Sydney Horn Higher at High Point By Megan Zimlich Lancaster, PA native, Sydney Horn, made a name for herself on the national stage during her freshman year at High Point University. Sydney arrived on campus with a personal best of 4.12m / 13’ 6”, and improved her mark by a foot in her first year. Setting both indoor and outdoor school records with jumps of 4.41m and 4.44m, Horn made program history by becoming the first student-athlete to qualify for both the indoor and outdoor NCAA track and field championships. A true competitor at both events, Horn placed third and sixth respectively, to top her freshman year off with a twotime All-American honor. At the encouragement of a teacher, Sydney tried pole vault her freshman year of high school. It was an easy switch for this level 8 gymnast, not to mention Sydney’s older sister, Mackenzie, also clicked with
pole vaulting. Sydney immediately took a liking to her new sport, enjoying how new and different it is from gymnastics. She trained at Vaultworx in Camp Hill, PA, with coach Matt Concannon, where practice was held in a fun, team environment and there was always something novel to challenge herself with.
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Sydney hoped to continue her career at High Point University and join Mackenzie, who is three years ahead of her with a redshirt year. Sydney loved the campus, and her college decision ultimately came
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down to the coach and the education program offered. Academically, Sydney knew she wanted to be an elementary school teacher, so she chose to major in special education; athletically, it was coach Scott Houston who cemented her decision. Houston’s way of implementing training and his ability to relate exactly to the athletes’ experience, being a professional pole vaulter himself, is what Sydney liked most. Houston said, “I consider myself a Guinea pig. I get to share experiences that have worked really well with the younger generation, and can also advise them to avoid the things I have found that don’t work well.” The transition from high school to college went smoothly for Sydney. It was helpful to have her sister in the new environment. The biggest
change of being on her own was learning to manage extra free time in her class schedule, while also getting lots of sleep. Focusing on adequate recovery from the higher volume in workouts was a tip Sydney took to heart from her peers. Once competition season rolled around, Sydney competed every weekend. The travel exhausted her at times, but her teammates were extremely helpful and like a second family. Indoor season started sweetly for the freshman, as she cleared at least one new personal best each
