Track & Field
Favorite athlete: Laurie Hernandez (gymnast)
Favorite memory competing in sports: Really any memory with my friends at pole vault, every practice they never fail to make me drop to the floor laughing.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My first day of pole vault, we had finished practice and there was a field hockey game going on in the center of the track with a lot of spectators. My coach said in order to leave practice we had to do two laps of “loosey goosey” runs. We ended up having to run two laps while waving our arms everywhere in front of an entire stadium.
Music on playlist: Daryl Hall and John Oates, Artic Monkeys, Elton John, overall just lots of music from the '60s-'90s
Future plans: Next year I will be going to Rutgers New Brunswick where I hope to study either biology or biotechnology. One day I’d love to get involved in the research aspect!
Words to live by: “The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”- Alan Watts
One goal before turning 30: I would like to have learned how to surf
One thing people don’t know about me: My favorite food is a pomegranate!
By Craig Ostroff
A successful pole vault is among the athletic world’s most remarkable mixtures of speed, power, grace, and impeccable timing. When performed properly, a pole vaulter is able to make it look effortless.
Central Bucks West senior Chlöe Timberg is among the best around—indeed, among the best in the country—at clearing the bar. So she knows better than most that no matter how easy she may make it look, the smallest misstep, the slightest movement too early or too late, and the result could be disastrous.
So when the pandemic threw athletics, academics, and the rest of the world for a loop, Timberg found a way to make the most out of a bad situation.
“It was difficult for a while when all the gyms were shut down, the place I practice indoors (Philadelphia Jumps Club in Conshohocken) was closed,” Timberg said. “It was a frustrating cycle, I knew there were no meets coming up, and it was discouraging to know there was no end in sight. It felt like I was training for nothing almost.
“It was something I struggled to overcome, but I got it in my head that one day we’re going to have a season, so if I couldn’t jump, this was a time I could use to focus on things I hadn’t had the time to focus on in the past.”
By breaking down the motions, movements, and steps that go into a successful vault, Timberg was able to assess her strengths and weaknesses, and work to improve on the small things that tend to make a big difference.
“I actually really liked having this time off,” she said. “I worked on lifting, sprint training, stuff I’ve overlooked in the past. It was nice to have a new perspective on things, and now that things are starting to normalize, I can take away what I’ve learned and bring it into a new season and even into my college career.
“For the longest time, I thought I needed to go out five days a week and vault every one of those days. As you get more experience, you learn that you need rest days. In the pole vault, you need short sprints to build up that speed. Even things like yoga, increasing your flexibility, working on muscle groups like hip flexors. You put it all together and it’s going to help you.”
So when restrictions began to lift, Philadelphia Jumps Club reopened, and track events began to appear on the schedule—even though the high school indoor season was cancelled—Timberg found a renewed motivation and intensity, not to mention months and months of adjustments and improvements that she was dying to try out in competition.
“I got into a new mindset that made me want to train even harder than before and push myself to reach new heights,” Timberg said. “I wanted to take what I was learning and doing and put it together at practice and it kept getting better and better. I think that progression, all the time I spent struggling mentally and feeling like there was no season to train for, it made it very worth it now that things are back.”
Her pole vault coach at Central Bucks West, Scott Sherwood, had no doubts that Timberg would be willing and able to do the work in order to maintain and improve upon past successes.
“Chlöe has always been the kind of kid who puts in a lot of time when no one’s watching,” Sherwood said. “When COVID hit, she was heartbroken, but she gathered herself, made a plan, and put in the work. She’s been lifting, doing all the stuff she needs to do when no one’s watching, put on muscle and speed, and she’s come out of gate firing.”
That’s putting it mildly. Timberg’s personal best before the extended break had been 12 feet, 9 inches. In her first competition this winter, the VA Showcase 2021 last month in Virginia, Timberg cleared 13-4.5. A few weeks later, Timberg cleared 13-6.25 at the East Coast Invitational in Virginia Beach, Va. On Feb. 20, in a home meet at Philadelphia Jumps Club, Timberg soared to the top of the list, becoming the new Pennsylvania state record-holder for girls’ indoor pole vault after clearing 13-10.
