It was her brother’s senior year. Eighth grader Leeah Boyd was watching him practice pole vaulting, unable to keep the awe from her face. Shuffling forward with wide-eyed excitement, she asked, “Can I try?” 

Within an hour, she was jumping a foot over her middle school’s record.

Now a sophomore, Leeah is one of two female varsity pole vaulters in the school, is tied for first in the state and ranked 24 in the nation out of sophomores girls.

“Once I started [pole vaulting], I couldn’t stop,” Leeah said. “I [was] hooked on it. It was something that I knew I could have fun with and something I knew I could get really good at with effort and time.” 

Her dad called the Killian Middle School track and field coach and asked if she could join the team; it was a yes. A few weeks later, she won first place in her first official track meet, where she jumped eight feet and nine inches — a foot higher than the previous record at Killian. 

“I didn’t really think much of [beating the record] at the time,” Leeah said. “I was just out there doing my best and I wasn’t expecting much from my first couple weeks, but my dad told me [I set the record] and it blew my mind. It’s not every day that you get to beat a record.” 

When she first began pole vaulting, Leeah was also a diver like her other brother. The summer before her freshman year, she realized she had to choose between diving and pole vaulting if she also wanted to be on the school’s drill team, the Silver Wings. Leeah’s mom, Kerri Boyd, said she and her husband were so confident Leeah would pick diving that they ordered the uniform before she made her decision. 

“I didn’t think she would stick with [pole vaulting] or continue with track,” Boyd said. “She doesn’t like to run, but she loves to be thrown around in the air. She doesn’t have any fears — she just chases adrenaline.”

Leeah’s personal record for outdoor pole vaulting is 12 feet, which ties the current school record. She spends approximately 15 hours a week practicing.

“She’s always here after hours and putting in the work,” track and field coach Chance Edwards said. “Right now, she’s on a level that we’re comparing to the rest of the region and state, so she’s doing really well. If her [personal record] continues to improve how it is right now, then she may be able to place at region and possibly go to state.” 

Colleges are allowed to contact sophomores in June. Leeah hopes to get contacted by a few D1 schools to pursue pole vaulting.

“There’s no feeling like [pole vaulting],” Leeah said. “Just seeing your work pay off, knowing that you earned something and that you’re making something for yourself, it’s amazing.”