Moon Wins Fifth USATF Indoor Pole Vault Title, Qualifies For Indoor Worlds

Another year, another championship for Ashland University Hall of Famer Katie Moon.
 
Moon, a two-time Summer Olympics medalist for Team USA in the women's pole vault, won a fifth overall and third straight USATF Indoor Championships title in the event on Saturday (Feb. 22) afternoon at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y..
 
She earned another indoor title by clearing 4.80 meters/15-feet-9. Coming in, Moon was ranked second in the world in the women's pole vault indoors this season at 4.83 meters/15-feet-10.
 
Moon qualifies for the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships, March 21-23 in Nanjing, China.
 
A 2024 inductee into the Ashland University Hall of Fame, Moon was a two-time NCAA Division II national champion and three-time D-II All-American in the pole vault, and continues to boast school pole vault records both indoors (4.27 meters/14-feet-0) and outdoors (4.44 meters/14-feet-6¾).
 
Since graduating from Ashland, Moon has taken her pole vault career to new heights. The delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, saw Moon win a gold medal for Team USA with a top vault of 4.90 meters/16-feet-0¾, and at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Moon was a silver medalist with a top mark of 4.85 meters/15-feet-11.

Moon's PR of 4.95 meters/16-feet-2¾ is fifth-best in world history.
 
Also on Saturday, former Eagle sprinter/hurdler and current AU assistant coach T.J. Skinner competed at indoor nationals for the first time, ending in 13th place in the men's 60-meter hurdles in a season-best time of 7.89 seconds.

On Sunday (Feb. 23), Ashland volunteer assistant coach Rachel Richeson won her first American indoor title and will go to outdoor worlds in the women's weight throw. She won with a top heave of 25.26 meters/82-feet-10 1/2.