Moorestown senior Hannah Byrd-Leitner became the 4th indoor 13-foot vaulter in state history Saturday when she cleared 13-0 on her 2nd attempt to win the state Group 3 title at the Bubble in Toms River.
Byrd-Leitner had cleared 12-6 indoors six times. She joined Shawnee’s Danielle O’Reilly [13-5 at the Armory in 2004], Sydney Woods of Demarest [13-0 ¾ at the Armory in 2019] and Governor Livingston’s Leah Saifi [13-0 ½ at the Armory in 2017] as New Jersey 13-footers.
Byrd-Leitner cleared a lifetime-best 13-2 to win the outdoor Meet of Champions at Pennsauken in June.
Her 13-0 is 10th nationally according to the MileSplit national database. The state Group 3 title is Byrd-Leitner’s 3rd.
Byrd-Leitner and Morris Hills senior Shreya Sathiyan were both clearn through 11-6, but Sathiyan had a miss at 12-0 and two more at 12-6 before going out at 13-0. Byrd-Leitner didn’t have a miss until her 1st attempt at 13-0. The official results indicate that she did not continue after 13-0.
Byrd-Leitner broke the meet record of 12-0 3/4 set in 2020 by Old Tappan’s Marisa DiGia.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 