Eugene, Oregon- High Point Track & Field's pole vaulting Horn Sisters both earned All-American honors under the lights in Hayward in the women's pole vault at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Sydney Horn finished sixth with a mark of 4.35m earning first-team All-American honors for the fourth straight time in her career. The older sister Mackenzie Horn earned second-team All-American honors in her first-ever NCAA Championship appearance placing 11th with a mark of 4.20m.
Coach Scott Houston: "It was a great season overall. Mackenzie showed a great mentality this season she did a great job with that and was very consistent towards the end of the season. She made it to regionals, went 14 feet for the first time ever, and then did that again multiple times this season. She showed that she can compete on the big stage and that she belongs here. We get another year with next season and I think she is going to be in a great position to compete for another All-American spot.
Sydney has been great it was the 14th meet jumping over 14 feet as we continue to work on consistency. She made 4.35m and just missed at 4.40m and 4.45m which is tough because it was a great competition. These girls were out here jumping really well and she was in the mix, it isn't as high as her second-place finish but it is certainly something we can build on and we are hungry for more. We are looking to be competing for that championship and I think we will take this back to the drawing board and make sure we are ready for this again."
Sydney Horn: "It was an awesome experience tonight, just because my family was able to be here and my sister was competing by side which made it such a great experience. I probably wouldn't have believed you if you told me this morning we would both finish as first-team and second-team All-Americans but here we are, it's pretty cool! I was just telling Mackenzie to keep her head up, she did not do as well as she wanted but it means so much just to make it out here. All the officials always tell you that you're a champion for just making it here. It's pretty cool to be able to come back out here in a week and a half and compete with Olympians at the US Trials. I feel good heading into it, I'm happy to be able to keep training steady knowing it's coming to the end of the season but still being able to train and remain healthy."
Mackenzie Horn: "I am happy with the All-American performance, yeah obviously I wanted to do more but there is always another year and there will be another year for me next year. This experience has been really special, I didn't think they were going to be able to make it, but it is so cool to have them here."
Jump by Jump
Mackenzie attacked the opening bar of 3.90m hard, she missed on the first attempt but came right back and cleared on the second attempt.
Sydney joined the competition at 4.05m and cleared on the first attempt.
Mackenzie responded and cleared 4.05m on the first attempt.
Sydney missed her first go at 4.20m but then returned to form and cleared it on her second attempt.
Mackenzie missed her first attempt at 4.20m then responded by clearing on her second attempt.
Mackenzie missed her first chance at 4.30m so she decided to pass on to 4.30m where she could use her two remaining chances on the next bar. Despite a strong last attempt Mackenzie was unable to advance. She finished 11th at her first-ever Outdoor NCAA Track & Field Championships.
Sydney really got it going after the second attempt at 4.20 she went on to clear both 4.30 and 4.35m on the first try to make it three straight clearances as the sophomore started heating up.
After two misses at 4.40m the second of which was a narrow miss as the bar fell after Sydney had already crashed to the mat, she decided to pass on to the next bar at 4.45m.
Sydney's one try at 4.45 ended up being unsuccessful. Sydney has been to four straight NCAA Championships, she has never finished lower than sixth.
Sydney will head back home to Pennsylvania for a few days before returning to Eugene for the US Trials in Hayward in a week and a half.
#DefendTheTeam x #GoHPU
