Big 10 Indoor — Moll Twins Atop Collegiate Vault ATL

**Inside of two weeks, Amanda Moll has elevated the Collegiate Record by 6¼ inches and her PR by 9¾ (25cm). Twin Hana is now the No. 2 all-time collegian.** (UW ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS)

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, February 28–March 02 — Amanda Moll continued her barnstorming season at the Big 10 Championships, raising the roof at the Fall Creek Pavilion with yet another Collegiate Record in the vault with her clearance at 16-1¼ (4.91). Twin sis Hana also displayed historic form, her 15-9¼ making her No. 2 in collegiate history.

The two left the competition behind when Illinois’ Tori Thomas, who had cleared 14-7½ (4.46) with them, couldn’t make the next bar at 14-11½ (4.56). Defending champion (and NCAA outdoor champ) Chloe Timberg of Rutgers settled for 4th at 14-3½ (4.36).

The Moll show featured clearances for both at 15-3½ (4.66) — Amanda on her second try. Then both topped 15-7¼ (4.76) and 15-9¼ on their first attempts. Then Amanda got her clean first try clearance at 16-1¼, breaking the mark she set at the Kirby Invitational (see box). The competition strengthened Amanda’s grip on No. 4 ever among Americans, while Hana moves to equal-No. 6. (Continued below)

Amanda Moll’s 3-Record Afternoon

ALBUQUERQUE, February 15 — Vaulter Amanda Moll topped out at 16-0 (4.88) to improve the Collegiate Records, indoor and absolute, by a whopping 7 inches at the Kirby Elite meet in Albuquerque. The Washington soph’s clearance erased the 15-7 (4.75) previous CR by Stephen F. Austin’s Demi Payne in 2015. The jump made Moll the fourth U.S. woman and first collegian to clear 16ft or higher.

As she grabbed the world lead from Katie Moon, who cleared 15-10 (4.83) in Liévin two days earlier, and shot herself into the exalted ranks of 16-footers, Amanda Moll exceeded the old Collegiate Record no fewer than three times.

It was a high-flying day at the office in Albuquerque for the Husky soph, who with two improvements in January had lifted her best an inch above the 15-2¼ (4.63) she cleared for 5th at last summer’s Olympic Trials.

The top section of the women’s vault essentially became a 3-woman competition among Moll’s twin sister Hana — T&FN’s 2023 High School Girls AOY and USATF 3rd-placer that year — and ’22 NCAA champ Gabbi Leon, a third-year pro.

Amanda and Hana — the latter the reigning NCAA indoor champion — started the competition with first-attempt makes at 14-3½ (4.36) and 14-7½ (4.46).

Vaulting got interesting when Amanda needed two tries to clear 14-11½ (4.56), while Hana and Leon made on first tries. Hana was eliminated at 15-3½ (4.66), with both Amanda and Leon clearing on second time of asking.

Leon was eliminated at 15-7¼ (4.76), while Amanda made on her first attempt for her first CR of the afternoon. Demi Payne, whose 9-year-old record Moll erased, had also hit her standard in Albuquerque.

Moll cleared the next height of 15-9¼ (4.81) on her first attempt to break the CR again. Then on her second go at 16ft soared clear. Shouting exultantly, as did the assembled crowd, she was mobbed in the pit by 10 celebrants before retiring from the competition.

Among Americans, Moll joins Jenn Suhr (16-6/5.03), Sandi Morris (16-4¾/5.00), and Katie Moon (16-2¾/4.95) in the 16-Foot Club — class company as all own Olympic golds, Worlds golds or both. /Paul Merca/

KIRBY WOMEN’S VAULT RESULTS

1. **Amanda Moll (Wa) 16-0 (4.88) CR, absolute CR (old CRs 15-7/4.75 Demi Payne [SFA] ’15; 8, x W; 4, x A) (in/out: 4, x A) (WL, AL)

(14-3½, 14-7½, 14-11½ [xo], 15-3½ =PR [6, =10 C] [in/out: =5, =7 C] [xo], 15-7¼, 15-9¼, 16-0 [xo]) (4.36, 4.46, 4.56 [xo], 4.66 [xo], 4.76, 4.81, 4.88 [xo]);

2. Gabriela Leon (unat) 15-3½ (4.66); 3. **Hana Moll (Wa) 14-11½ (4.56); 4. Ashley Callahan (unat) 14-9½ (4.51); 5. **Emily Fitzsimmons (Or) 14-3½ (4.36); 6. **Tatum Moku (WaSt) 14-3½.

