Olympic gold medalist and Roberts Wesleyan University Athletic Hall of Famer Jenn Suhr did
not take long to make an immediate impact as a coach for the pole vault program at her alma
mater.
Suhr, a 2004 Roberts Wesleyan graduate, retired from competitive pole vaulting in 2022 and
joined the Redhawks as assistant men’s and women’s track and field coach and pole vault
coordinator in April 2023.
Suhr, who oversees training and recruitment for student-athletes competing in the university’s
Division II pole-vault program, helped her first recruit – Brynn King – become the NCAA Division
II indoor and outdoor champion and an Olympian in her first season. King became the first
student-athlete from Roberts to win an NCAA championship when she captured the NCAA
Division II Indoor Championship with a record-setting performance of 4.65 meters (15-feet, 3-
inches) on March 8, 2024. King set the NCAA Division II outdoor record of 4.68 meters (15-4 ¼)
at the Texas Relays on March 30 and won the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championship with an
effort of 4.60 meters (15-1) in Emporia, Kans., on May 23, 2024. King set a new personal record
of 4.73 meters (15-6 ¼) while finishing third to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the
Paris Games.
The success continued in Suhr's second season as King repeated as DII indoor champion, breaking her own record with an effort of 4.66 meters (15-3 1/2). Sophomore Sarah Ferguson placed sixth, giving Roberts two First-Team All-America performers on the women's side. Freshman Austin Melvin placed 10th on the men's side, earning Second-Team All-America. Suhr was named the 2024-25 NCAA Division II East Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in March 2025. Â
Suhr, a native of Fredonia, N.Y., competed on three Olympic teams, winning gold in London in
2012 after taking the silver medal in Beijing in 2008. Suhr picked up her first pole at age 22 and
went on to win 17 national championships and set 12 American records during her 17-year
career. She won her first U.S. Championship title in 2005, just 10 months after picking up the
sport. Suhr is the only vaulter in U.S. track and field history to win three Olympic trials. Upon her
retirement, she held the world record in the indoor vault (5.03 meters, 16 feet, 6 inches), a
record she still holds today.
Suhr scored 1,819 points in her career as a basketball player at Roberts and was the National
Christian College Athletic Association National Player of the Year her senior season. A two-sport
athlete, Suhr won collegiate national titles in the javelin, 100-meter hurdles and pole vault.Â
Suhr lives in Riga with her husband and former coach, Rick Suhr, who is a volunteer assistant
coach for the Redhawks.
