IN ORDER TO HAVE witnessed the latest addition to the NCAA 19-foot vaulters’ club, during the big conference weekend, you had to have been watching not the SEC Champs in Auburn or the Big 10s in Lincoln, but rather the Sun Belt Conference Championships in Mobile, Alabama.
There you saw a relatively unheralded junior from Appalachian State, far away from most of the big time Power 5 programs, who was not yet an 18-footer until last December, set the bar at a previously unexplored height of 19-2 (5.84). After two tries, he finally soared over it to the delight of his teammates and the hearty group of fans at South Alabama’s Jaguar Track.
So, welcome to the top of the collegiate pole vault list, Matthew Gray. Heralding from Swain County HS in tiny Bryson City, North Carolina, less than 3 hours down the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway from App State’s campus in Boone, Gray was a 17-9¾ (5.43) vaulter in ’25, just 15th in the NCAA East Regional.
At this season’s East Regional on Wednesday he sprang over 17-10½ (5.45) on his second attempt, one of 7 to clear that setting in the comp, easily in the 12 advancing to Eugene for the big dance two weeks hence as the highest-flying current collegian.
Gray admits the breakthrough and the attention that’s followed has been a little surreal. “It really has. I mean, I’ve just been over the moon,” he says. “Everyone’s been talking to me, contacting me. I’ve been getting texts from people I haven’t talked to in years. It’s just been a pretty crazy experience.”
The funny thing is, though he was “only” a 16-8 vaulter his senior year at Swain in ’23, he actually does know the feeling of suddenly becoming the best in the country. It happened that January 11 in a “Polar Bear” meet at his home track. A few southern states, like Virginia and North Carolina, have sanctioned championship indoor seasons despite relatively few indoor facilities. So they often compete in outdoor polar bear meets (with indoor events) as part of their schedule. Gray’s 16-8 that day, improving from his previous 16-0 PR, happened to be an early-season prep leader.
That week, he told an Asheville newspaper reporter about the “overwhelming” texts, emails and social media attention he received after that achievement. So, has this sudden ascension into the NCAA lead 3½ years later felt like a bit of déjà vu?
“It really did… I definitely got reminded of it when I first cleared. I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this seems familiar,’” he laughs. “And, yeah, it was great being able to kind of come full circle. It was pretty cool.”
The 19-2 was Gray’s third big leap upward of ’25-26, starting at a December meet at Liberty where he cleared 18-4½ (5.60). Two months later, he improved to 18-9½ (5.73) at Virginia Tech’s Doc Hale meet.
Thing is, though, the Mountaineers don’t have a men’s indoor program. So no NCAA Indoor Champs for Gray, who instead ventured to the Big Apple for USATF Indoor. He finished a respectable 6th at 18-6½ (5.65), getting a chance to compete alongside 6-meter vaulters like Chris Nilsen, KC Lightfoot and champion Zach Bradford. “It was really inspiring. I mean, seeing all these people that throughout my vault career I’ve been looking up to and being able to compete alongside them was just a really, really neat experience.”
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons for Gray’s recent success is having his just-graduated former teammate as his coach. His vault career has taken off since ’25 Appalachian grad and 17-6 vaulter Patrick Freeman was invited to replace a previous assistant coach.
“It was very impromptu. They were like, ‘Patrick, you wanna coach?’ Gray recalls. “It’s been great because Patrick, these past years when he was competing, was one of my best friends. We actually lived together last year. We would stay up till 3 a.m. talking about pole vault. And we still talk about pole vault nonstop. It’s just great having that dynamic.
“I think it’s really important, especially in a sport like pole vault, to have your coach be someone you really, really trust,” he continues. “And I really trust Patrick. I trust him with my entire vault career, and I think that has really helped as well.”
But what has improved from a physical perspective? “I think the main contributing factor has just been consistent training, consistently running throughout the week, consistently lifting, doing the right lifts, but all of that has been leading to more speed on the runway,” says Gray, noting his 30-meter time improved by half a second last fall.
“It’s a pretty generic answer, but it’s true. We’ve been working on speed on and off the runway, but speed off the runway pretty strongly correlates to speed on the runway. My speed is just so much higher than it has been in years past, and that speed correlates directly to higher jumps, I think.”
The 19-2 at conference didn’t come easily, though. Earlier in the competition, Gray missed 18-3¾ (5.58) twice. “I was just really hesitant, on the runway and on the pole. It came down to third attempt, and if I didn’t clear it, it was gonna be 2nd place,” he says. “It was pretty nerve-wracking. I was shaking and I went up to Patrick, and I was like, ‘Man, I’m just freaking out right now.’
“He just told me, ‘Calm down, it’s just me and you out here. You don’t need to worry about the competition.’ And that really kinda just grounded me, and I was able to pull it together.’”
After getting over 18-6 ¾ (5.66) easily, he and his coach moved the bar to 19-2 (5.84), since that was the USATF qualifying height. It was also, Freeman knew, a record for a North Carolina-born athlete.
Now Gray hopes to maintain or improve this form in Eugene and beyond.
Finishing 15th at the East Regional last year, “put a pretty sour taste in my mouth,” he says. “It was a big motivator for this year. But I came back with some vengeance.”
If he keeps clearing bars at 19 feet or higher, he’ll being doing much better than just advancing to the season’s climactic collegiate comp.