The 114th edition of the Big 10 (43rd for women) looked quite different from past years, with the addition of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. The Ducks took wins on both sides, by 6½ over USC for the men’s crown, and by 49 over Illinois for the women’s.

The men’s team outcome might have been different but for the disqualification of the Trojan 4×4 squad. USC crossed the line 2nd to Purdue, 3:04.96–3:05.13 and looked to have a 107½–106 win over Oregon secured. However, a Boilermaker protest of third-leg contact between its runner and USC’s, went in Purdue’s favor.

Johnny Brackins of USC impressed by winning the long jump at 26-2¾ (7.99) and the next day taking the hurdles in 7.49. The 600 — divided into 2 sections — saw winners with identical times of 1:15.89. Penn State’s Olivier Desmueles in the second section edged Oregon’s Koitatoi Kidali (in the first) by 0.006.

USC junior Dajaz Dafrand took the sprints in 7.10 and 22.62. Tacoria Humphrey led the Illini to 24 points in the long jump alone with her final round meet record of 22-9¼ (6.94), which moves her to No. 3 collegian and No. 8 among Americans all-time. The throws also produced historic marks, with Nebraska’s Axelina Johansson taking the shot at 63-4¼ (19.31) for No. 4 among collegians, and Minnesota’s Anthonett Nabwe the weight at 79-5½ (24.22) for No. 8.

BIG 10 MEN’S RESULTS

Teams: 1. Oregon 106; 2. USC 99½; 3. Wisconsin 83; 4. Washington 67; 5. tie, Iowa & Nebraska 62; 7. Purdue 38½;

8. Michigan 35; 9. Indiana 31; 10. Illinois 29½; 11. UCLA 28; 12. Penn State 25; 13. Rutgers 13; 14. Ohio State 10½; 15. Michigan State 9.

60: I–1. Travis Williams’ (USC-Jam) 6.59. II–1. *JC Stevenson (USC) 6.56; 2. *PJ Ize-Iyamu (Or) 6.64; 3. Taylor Banks (USC) 6.67.

200: I–1. *Garrett Kaalund (USC) 20.67; 2. ***Ajani Dwyer (PennSt) 20.87. II–1. Cameron Miller (Pur) 20.31; 2. Johnnie Blockburger (USC) 20.81; 3. *Trelee Banks (In) 20.86.

400: I–1. *Jalen Williams (Wi) 45.94; 2. **Gabriel Clement (UCLA) 46.36. II–1. *William Jones (USC) 45.90; 2. **Jacob Andrews (USC) 46.20; 3. Blockburger 47.34.

600: I–1. ***Koitatoi Kidali’ (Or-Ken) 1:15.89. II–1. Olivier Desmeules’ (PennSt-Can) 1:15.89; 2. *Terrick Johnson (Ia) 1:16.00; 3. Darius Smallwood (PennSt) 1:16.15

800: 1. Erickson’ 1:46.86; 2. ***Koitatoi Kidali’ (Or-Ken) 1:47.07; 3. Kyle Reinheimer (Wa) 1:47.88; 4. **James Harding’ (Or-NZ) 1:48.00; 5. **Camden Law (Mi) 1:48.29.

Mile: 1. **Trent McFarland (Mi) 4:03.56; 2. Elliott Cook (Or) 4:03.79; 3. *Cole Lindhorst (Wa) 4:03.93; 4. *Tomas Palfrey’ (Or-Aus) 4:05.03; 5. ***Liam Newhart (Wi) 4:05.35; 6. *Ronan McMahon-Staggs’ (Wa-Ire) 4:05.48.

3000: 1. *Nathan Green (Wa) 7:53.88; 2. Adam Spencer’ (Wi-Aus) 7:55.38; 3. Bob Liking (Wi) 7:58.55.

5000: 1. **Connor Burns (Or) 13:39.25; 2. Liking 13:42.62; 3. ***Christian de Vaal’ (Wi-NZ) 13:43.78.

60H: I–1. *Christopher Serrao (Rut) 7.74. II–1. Johnny Brackins (USC) 7.49; 2. *Giovanni Wearing (Wi) 7.65.

4 x 400: IV–1. Purdue 3:04.95 (Miller, Czajkowski, Otterbacher, Spencer); 2. Iowa 3:06.18;… dq—USC.