“Chlöe didn’t rest and didn’t stop trying to improve herself,” Sherwood said. “She didn’t let the pandemic hold her back. She kept seeking out the opportunities to make her the best she can be. The results are speaking for themselves.”
And with the opportunity to compete are a few more indoor events, not to mention an outdoor track and field season at Central Bucks West, Timberg isn’t satisfied with her lofty, record-holding perch. She’d like to add a few more inches onto that record before leaving the Bucks.
“I’ve always had this goal of jumping 14 feet,” she said. “It’s something I’ve thought about ever since I started, I want to jump 14 feet.”
Setting difficult goals is nothing new for Timberg, especially when it comes to athletics. Having participated in gymnastics at an early age, her focus has always been to work as hard as she can in order to be the best she can be.
“That’s always been a part of my personality,” Timberg said. “Sports have always been a huge part of my life, and when I do something I want to put my everything into it. As a gymnast, I wanted to compete in college. I really enjoyed gymnastics and really worked hard to keep getting better. Come middle school, I was struggling with some back complications, and I didn’t really love the sport anymore, and I wanted to give something new a try.”
Her desire to possibly switch sports happened to coincide with a timely trip to see her older brother’s marching band practice on the West football field.
“To the right of the practice, I saw kids with big sticks jumping really high in the air,” she said. “I turned to my mom and said, ‘I really want to give that a try next summer.’”
And so she did. Granted … her first attempts at the pole vault were a far cry from what she can do now.
“I remember the first day,” she said with a laugh. “I was a mess. I was super-uncoordinated, I couldn’t do the hurdle drills, but having the gymnastics background made for a good translation to pole vault. That was eighth grade when I started. I officially started vaulting for school in ninth.”
“Coming in with a gymnastics background was a big thing,” Sherwood said. “She was already comfortable in the air. It’s a special ability, being able to get over that mental hurdle to just throw yourself in the air. It takes some getting used to, but she had that right from the start.”
As such, count Sherwood among those who believes Timberg can achieve her current pole vault goal.
“As a sophomore, she broke the school record, which was 12-0,” Sherwood said. “We were watching her at the league meet pop a 12-footer and Kevin (West girls’ track and field coach Kevin Munnelly) said to me, ‘She’s going to be a 14-footer.’ To this day, no Pennsylvania girl has jumped 14 feet, there are only a handful across the country who have done it. But she’s getting there. The sky is the limit for the outdoor season for her. I think she can break that 14-foot barrier.”
It would be a picture perfect ending to a senior year that has been unlike any other school year. Though she enjoys school, Timberg has been taking her classes entirely remotely this year. It hasn’t always been easy, but not surprisingly, she’s finding the positives in the situation.
“I know people can struggle with online learning, but I really like it,” she said. “I feel like I have more time to do the things I enjoy and I can work at my own pace. I don’t feel like I’m sitting in a classroom doing things at a pace that is not my own.”
She’s keeping busy her senior year with a handful of AP classes. And next year, she will trade in the black and yellow of Central Bucks West in favor of becoming a Scarlet Knight, taking her academic and athletic abilities to Rutgers University. The Piscataway, NJ, school presented Timberg the opportunity to compete in pole vault at a high level, that was close to home, and that offered the biotechnology major that she’s strongly considering.
“I had my mind set on something far away at first, I wanted to have a new experience with a place I hadn’t been before,” Timberg said. “What drew me to Rutgers, at end of day, I want to be able to visit family or have them come visit me. And they had the specific major that is something I have really taken an interest in. I want to go into the research side of things. I’m still keeping it wide open. I’m not sure I will major in biotech, but I wanted that option.”
But first, there’s still an outdoor track and field season with the Bucks. Having lost out on a senior indoor season, Timberg simply wants to enjoy her final campaign at Central Bucks West with her coaches and teammates … while still keeping an eye on that 14-foot jump.
“For myself, I definitely want to hit that 14 feet,” Timberg said. “I think I have more left in the tank. I cleared 13-10 and hadn’t been training very consistently because of a shin injury. I’m excited to see what I can do when I’m fully healed.
“Really though, I just want to see my team be able to go and compete this year. So much has been taken from so many people, so I’m really excited to have to chance to have a final couple of months to get to spend with the people who have helped me through high school, the coaches who have been there with me, just to have one last hurrah before we leave.”
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