Student Profile: Chloe Timberg

CB West Senior Chloe Timberg has had huge success at pole-vaulting during her time at West. She has set multiple state records and is looking to improve even more for the upcoming spring season, as well as her career in college. I was recently able to ask Chloe some questions about what has contributed to her success in her sport, and what accomplishments she has earned.

Chloe is currently the best girls pole-vaulter in the state. She owns the PA outdoor all-time state record for the girls’ outdoor pole-vault. She had the #3 jump for all girls in the US during the 2021 indoor season. She is currently one of the best female pole-vaulters in the entire country and has the accomplishments to prove it.

I asked Chloe when she began to pole-vault, and she told me that she started somewhat recently. “I started pole vaulting in 8th grade through a summer camp run by my coach, and then officially started vaulting for West in 9th grade after I stopped gymnastics.”

I also asked what helped what she thought made her so great at pole-vaulting. “I think that one of my strengths as an athlete is not letting the sport frustrate you. Pole vault is an event where you have to pay attention to so much detail, which means a lot can go wrong and the jumps don’t always go as you had planned. I think that understanding that some days are just going to seem terrible gives me the ability to keep working through things, even on the days where you just want to call it quits. It can be very hard to practice with a clouded headspace, so learning to stay calm has helped me come to practice with a positive attitude, especially because a lot of changes take time to show up in your vault.” Chloe emphasized the importance of the mental aspect when it comes to her success. Staying positive is important to her.

Finally, I asked her what her goals were for the upcoming spring season. She wants to improve on her already impressive performances. “One thing I would really like to achieve this spring is to jump a 14’+ mark at one of the meets. Currently my PR is 13’10 and this has been something I have wanted to do ever since I was a little 8th grader picking up the pole for the first time. Next year I will be jumping for Rutgers, where I hope to just keep improving and build upon everything I have taken away from high school vaulting, then apply it to college jumping so that I can just keep trying to do my personal best. I think it will be a great opportunity because being surrounded by people with like-minded goals who want to support each other is just an amazing environment to train in.”

Chloe has already held multiple records and has established herself as one of the best pole-vaulters in the entire country. The entire Court Street Press staff wishes her the best of luck during the spring season and college. We were grateful that she was able to talk about her success with us.