DisMed: II–1. Washington 9:31.75 (Dashbach, Ligons, Lindhorst, Green); 2. Wisconsin 9:35.99; 3. Indiana 9:36.59; 4. Oregon 9:36.60; 5. UCLA 9:40.17; 6. Illinois 9:41.05.

Field Events

HJ: 1. Tyus Wilson (Nb) 7-4½ (2.25); 2. Brady Palen (USC) 7-3¼ (2.22).

PV: 1. Scott Toney (Wa) 18-2½ (5.55); 2. tie, Tyler Carrel (In) & ***Dyson Wicker (Nb) 17-10½ (5.45); 4. Kyle Gibbs (Or) 17-10½; 5. **Brian O’Sullivan (Rut) 17-10½; 6. **Cody Johnston (Il) 17-6½ (5.35).

LJ: 1. Brackins 26-2¾ (7.99); 2. ***Emmanuel Njoku’ (Ia-Ngr) 25-4 (7.72); 3. Stevenson 25-2½ (7.68).

TJ: 1. Praise Aniamaka’ (Pur-Can) 53-5½ (16.29); 2. Micaylon Moore (Nb) 52-3¾ (15.94).

SP: 1. Jason Swarens (Wi) 66-5 (20.24); 2. Tyler Sudduth (Il) 64-8¾ (19.73); 3. Joseph White (Wi) 63-¾ (19.22).

Wt: 1. **Ryan Johnson (Ia) 80-0 (24.38) (73-9, f, f, 79-4¾, 80-0, 77-3¼) (22.48, f, f, 24.20, 24.38, 23.55);

2. *Henry Zimmerman (Nb) 75-11½ (23.15); 3. Joseph White (Wi) 75-9½ (23.10); 4. *Michael Pinckney (UCLA) 71-10 (21.89).

Hept: 1. Adria Navajon’ (Nb-Spa) 5579; 2. *Jami Schlueter’ (Wa-GB) 5561; 3. **Sal Capaldo (Ia) 5528; 4. ***Aiden Carter (Or) 5489.

BIG 10 WOMEN

Teams: 1. Oregon 131; 2. Illinois 82; 3. USC 76; 4. Iowa 51; 5. Washington 50; 6. Nebraska 48; 7. Penn State 41; 8. Minnesota 38;

9. Michigan State 32; 10. tie, Michigan & UCLA 31; 12. tie, Ohio State, Purdue & Rutgers 19; 15. Wisconsin 15; 16. Indiana 14; 17. Maryland 5.

60: I–1. Leah Bertrand’ (OhSt-Tri) 7.19. II–1. *Dajaz Defrand (USC) 7.10; 2. Jadyn Mays (Or) 7.15; 3. ***Brianna Selby (USC) 7.30.

200: I–1. **Taylor Snaer (UCLA) 22.82; 2. *Jassani Carter (USC) 22.92. II–1. *Dajaz Defrand (USC) 22.62; 2. Jadyn Mays (Or) 22.66; 3. **Madison Whyte (USC) 22.76.

400: II–1. Savannah Sutherland’ (Mi-Can) 51.74; 2. *Yemi John’ (USC-GB) 51.76.

600: I–1. *Ella Nelson (Or) 1:29.53. II–1. *Gabby Cortez (Ia) 1:28.18; 2. ***Veronica Hargrave (In) 1:29.07; 3. Alli Bookin-Nosbisch (Ia) 1:29.60.

800: 1. *Chloe Foerster (Wa) 2:03.27; 2. *Hayley Kitching’ (PennSt-Aus) 2:03.29; 3. *Ella Nelson (Or) 2:03.53; 4. Amina Maatoug’ (Wa-Neth) 2:04.08.

Mile: 1. *Wilma Nielsen’ (Or-Swe) 4:38.77; 2. Mia Barnett (Or) 4:39.35; 3. Kileigh Kane (PennSt) 4:40.70.

3000: 1. Maatoug’ 9:09.06; 2. **Juliet Cherubet’ (Or-Ken) 9:10.22; 3. Halle Hill (Il) 9:11.59; 4. Anika Thompson’ (Or-Ire) 9:11.65; 5. ***Rachel Forsyth’ (MiSt-Can) 9:11.99.

5000: 1. *Silan Ayyildiz’ (Or-Tur) 15:56.81; 2. **Juliet Cherubet’ (Or-Ken) 15:56.89; 3. Anika Thompson’ (Or-Ire) 15:59.06.

