Paige Sommers, a senior at Westlake High and a Duke signee, along with the national high school outdoor pole vault record holder and American Under-20 all-time competitor, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss participating Saturday, May 8 in the invitational girls pole vault event at the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High. It will mark Sommers' third appearance at the meet and sixth competition of her career at Arcadia High, including the California Winter Outdoor Championships, seeking her first victory at the venue. Sommers reflects on placing second in 2019 at the Arcadia Invitational at the same meet that Chloe Cunliffe of West Seattle set the prep outdoor record of 14-8 (4.47m) and her improvement during the past two years. She also revisits her last trip to Arcadia exactly 15 months ago for the Winter Outdoor Championships and how meaningful it is to return to the stadium to vault in what will be the meet most closely resembling the state competition, since CIF officials decided to cancel the event in June at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High in Clovis for the second year in a row. Sommers explains the significance of being able to compete against Rancho Bernardo senior and San Diego State signee Ashley Callahan, the 2019 state champion, for the first time since June. She also analyzes the importance of having vaulters from Northern California as part of the 14-athlete field, as well as her friends from the San Diego Section, who she has competed against regularly during the past 10 months at the Big Red Barn facility in Sun City as part of the Vaulter Club events. Sommers reminisces about vaulting April 25 at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center against reigning Olympic gold medalist Katerina Stefanidi, along with her continued pursuit to try to secure the Olympic Trials standard of 14-9 (4.50m) to compete in June at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. She also shares her motivation to join Cunliffe and Anaheim Canyon graduate Rachel Baxter, who cleared 14-2 in 2016, as the only female vaulters with 14-foot performances in Arcadia history.
