Andover native Ashton Barkdull soars to NCAA pole vault national title with KU
Ashton Barkdull never let himself forget what second place felt like.
The Andover native had come painfully close to a national title last spring, finishing second in the men’s pole vault at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships and he refused to let the feeling go.
He used it instead. Every training session, every meet, every jump became part of his push to make sure the next time he stood on college track and field’s biggest stage, the ending would be different.
And on Friday night in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Barkdull made sure of it.
The Kansas junior won the national championship in the men’s pole vault, clearing a personal-best 19 feet, 0.25 inches on the first day of the NCAA Indoor Championships to deliver the biggest achievement of his decorated career.
“I just kept telling myself to remember that feeling,” said Barkdull, a 2022 Andover Central graduate. “I didn’t want to let it happen again. I never wanted to feel that feeling again, so that was my mindset going in. Just don’t give up on yourself.”
For Barkdull, the breakthrough was about much more than one winning clearance. It was the payoff for months of motivation fueled by disappointment.
Barkdull had finished as the runner-up at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships with a clearance of 18-9.25. Before that, he finished 13th at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships to earn second-team All-American honors. Those results sharpened his focus and gave him a clear mental edge entering this season.
“It was just so surreal,” Barkdull said. “I’ve always had the dream of becoming a 19-footer and hopefully a little bit more.”
His mindset was tested right away Friday.
Barkdull opened the competition with a miss on his first attempt at 17-8.5, hardly the start he envisioned in the national final. But he quickly settled in and moved through the competition with confidence after that, clearing each successive height to stay in contention in a loaded field.
Then came the defining bar.
With the height set at 19-0.25, Barkdull faced a bar he had never cleared before in competition. He knew exactly what was at stake.
“A lot of it was just determination and will,” Barkdull said. “I just knew that I needed to clear it to win. I told myself if I make it right here, you win. You either do it or don’t. Do you want to get second again? Or do you want to be a champion? That was my moment to finally step up and do it.”
On his second attempt, Barkdull delivered.
He soared over the bar for a personal record, becoming the first vaulter in the competition to clear 19-0.25. But it didn’t come without some theatrics, as Barkdull clipped the bar on his way over and, as he dropped to the mat, could only watch and hope it would stay in place.
“I stared at that bar for what felt like a lifetime,” Barkdull said. “When I realized it wasn’t coming off, it was just like, ‘Holy crap, I just did that.’”
When he landed, Barkdull threw both arms into the air and looked up at the bar in disbelief. After a few more screams, he dropped to his knees and soaked in the moment he had waited so long for before finally letting himself fall backward onto the mat.
But the competition still wasn’t finished.
Texas A&M’s Aleksandr Solovev, the same vaulter who defeated Barkdull to win the 2024 NCAA outdoor title, missed on his first two tries at 19-0.25 before clearing on his third attempt to extend the competition. That pushed both athletes to 19-2.25, but neither could make the height. Because Barkdull had cleared the previous bar first, the national championship belonged to him.
His winning mark tied for the second-best clearance in Kansas history, and he became just the third KU indoor national champion in the men’s pole vault.
The title was also another milestone for the state’s royal family of pole vaulting.
Barkdull starred at Andover Central, where he won two state championships and broke the Class 5A state meet record as a senior. That record was later broken by his younger brother, who is also a two-time state champion and now competes alongside him at Kansas.
Their father, Ryan Barkdull, was a two-time All-American pole vaulter at Wichita State for coach Tom Hays, who is now Kansas’ vertical jumps coach. That means Hays has coached the Barkdull family across two generations, first the father and now both sons.
Barkdull’s younger brother has already built an impressive résumé of his own, placing fifth in the country at the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn first-team All-American honors. Together, the brothers have helped make pole vault a family craft passed down from father to sons, from Wichita State to Kansas, from high school titles in Andover to the NCAA podium.
That made Friday’s title feel even bigger.
“To be on this journey and to be surrounded by so many people who love and support me, then to be able to execute, that was just a great moment to share with all of them,” Barkdull said.
For Barkdull, the national title was not simply a breakthrough. It was a response.
He remembered what it felt like to come up short. He remembered the sting of second place. And when his moment came Friday, with the bar set at a record height and the pressure as high as it could be, Barkdull did exactly what he had promised himself he would do.
This story was originally published March 14, 2026 at 9:57 AM.
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