The Post-Journal

Vaulter Of The Decade

Fredonia Native Suhr Receives Honor Courtesy Of Track & Field News

Jenn Suhr and Randy Anderson.
Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame president Randy Anderson with Jenn Suhr in 2016. Submitted photo.

Jenn Suhr’s athletic resume has gained another prominent entry.

The Fredonia native and Olympic gold and silver medalist has been named the pole vaulter of the decade by Track & Field News.

The No. 1 American pole vaulter since 2006, Suhr has won 17 U.S. national champions (seven indoor, 10 outdoors); holds the world indoor pole vault record (16 feet, 6 inches); and is the American women’s record holder indoor.

A 2009 Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Suhr won the U.S. Olympic trials in 2008, setting an American record (16-2) and won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics.

Four years later, she captured the gold medal at the London Olympics.

The other nine pole vaulters behind Suhr on the pole vault list are Katerina Stefanidi, Greece; Sandi Morris, U.S.; Yelena Isinbaeva, Russia; Yarisley Silva, Cuba; Fabiana Murer, Brazil; Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou, Greece; Anzhelika Sidorova, Russia; Svetlana Feofanova, Russia; and Sike Spiegelburg, Germany.

When she was at Fredonia Central School, she played softball, basketball and soccer and was, of course, a track and field athlete. In the latter, she won the New York State Public High School Athletic Association pentathlon title in 2000, which was her senior year. She continued her track and field career at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester where she also played basketball. As a senior on the hardwood, she averaged 24.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, leading the Raiders to the NCCAA national championship game. By the time she graduated, Suhr was the school’s all-time leading scorer.


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