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Tenly Kuhn was bored.
After a childhood filled with little league baseball and JV softball, youth volleyball, soccer and basketball, as well as four years of competitive cheerleading, the Oaks Christian School student was in search of another sport.
It had been a year since she had left the 20-hour-per-week grind of gymnastics after seven years, but the pandemic had kept her from finding that new outlet.
“I was looking for a new sport and the whole world shut down,” Kuhn said.
She joined the Oaks Christian track on a whim, initially training as a sprinter. Then she met pole vaulting coach Ben Browder.
Sixteen months later, Kuhn is the two-time CIF-Southern Section Division 4 pole vault champion and enters Saturday’s CIF-SS Masters Meet at Moorpark High as a legitimate state championship contender.
And she has already committed to compete next season at Division 1 Baylor University.
“It’s definitely unusual,” Browder said. “She’s kind of extraordinary.”
More: Here’s who won girls titles at CIF-SS track championships
More: Here’s who won boys titles at CIF-SS track championships
After spending her junior season in the shadow of national high school record-holder Paige Sommers, while she was learning her new sport, Kuhn has emerged as a senior, winning all 14 meets in which she has competed.
“This is my second season ever of track,” Kuhn said. “I’ve learned to love it.”
She jumped 12 feet to win both the Marmonte League finals on April 28 and defend her Division 4 crown last weekend at Moorpark High.
Her personal best of 12 feet, 9 inches — set April 8 at the Tiger Invitational in South Pasadena — is the third-best mark among locals all-time and 70th in state history.
It also puts her in the top 10 in the state this season and potentially in the mix at next weekend’s CIF State championships in Clovis.
“That would be absolutely insane,” Kuhn said. “I can’t even wrap my head around it.”
But the first order of business is qualification Saturday, when she needs to finish in the top 6 or hit the standard of 12-3 to extend her season.
“This week is first about qualifying,” Browder said, “then competing.”
Air awareness
Growing up, Kuhn was a soccer striker, a baseball outfielder and a softball third baseman. She played two years of club volleyball. She handled throws and tumbling, even anchoring the pyramid, in competitive cheerleading.
Her expertise in gymnastics was the floor exercise and double mini, an acrobatic event which combines the vault and trampoline.
But she left the sport as she approached her sophomore year.
“I was kind of burned out,” Kuhn said. “It was a lot on my body and my mind.”
More than a year later, Browder approached Kuhn’s early development last January like he would any beginner.
“You teach them how to hold the pole,” Browder said. “You teach them how to run with the pole. You teach them how to jump onto the pole, how to run, jump, swing … and then run, jump, swing and turn.”
Although her athletic ability was obvious.
“On Day 1, I said, ‘There’s a good one,’ ” Browder said. “She’s incredibly talented.”
Of course, Kuhn has leveraged her years of training in other sports, especially gymnastics and cheerleading, in her rapid rise.
“With the cheerleading and gymnastics background, it definitely has helped with my air awareness,” Kuhn said. “When I’m in the air, I actually know how to think to make my body do specific things.
“And the soccer and basketball, that’s running. All of those combined has definitely helped.”
When she committed to pole vault, she also traveled to Colorado for a week-long immersive camp with coach Pat Manson, the former Pan-American Games champion.
That’s where she competed in her first meet, clearing 7-6.
“I came back and started training with the high school team,” Kuhn said.
She cleared 10 feet to finish third at the Don Green Invitational in March, reached 11 feet during Marmonte League competition in April and was up to 12 feet by the time the postseason arrived in May.
“Paige was in our league,” Browder said of Sommers. “That will make you so humble. You could look at it and say, ‘I must be terrible at this.’ I had to explain, ‘This is not normal.’ ”
Kuhn finished second to Sommers at the Ventura County Championships and Marmonte League finals last season. She also competed against her at the California State Championships in June and the Valter Magazine Nationals in July, finishing sixth (12-6) and 11th (12-0), respectively.
“It was kind of intimidating,” Kuhn said. “I remember walking into there, realizing all these girls have been doing this for years and they had so much experience on me.”
Turns out, Kuhn respected to the challenge.
“It honestly motivated me,” Kuhn said. “I tend to do better when I have close competition.”
Masters qualifiers
Kuhn is one of more than 20 local athletes who have qualified for Saturday’s meet, which serves as the gateway to the state championship meet.
Girls qualifiers will include Ventura’s Sadie Engelhardt in the 800; Engelhardt and Newbury Park’s Sam McDonnell and Ailish Hawkins in the 1,600; McDonnell, Hawkins and Oaks Christian’s Payton Godsey in the 3,200; Thousand Oaks’ Lauren Thai and Oaks Christian’s Niya Clayton in the 100-meter hurdles; Thai in the 300 hurdles; Camarillo’s Amia Witt in the high jump; Pacifica’s Kathleen Nelson in the shot put, Camarillo’s Trinity Tipton in the discus; and Kuhn and Thousand Oaks’ Claire Goyette in the pole vault.
Boys qualifiers include Oaks Christian’s Elijah Gipson in the 100 meters, Villanova Prep’s Liam Gair in the 400; Thacher’s Ellis Delvecchio and Newbury Park’s Aaron Sahlman in the 800; Agoura’s Ethan Godsey and Royal’s Jonah Bazerkanian in the 1,600; Newbury Park’s Daniel Appleford in the 3,200; Thousand Oaks’ Jeremy Frank in the 110 hurdles; Gipson in the 300 hurdles; Moorpark’s Victor Ezike and Jordan Navarro in the high jump; Foothill Tech’s Aidan Hagerty, Oaks Christian’s Jake Reed and Westlake’s Cade Sommers in the pole vault; and Westlake’s Adam Laycock in the discus.
Calabasas has qualified the girls 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Ventura girls will join it in the 4×400 relay. Simi Valley has qualified for the boys 4×100 relay.
Joe Curley is a staff reporter for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. Follow him @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Oaks Christian’s Kuhn finds the perfect sport as a pole vaulter
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