Coastal Christian pole vaulter following in mother’s footsteps

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) – Hannah Grace, a senior at Coastal Christian High School, is one of the most decorated pole vaulters in the country.

With a personal best of 14’6″, the Centurion will compete at Tennessee next year in the sport she picked up from her mother Beth. The elder Grace also serves as her daughter’s coach.

“I always had a love for track,” Hannah Grace said. “It was always my favorite sport. You can’t pole vault until you’re a certain age. So when I got to that age, I knew that I wanted to try it because my mom had done it. It looked like a lot of fun and something I could excel at.”

“She didn’t really like it that much at first,” Beth Grace said. “But then COVID hit and we had a place to practice. She got the bug for it. That’s usually what happens. She kind of gets addicted and you just want to keep going higher and higher. Seeing what she can do. And then she was very successful, so that became her new love.”

Beth isn’t any ordinary mother or coach. She was also the first ever female pole vaulter in UNCW history after walking on her sophomore year around the turn of the century.

A new discipline for the former track athlete, she picked up on it quick and built a lot of relationships within the sport.

“It was a lot of fun,” Beth Grace said. “There were five guys that were vaulting at the time, so they were all trying to help me out. I loved the challenge of it. I actually got coached by a gentleman that owns Vault House in High Point that Hannah trains with. So one of the coaches that coached me also coaches her.”

“I love that she was one of the pioneers of women’s pole vaulting,” Hannah Grace said. “People ask who my coach is and I tell them it’s my mom and she was one of the first women’s pole vaulters.”

While the duo does need to find the balance between family and coach, they enjoy doing what they love around the person they love most.

“I definitely would not trade being coached by my mom for anything,” Hannah Grace said. “I love that we have this and get to do this together. It’s definitely been a learning experience. We have to learn how to work together and we have to learn when to talk about it and when to leave it at the track.”

“I love coaching Hannah,” Beth Grace said. “I think I learned more from her than she learned from me sometimes. She studies the sport so well. She’ll figure things out if things aren’t going right. I’m very blessed to be able to be her coach.”

Hannah says to round out her high school career, she hopes to top her personal record as well as win the pole vault competition at Nike Outdoor Nationals. That will be held in Oregon this June.