By Olivia D’Ambrosia

D’Ambrosia’s record breaking 4×100 team. Photo credit: Mike Dager.

The Washington and Lee University track and field team finished their season a few weeks ago by placing 2nd overall in the spring Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODACS) championship meet.

Although the team is upset not to finish first, there are many athletes on the team that had noticeable individual success. 

I talked to my sister Ashley D’Ambrosia (‘21), a Collegiate alumna, about her track and field career at W&L. D’Ambrosia has competed in the pole vault and has been a member of the 4×100 relay team for the past two years on the track team. The relay team has had great success these past two years, breaking the school record during D’Ambrosia’s freshman year, on April 30, 2022, with a time of 48.60 seconds and again in her junior year, on April 20 of this year, with a time of 48.51. Despite this, D’Ambrosia has had a few setbacks in the pole vault event. However, this year she was finally able to find her rhythm and reach new heights.

This year the team started winter training in the middle of September, as opposed to late October, like in past years. Starting practice earlier allowed the team to have more practices over a longer period of time before the first meet. D’Ambrosia commented that “starting the season in the warmer weather is always beneficial. No one likes practicing in the cold.” (For those who are unfamiliar with pole vault and the rules, a beginner’s guide article by Red Bull can be found here.) D’Ambrosia noticed her technique improving in these earlier practices, and once the first meet came around, she was anticipating exceptional results. However, at Ocean City Breeze Complex in New York on December 2, she disappointingly did not meet her high expectations, only jumping 3.35 m (11’), which was consistent with what she was jumping in high school.

D’Ambrosia and Coach Freeman. Photo credit: Vanessa D’Ambrosia.

After the first meet, a three-week long winter break commenced, and D’Ambrosia came back to Richmond to train with John Vellenweth, Collegiate’s track and field pole vault coach and founder of Velite Athletics Pole Vaulting Club. Coming back from a break during which she had been consistently practicing, she was hoping to match her mark from the first meet for the next meet at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) on January 19. D’Ambrosia only jumped 3.20 m (10’ 6”), a height she has surpassed since her freshman year. She was discouraged, and “it went downhill from there.” At the next meet at VMI on January 26, D’Ambrosia “no-heighted,” meaning she did not get over any height in the three given attempts, and she commented, “I had hit rock bottom… I started off the season thinking I was going to have a good year, but then it seemed like I had forgotten how to vault.”

With the help of her W&L coach, Dana Freeman, D’Ambrosia mentally switched her perspective on vault and knew she had to persevere and stick with the sport. Freeman told her “be a pole vaulter, not a bar clearer.” To D’Ambrosia, this meant to focus on becoming a better vaulter instead of thinking about how to clear the next bar. D’Ambrosia took a two-week break from meets and focused solely on her progression, form, and technique, without worrying about a height she needed to clear.

Her first meet after her self-imposed break, at JDL fasttrack in North Carolina on February 17, she jumped 3.45 m (11’ 4”), the best she had jumped all year. A few weeks later, at the winter ODAC championship, she came in second, with a jump of 3.48 m (11’ 6’’). D’Ambrosia said, “I could sense myself getting better, not just by clearing the bars at meets, but also my technique in practice.”

The opening meet of her spring season, W&L’s Track and Field Carnival in March, was the first meet she had competed in since the winter ODAC championships. It was windy, and she kept running through, unable to plant the pole and complete a jump. D’Ambrosia commented how in the past she would’ve let that get to her mentally, but now that she has changed her perspective, she didn’t let the setbacks discourage her. 

D’Ambrosia’s 1st place podium finish at Outdoor ODACS 2024. Photo credit: Washington & Lee via smugmug.

During practice, Freeman kept telling D’Ambrosia that, “If I PR [set a personal record], it’s not just going be a small PR, but a big one.” At the next Lynchburg meet, the progression of the bar (the new height the bar would change to after the athlete completed each respective height before) was going from 3.50 m (11′ 6’’) to 3.65 m (12’). D’Ambrosia commented, “I had very little confidence that I could get over 3.65 m. It was the school record at the time, but I knew just clearing 3.5 m would only be a 2 cm PR.” D’Ambrosia made it over 3.5 m on her first attempt, the bar moved up to 3.65 m, and she completed that height on her third and final attempt. She commented, “it was the most amazing feeling… I’ve been wanting to clear 3.65 since high school. It was always a big goal of mine.” She wasn’t just proud of getting the school record but also felt self-fulfillment. At the next meet at Johns Hopkins on April 20, she broke her own school record again, jumping 3.70 m (12’ 2’’). Finally, at the ODAC championship meet, she came in first, jumping a height of 3.56 m (11’ 8’’).

With a jump of 3.70 m (12’2’’), D’Ambrosia was ranked 19th in DIII athletics, and getting to the DIII Track and Field National Championship was the next step. There were two weeks left before qualifying marks for the championship meet needed to be in, and she was determined to get 3.76 m, a height that would lock her into going to nationals. However, to achieve that height, D’Ambrosia needed taller and heavier poles. In the past, transitioning to new poles would’ve been a setback, but because she had grown confident in her skills, she was able to “lock in and have no issues with the new poles.” At the Highpoint meet on May 12, she was able to do just that and jumped 3.76 m (12’ 4’’), a new PR and another school record.

D’Ambrosia soaring over 3.70 m. Photo credit: Vanessa D’Ambrosia.

Thanks to Freeman, D’Ambrosia was able to overcome mental blocks quicker this season than she had in the past. She commented, “I became a better mental vaulter this year, which made me more consistent and confident in my skill.” Freeman is a coach that cares about the success of her athletes, just as much as the athletes themselves. D’Ambrosia explained, “She has always been so encouraging and believing in me. She’s never given up on me and always has seen my potential.” She added, “Despite the rocky start, she still believed in me. Watching me grow as a pole vaulter has been very rewarding for her, as much as it is for me.” D’Ambrosia, so far, is the only vaulter that has jumped higher than Freeman herself had in college.

Transitioning from competing in high school level athletics to collegiate level athletics can be a challenging change. Adjusting to college by itself is difficult, and on top of that adjusting to a new sports regime can be complicated as well.

Here is some advice from my sister and a fellow freshman at Washington and Lee who is going through the same thing. D’Ambrosia advised, “Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t doing as good at your sport as you were when you were a senior in high school. Everything is going to be new, and it takes time to adjust.” Freshman sprinter Simmons Lee, a member of the record-setting 4×100 relay team, commented, “It’s been great having people on the team around to support you all the time, as opposed to high school, where everyone obviously lives in different places. I’ve also felt a lot closer with my teammates, because we all balance school and athletics together at the college level. Overall, the transition has been super easy, and as a DIII athlete, training has been difficult but not overdone, as compared to the high school level.”

On Thursday, May 23, D’Ambrosia competed in the Division III NCAA meet. The schedule and results can be found here.