DII pole vault champions took parallel paths to Olympics

A decade separates pole vaulters Katie Moon and Brynn King's college experiences, but they share a unique path to reach the Olympic Games.

Both track and field stars started at a Division I program before becoming dissatisfied with their performances. To find a spark, they each transferred to Division II programs. And after doing so, they experienced an immediate resurgence and saw a dramatic change in their career trajectories.

On Monday morning in Paris, Moon and King stood on the Stade de France field in Paris — a roaring crowd of 80,000 fans cheering — as they prepared for the pole vault's qualifying round. Once searching for career fulfillment, Division II provided a path to resurgence.

"I think going DII took away some of that big external pressure I was putting on myself," said Moon, the defending Olympic gold medal winner. "At DI (schools), I had to prove that I went to the right place. I just felt like I had to prove all these things. And so going DII, I felt, calmed me, relaxed me a little bit and helped me find that internal confidence and motivation — which is, really, that's how you jump high."

Moon starred as a multisport athlete at Olmsted Falls High School in Ohio, finishing as a four-time letterwinner in diving and earning three more in golf. But her greatest potential was in pole vault, where her school record of 12 feet, 8 inches still stands — more than two feet higher than the second-best jumper.

That success took her career to Dayton, where as a freshman she won the indoor and outdoor Atlantic 10 Conference pole vault championships and ultimately advanced to the NCAA outdoor championships, where she finished 17th.

But Moon said her vaults weren't progressing the way she felt they should, and the pressure to prove herself began weighing on her. She started losing confidence, grew homesick and felt she needed to find a new situation to escape the mental struggles.

She recalled the "vibe" she felt with the coaches at Ashland. An hour's drive from home, the university was only a third the distance of Dayton. Many of her friends from home attended school there, as well.

So Moon transferred — and success followed. She captured the Division II outdoor and indoor pole vault championships her final season and won the pole vault in a combined 15 meets during the indoor and outdoor seasons that year. After graduating, she emerged as one of the world's best in the sport, winning the U.S. championship twice before taking the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021 and following that up with back-to-back world championships.

On Wednesday, Moon will take the Stade de France field for the pole vault finals to compete for her second straight Olympic medal.

"I feel like pole vault, so much of it is just, you want to get out of your comfort zone," Moon said, "but you need to find the places where you're comfortable enough to get out of your comfort zone. And really, it was just a gut feeling that that was where I needed to be."

Brynn King transferred to Roberts Wesleyan in hopes of finding a coach who could help her reach her potential. She completed her only season at the university by winning the Division II indoor and outdoor pole vault championships and breaking her own Division II record multiple times on her way to qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team.

King's gut sent her a similar message.

She excelled both athletically and academically at Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Texas, winning the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools state championships on the pole vault, long jump and the 4x100-meter relay while being inducted into the National Honor Society. After starting pole vault as a junior, she became the first high school girl athlete to clear 13 feet in the TAPPS state competition, winning the state title with a 13-foot, 1-inch vault as a senior.

While King said she enjoyed Duke and saw her jumps climb near 14 feet, she felt she could accomplish more. After completing her degree at Duke and entering the NCAA Transfer Portal in 2023, King was contacted by the new pole vault coach at Roberts Wesleyan, Jenn Suhr — a three-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medalist, including gold at the 2012 London Games. King already felt a connection with Suhr after attending a clinic Suhr hosted shortly after King started competing in pole vault in high school.

King made the leap to the Division II school, and the result was a magical final collegiate season.

She broke her own personal bests with virtually every meet, snapping records multiple times along the way. She jumped 14 feet, 5½ inches in her first indoor meet, then broke 15 feet less than two months later and set the Division II indoor record with a 15-foot, 3-inch vault to win the Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships. 

Her success continued in the outdoor season. She posted a season-best 15-foot, 4½-inch vault at the Texas Relays and won the Division II outdoor title with a 15-foot, 1-inch jump. She then cleared a career-best 15-feet, 6¼ inches to make the U.S. Olympic team.

She failed to advance to the final, but at just 23 years old — just a year older than Suhr when she first started competing in pole vault — she remains one of America's rising stars.

"I felt support from not only my coaches, but the school, too," King said of her Roberts Wesleyan experience. "They took kind of a broken athlete who didn't believe in themselves anymore and got them all the way to the Olympics."