Senior pole vaulter James Rhoades competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships last week.
Credit: Anna VazhaeparambilPenn’s men’s track and field wrapped up an eventful competition this past week up north in Eugene, Ore. at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The team sent three athletes total to the competition, with 2024 graduate Scott Toney and rising senior James Rhoads competing in the pole vault, and rising sophomore Ryan Matulonis attempting to make his mark in 400m hurdles.
Rhoads and Toney both represented Penn’s best chance at a podium finish after a very strong outing earlier this year at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, where they respectively finished fourth and fifth. This was a program best finish for Penn at the Indoor Championships. They both looked at the Outdoor Championships as an opportunity to build on this record-breaking performance.
“I think in terms of the whole season, I just, like, gained confidence … to know I can jump high,” Rhoads said. “I still have more in me for sure, but I made a huge jump from last year, and I think I kind of proved to myself that I have the athletic ability and mental capabilities to jump high.”
Additionally, the duo recently etched themselves into the Quakers’ record book by smashing the previous program record of 5.52m in the outdoor pole vault set by Mamadou Johnson in 1993. At the Mt. SAC Relays in mid-April, Rhoads shattered the record with a 5.62m jump, while Toney also slid into the second highest mark at 5.54m during the IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championship. The record set by Rhoads is also the third highest jump in Ivy League history, trailing only Princeton’s Sondre and Simen Guttormsen.
The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships represented a great opportunity for the Quakers to compete amongst the best of the best in the collegiate sports landscape. Rhoads would finish with an impressive sixth place in the final after a jump of 5.52m. On the other hand, Toney finished in 13th with a 5.37m performance. Keaton Daniel from the University of Kentucky took home first with a dazzling 5.67m finish.
While this may be the conclusion of an illustrious collegiate career for Toney, Rhoads still has a lot left to prove. Not only does he enter into his senior year of competition already dominating the Penn and Ivy League leaderboards, but his performances enable him to be in position to qualify for the United States Olympic Trials — which will also take place in Eugene.
“My standout meet was Mt. SAC relays, where I jumped my [personal record],” Rhoads said. “Originally I wasn’t in the bigger group there, and I had our coaches email and move me up. Obviously, it went really well, and that’s part of the reason I’m sitting with my Trials spot right now and hopefully that stays.”
While the dynamic pole vaulting duo were flinging themselves for glory, rising sophomore Ryan Matulonis was hurdling his way through his first NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the lone men’s rising sophomore representing Penn. While it may have been his first outing at the largest stage, Matulonis felt that even though he was “surrounded by the best runners in the country,” the key to his success was to “just try to focus on [his] own race and run how [he] run[s].”
Back at the end of May, Matulonis punched his ticket to the Championships with a 49.97-second performance in Lexington, Ky. at the NCAA East First Round. But while in Eugene, Matulonis ended up falling just short in the preliminary round, being the first runner out before qualification to the final. He managed to still put up an impressive 50.12-second performance landing him at 10th place, with the first nine runners advancing.
When discussing what may have led him astray, Matulonis felt that everything had been “pretty smooth the week in terms of traveling” regarding the race. However, an unexpected disturbance emerged with the pollen in Eugene compared to any other track he had raced at. Nevertheless, he made it clear that while it had caught him off guard, his race had to do with many other factors as well.
Despite missing out on the final, Matulonis still managed to earn a second team All-American recognition for his performance at the Outdoor Championships. Matulonis summed up his extraordinary performance as a freshman this past year as humbling yet still extremely motivating, when he concluded “you can’t have it all in one year. I’m looking forward to next year.”
For him, it was simply a matter of “being able to get that first time out of the way,” so that he can learn from his experiences and excel even further.
For all three athletes, the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were definitely pivotal. As they continue to race and jump in years ahead, the Championships will certainly serve as fuel and motivation to have more Quakers dominate on the national stage.
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