Sommers, 16, improves by a foot to elevate to No. 4 performer in prep history and fourth all-time among World U-18 vaulters with 14-6 (4.41m) clearance at Thousand Oaks Invitational

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Westlake High pole vault standout Paige Sommers not only set the all-time California state mark Saturday, but also eclipsed the national junior class and American U-18 outdoor records with her second-attempt clearance of 14 feet, 6 inches (4.41m) at the Thousand Oaks Invitational.

Sommers, 16, surpassed the California standard of 14-5.50 (4.40m) set in 2017 by Anaheim Canyon graduate Rachel Baxter, who also set the national junior class and American U-18 records of 14-3 (4.34m) in 2016.

Sommers elevated to the No. 4 all-time high school performer, along with No. 4 in World U-18 history.

She took two attempts at 14-9.25 (4.50m), which would have equaled the overall national high school record set indoors last year by West Seattle WA star and current Puma professional Chloe Cunliffe.

Sommers then had one final try at 14-9.50 (4.51m), which would have eclipsed the World U-18 all-time mark of 14-9.25 set in 2016 by Swedish talent and current LSU All-American Lisa Gunnarsson. Had she cleared the height, Sommers still wouldn’t have been eligible for the World U-18 record according to her father John, since the bar was set on high school pegs instead of international ones.

By the time Sommers opened up at 11-7, all the rest of the vaulters in the competition were done.

Despite waking up feeling ill and competing with temperatures in the 50s at Thousand Oaks High, she cleared 12-1, 12-7 and 13-1, before needing three attempts to get over the bar at 13-4. Sommers then produced the first of five personal-best clearances by making 13-7 (4.14m).

Sommers’ previous best was 13-6 (4.11m) at last year’s Marmonte League finals. She had yet to surpass 13 feet in three meets this year, including taking second Feb. 8 to reigning California state champion Ashley Callahan of Rancho Bernardo with a 12-11 clearance (3.93m) at the Winter Outdoor Championships.

But using a 14-7/160-pound pole, Sommers followed her 13-7 clearance by making 13-9, 14 feet and 14-3, before using a 14-7/165-pound pole for her 14-6 clearance to pull closer to Cunliffe’s national high school outdoor record of 14-8 (4.47m) set at last year’s Arcadia Invitational. Sommers was second at that meet by clearing 13-5 (4.08m).

Sommers’ clearance was an American age-group record by a 16-year old – surpassing the 14-1 (4.29m) performance produced last year by Lianne Kistler of Ballard WA – after she cleared 13-0.50 (3.97m) at age 14 and 13-6 at age 15. Gunnarsson’s 14-9.25 clearance remains the best age 16 vault in the world.