Millville graduate Kaitlyn Dermen, the greatest pole vaulter New Jersey has produced, cleared 14 feet for the third time this year Saturday at the Vault Factory One More Jump Please meet in Basking Ridge.
Dermen won the event with a 14-1 ¼ clearance. Unfortunately, the results don’t show field series, so we don’t know where she placed the bar next, but Dermen set the New Jersey alumni record of 14-4 at the same facility on July 6.
She also cleared 14-1 ¼ at a meet in Washington, D.C., in June. She also had a 13-11 ¼ last month in a meet at Vault Factory.
Dermen is ranked 33rd among U.S. women.
Coming into this year, Dermen had a PR of 13-7 ¼ from the Fastrack Metro Season Opener in December of 2021 at Ocean Breeze in Staten Island.
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. Maugham – now Stephanie Colby – is still active and has set several masters vaulting records in recent years.
Dermen was an NCAA Division 3 All-America at Stockton University in Galloway Township, N.J.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 