3.87 meters in 2024.
That 3.87 was the program record before VanScoy exceeded it on four different occasions Thursday. After missing her first two tries at 4.00, she staved off elimination by clearing her third.
Then, after a miss on her first try at 4.05, she temporarily put herself in the lead by clearing on attempt No. 2.Â
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When competition concluded, Emma Stewart of Seiena Heights (Mich.) and Gabrielle Zellenga of Bethel (Ind.) also cleared 4.05, also doing so on their second attempts.
Ultimately, Stewart earned first place by virtue of getting over 4.00 on her first try. Zellenga, who passed through to 4.05, tied VanScoy for the runner-up spot.
Early on, Reed was matching VanScoy jump for jump, clearing her first five bars. She then got over the 3.80 mark on her third try, eclipsing her previous career-best performance of 3.76.
After missing her first two attempts at 3.85, Reed passed to 3.90, but fell short to conclude her day in fifth place.
Making her third national appearance, Reed easily eclipsed her previous best finish of 16th place at last year's Indoor Championships.
Brooks, competing at a national event for the first time in three years, was a model of resilience on Thursday, fending off elimination by clearing her third attempts at both 3.55 and 3.65.
She eventually got over two more bars,
tying the previous personal-best height she achieved at the River States Indoor Championships last month. In her only previous national performance, Brooks placed 26th at the 2023 Indoor Championships.
VanScoy, Reed and Brooks join Alexia Schofield (triple jump, 2021) and Brown (pole vault, 2023-25) as Indoor All-Americans at Midway.
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Not only is this the first time Midway has had multiple All-Americans in a season, the 13 points scored Thursday are the most recorded by an Eagle team at a national meet and actually put them in second place in the team standings at the end of the tournament's first day.
They have a chance to improve on that total when VanScoy competes in high jump at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. VanScoy,
who finished 10th in the event at Outdoor Nationals last season, is tied for the No. 8 seed.
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