Lansing’s Matheny wins 2nd national title

Lansing High School alum and Ithaca College senior Meghan Matheny added to her trophy collection last Friday in North Carolina, winning the NCAA Championship in pole vaulting for the second time. Matheny now has one New York State Championship and two NCAA Championships and has been named an All-American three times in her career.

Matheny’s national title helped Ithaca women’s track and field team place third as a team at the NCAA Championships. Matheny recapped the weekend in North Carolina.

“It was a really awesome weekend with my teammates,” Matheny said. “I competed on the first day, so it was great to watch the meet on Friday and then compete and then watch everyone else on Saturday. Just being with the rest of the team that was there was a really great time. It was really awesome, watching everyone else do really well.”

The championship came down to Matheny and Oberlin College’s Sarah Voit attempting to clear 4 meters (13.1 feet), Matheny’s personal record, but neither were able to successfully. Matheny had used fewer attempts than Voit for the lower heights until that point, making her the national champion. Matheny discussed the head-to-head matchup at the end.

“At that point, I was pretty tired, so it wasn’t as nerve wracking as I think it should have been,” Matheny said. “[Matt] Scheffler, my coach, joked after I missed my third attempt. He said, OK, don’t throw up during these next few minutes.’ But I felt like I had jumped really well and given it my all that day. Obviously, I would have loved to clear 4 meters again. I think I would have been happy either way, but I obviously am thrilled to have come out on top.”

Matheny had the best score in pole vaulting in the nation heading into the national championships, making her the top seed. She talked about the pressure that came with that status.

“Two weeks ago, I was feeling pretty nervous before our regional competition,” Matheny said. “I know internally [I] was putting more pressure on myself than anyone else was externally. But once I started warming up and running the day of the meet, I felt like it was just any other meet. I was with my teammates and I had fun. I think that was what made the difference.”

Matheny had two teammates competing alongside her in pole vaulting as Martha Kemp-Neilson placed 10th and Sarah Altonen placed fourth. That made the experience that much better for Matheny.

“Having them there made it so much easier to just kind of relax during the meet and have other people to talk to you and cheer for,” Matheny said. “We had a girl come up to us on the first day of practice and ask, ‘Are you guys all pole vaulters from Ithaca? There’s three of you. I would love to have teammates here with me.’ I think it makes a huge difference.”

After the third-place team finish, Matheny and the Bombers are confident heading into outdoor track season.

“On the last day, we were all joking that we wanted to take first [place] in outdoors and we were all ready to go,” Matheny said. “We were talking about all the different possibilities to compete and give it our all and outdoors and hopefully walk away with the title. We’ve been gunning for that since 2020 when we were seeded to do really well. We all have that goal and have that drive and really want to make that happen. I think we have a really talented group of people.”

Ithaca College track and field features plenty of local talent beyond Matheny. Teammates Ariyanha Bernard, Logan Bruce and Tia Jones were at the national championships and all competed in Section IV in high school.

“It’s super awesome having so many kids come from right around here,” Matheny said. “We all know each other. We competed against each other in high school. When you’re competing against each other in high school, you’re pushing to do well and always come out on top. Then when you get to be together in college, you can push each other to do well for your team. We always joke, ‘Let’s take a Section IV photo’ since there are so many of us. We took one of those photos with the third-place trophy.”

With a pair of national championships under her belt, Matheny is looking forward to accomplishing even more before graduating from Ithaca College. While she is a senior, Matheny will be returning to IC for a fifth year of athletic eligibility.

“I’m trying not to let myself reflect and look back super deeply on everything,” Matheny said. “There’s a lot I have left that I want to accomplish. I think if someone asked me when I was a junior or sophomore in high school if I thought that I would accomplish these things that I have in college, I think I probably would have laughed at them. Just seeing how much I’ve grown and how much all of my teammates have grown is a really satisfying thing.”

Outdoor track and field season is right around the corner, with the first meet taking place on March 25. The goal for Matheny, of course, will be to take home a third national title and continue her dominance of the Division III pole vaulting circuit.

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