60H: I–1. *Janela Spencer’ (OhSt-Jam) 8.14. II–1. *Aaliyah McCormick (Or) 7.97; 2. Aasia Laurencin (Mi) 7.97; 3. Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck’ (UCLA-Bel) 8.09.

4 x 400: IV–1. USC 3:29.97 (John’, Mallard, Carter, Whyte); 2. Iowa 3:31.04; 3. UCLA 3:31.11.

DisMed: 1. Oregon 10:56.97 (Nielsen’, Oliveira, McDonnell, Barnett); 2. Michigan State 11:00.04; 3. Minnesota 11:02.42.

Jumping Events

HJ: 1. Jenna Rogers (Nb) 6-3½ (1.92); 2. *Rose Yeboah’ (Il-Gha) 6-2¼ (1.89); 3. Bara Sajdokova’ (Il-CzR) 6-1¼ (1.86).

PV: 1. **Amanda Moll (Wa) 16-1¼ (4.91) CR, absolute CR (old records 16-0/4.88 Moll ’25) (old lo-alt record 15-3½4.66 Sandi Morris [Ar] ’15) (=6, x W; 4, =7 A; absolute: =8, x W; 4, x A)

(14-3½, 14-7½, 14-11½ [2], 15-3½ [2], 15-7¼, 15-9¼ [x, =2 C], 16-1¼, 16-4¾ [xxx]) (4.36, 4.46, 4.56 [2], 4.66 [2], 4.76, 4.81 [x, 2 C], 4.91, 5.00 [xxx]); =

2. **Hana Moll (Wa) 15-9¼ (4.81) (=6, x A; 2, =3 C) absolute: 7, x A) (14-3½, 14-7½, 14-11½, 15-3½, 15-7¼, 15-9¼, 16-1¼ [xxx]) (4.36, 4.46, 4.56, 4.66, 4.76, 4.81, 4.91 [xxx]);

3. Tori Thomas (Il) 14-7½ (4.46); 4. Chloe Timberg (Rut) 14-3½ (4.36); 5. **Emily Fitzsimmons (Or) 14-3½.

LJ: 1. Tacoria Humphrey (Il) 22-9¼ (6.94) (8, x A; 3, 3 C) (f, 22-5, f, 21-6, f, 22-9¼) (f, 6.83, f, 6.55, f, 6.94);

2. **Sophia Beckmon (Il) 21-8 (6.60); 3. Lishanna Ilves’ (Nb-Est) 21-4¼ (6.51).

TJ: 1. Temitope Ojora’ (USC-GB) 44-0 (13.41); 2. Ryann Porter (Or) 43-10½ (13.37); 3. *Rhianna Phipps’ (Nb-Jam) 43-10½ (13.37).

Throwing Events

SP: 1. *Axelina Johansson’ (Nb-Swe) 63-4¼ (19.31) (4, 4 C) (57-1½, 59-4, 60-½, 62-½, 60-2, 63-4¼) (17.41, 18.08, 18.30, 18.91, 18.34, 19.31);

2. Jaida Ross (Or) 60-7¼ (18.47); 3. **Elizabeth Tapper (Mi) 59-11 (18.26); 4. Abria Smith (Il) 58-7½ (17.87); 5. *Mine de Klerk’ (Nb-SA) 57-3½ (17.46); 6. ***Ashley Erasmus’ (USC-SA) 57-¾ (17.39).

Wt: 1. **Anthonett Nabwe’ (Mn-Lbr) 79-5½ (24.22) (8, x C) (70-11¼, 76-11¼, f, 72-7¼, 76-5, 79-5½) (21.62, 23.45, f, 22.13, 23.29, 24.22);

2. *Phethisang Makhethe’ (Il-SA) 75-6¼ (23.02); 3. Chloe Lindeman (Wi) 73-3¼ (22.33); 4. *Elle Adrian (MiSt) 73-2¾ (22.32); 5. **Jordan Koskondy (Il) 73-1¼ (22.28); 6. **Hadley Streit (Mn) 69-11½ (21.32).

Pent: 1. ***Pauline Bikembo’ (Ia-Fra) 4330; 2. Jalen Elrod (Pur) 4222; 3. *Maddie Pitts (PennSt) 4193; 4. Sydney Johnson (UCLA) 4171.

Jeff Hollobaugh is a writer and stat geek who has been associated with T&FN in various capacities since 1987. He is the author of How To Race The Mile. He lives in Michigan where he can often be found announcing track meets in bad weather.

Amanda Moll’s 3-Record Afternoon

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