Sophia Hill Reaches for the Sky

Sophia Hill’s goal is to launch herself 13 feet in the air. So far, she’s reached 12 feet 6 inches.   

As the top girls’ pole vaulter on the Radnor High School Track & Field team, Sophia, a junior at RHS, has been setting lofty goals for the last three years. She first became interested in pole vaulting after a visit to a track and field meet at the University of Oregon in 2016. She began researching the sport in middle school and competed in her first meet as a freshman in April 2021, where she jumped 9 feet. She has been steadily improving and setting records ever since.    

Sophia is a member of both the winter and spring Radnor track and field teams but trains year-round to improve her skills. Her background as a gymnast helped to develop her form, but her natural talent, intensive training, and dedication has made her one of the top contenders in high school girls' pole vaulting. 9 feet 6 inches has been the ceiling for many talented Radnor vaulters, so it was a significant and notable achievement when Sophia cleared 12 feet 6 inches last year. She is also the first Radnor girl to make it to States in the pole vault.   

In addition to making it to States, Sophia has qualified for, and been invited to, meets across the country,

including the highly prestigious Millrose Games, New Balance Nationals Indoors, and for a second year, PTFCA Indoor State Championship and Adidas Indoor Nationals. 

The spring season is already in full swing, and Sophia is looking forward to another great season working with Coach Tom Flanagan and practicing with friends. She hopes to qualify for districts and nationals for a second year and to make it to States, which is strictly based on an athlete’s results and placing at Districts.   

Sophia hopes to continue pole vaulting in college, where we can only imagine she’ll keep flying high!