Kaitlyn Dermen, a 2014 Millville High School graduate and NCAA Division 3 All-America at Stockton, became the No. 1 woman pole vaulter in New Jersey history earlier this month with a massive PR at an indoor meet in Basking Ridge.
Dermen cleared 14-4 at the Vault Factory Independence Day Pole Vault Meet. The previous New Jersey alumni record was 14-0 ½ by Shawnee graduate Stephanie Maugham as a University of Rhode Island senior at a meet in Fresno, Calif., on April 6, 2002.
Dermen’s previous PR looks like a 13-8 ¼ from a Vault Factory meet last summer, also in Basking Ridge.
Dermen’s mark makes her the No. 32 woman in the U.S. this year. No progression information is available in the results.
Dermen first vaulted as a sophomore at Millville, clearing 8-6 indoors and 9-0 outdoors. She improved to 9-6 as a junior indoors and placed at Group 4 states and then took 8th at the Meet of Champions outdoors with a 10-6 clearance. She was a state runner-up and Meet of Champions 6th-place finisher indoors as a senior and improved to 11-1 and had a series of 11-6 clearances outdoors.
At Stockton, she won NJAC titles indoors [11-9 ¾] and outdoors [12-3 ¾] as a junior in 2017 and indoors [12-1 ¾] and outdoors [12-1 ¾] as a senior in 2018. She earned All-America honors by clearing 12-3 ¾ for 4th place at NCAA Division 3 Championships in May of 2018 in La Crosse, Wisc. She was also a conference medalist at Stockton in the 100-meter high hurdles and 400-meter intermediates.
Here’s a look at her pole vault year-by-year PRs:
2012: 9-0
2013: 10-6
2014: 11-5 ¾
2015: 11-2 ½
2016: 11-10
2017: 12-7 ½
2018: 12-5 ½
2019: 11-11 ¾
2020: 11-9 ¾
2021: 13-7 ¼
2022: 13-6
2023: 12-10 ¼
2024: 14-4
Here are the known 13-footers in South Jersey alumni history:
14-0 ¾ … Stephanie Maugham [Shawnee], April 6, 2002, Fresno, Calif.
13-8 ¼ … Kaitlyn Dermen [Millville], July 29, 2023, Basking Ridge
13-8 … Anna Heim [Moorestown], May 13, 2010, Springfield, Mass.
13-5i … Danielle O’Reilly [Shawnee], Feb. 9, 2004, New York
13-3 ¾ … Ashley Preston [Delsea], April 17, 2021, Philadelphia
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 