Hana and Amanda Moll: A Tale of Two Sisters

By Adele San Miguel

Hana and Amanda Moll are enriching the world of pole vault and not because they are the current reigning World Athletics U20 champion (Hana) and U.S. National High School record holder (Amanda).

The twins from Olympia, Washington do not calculate heights cleared, records broken, or meets won. They value the experience of vaulting – they get to do this. When a meet does not go to plan, they do not suffer emotionally because their self-worth does not improve or diminish based on a height cleared. They simply love to fly and they work off each other’s success.

What is it like to coach the Moll twins?

Capital High School coach, Mike Strong, has coached them in plyometrics, speed, and strength since seventh grade. The athletes are now seniors.

“What I would say to this point is the character they have shown as young women will allow them to reach limits beyond the numbers. They love the pole vault, they love practice, they love learning, and they love each other and their family. Tim and I and those close to them are engines that spark their greatness. Amanda and Hana are har- nessing the growing wind around them and that will keep them balanced.”

Their vault coach, Tim Reilly of Northwest Pole Vault says “It’s a joy and privilege, as you’d expect. Increasingly, it’s a thrilling challenge as a team member to actualize their potential while keeping them healthy and keeping it fun. Also, they are radiant young people whose love for each other is heart-melting. Getting to know and love each of them individually is a blessing and grace.

Hana and Amanda are just getting started. They will rewrite the junior and NCAA record books completely, which will impact vault development in the U.S. profoundly. Whether they eventually clear 5.15 or not, who they are and how they roll will be a story that enchants vault fans around the world.”

TAKEOFF Magazine enjoyed a delightful Zoom call with Hana and Amanda shortly after they returned from Cali, Colombia and the World Athletics U20 Championships.

TAKEOFF: Hello! Let’s start with the World Championships. Tell us about your experience.

Amanda: The travel was great. We didn’t have any problems with poles making it. The first day was also great. We just had to clear 4.05m to make it through so it was pretty easy. I went from a six step and Hana went from a seven, but then Wednesday we were all warming up and it started pouring. We had to sit inside for a couple of hours to see if they could do it on the same day. It ended up being rescheduled to Thursday, and that impacted all of us because we didn’t have a lot of food with us, just snacks, and we weren’t prepared to be sitting. But I was still fine. Then Thursday came, it was great weather, and you know, I didn’t do my best, but I still felt good. I wasn’t like, oh, my gosh, this this totally impacted my whole performance.

Hana: I learned a lot from this competition. I mean, just how to handle all the pressure of going representing my country and going out of the country to compete. That’s a lot of experience that you just have to do to get, and I think that will be really valuable going forward, going to other big meets if we do.

Amanda: Yes, I think something I learned was that the pressure is different when you’re competing for your country because it’s a lot bigger than just your high school team or your club or yourself. It’s different to learn how to deal with that pressure. I think that’s my biggest takeaway.

TAKEOFF: At what height did the finals open with?

Hana: The meet opened at 3.95 meters. I came in at that height and Mandy passed to 4.05.

TAKEOFF: What poles did you use?

Hana: We’re both on Altius brand poles, the Adrenaline series. For this competition, I was on a relatively small pole for me, but I think I peaked early on for my pole movement. I was on a 14’6 170 holding like eight inches down.

Amanda: I ended up going to 175 minus, but on my last attempt, I ended up blowing through it so I needed a bigger pole.

Hana: We have two 175‘s with different flex numbers. Minus is the one with the softer flex number.

TAKEOFF: What was it like to get to meet young vaulters from other countries?

Hana: Everyone is super nice. I had a great time and I hope I see them again. It’s really fun.

Amanda: It was definitely easier to communicate with the athletes who spoke English, but everyone was super nice. And even if English wasn’t someone’s first language, I think most of the girls were able to speak it.

TAKEOFF: Hana, what emotions were running through you as they played the national anthem?

Hana: Oh, that’s a hard one. I say pride because I was trying not to cry when they were playing that song because I think the realness of what happened set in at that moment. I was like, this is actually happening? I was pretty overwhelmed with emotion.

TAKEOFF: Amanda, when you broke the National High School record at the Texas Relays and that whole crowd stood up, and cheered, what was that feeling like for you?

Amanda: It was really exciting. I think that stadium is really special because the crowd is so close and I’m not used to that. At first, I didn’t register it because I was still in my vault and then I recognized all the noise and I was like, wow, that’s loud. It definitely filled me with energy.

TAKEOFF: Awesome! How did you get started in pole vault?

Hana: Well, we had a background in track previously. We started track on the side of gymnastics when we were nine years old. I’d been doing high jump. And then we started doing multi events and then I quit gymnastics. I was looking for a sport to focus on so my mom did some research and found pole vault. She asked us if we wanted to try it and signed us up for one of Tim’s camps. I was super excited because pole vault is very similar to all the sports I love, just getting in the air and stuff like that. I loved it from there on out, basically.

Amanda: Same story for me. I stopped gymnastics a year later. But the timing of when we both started was the same because we started right after I finished gymnastics. Hana was doing rock climbing and mountain biking. Pole vault was the sport where we dove in together.

TAKEOFF: What are some of the challenges you faced as you’ve come up through the sport, and what did you do to overcome them?

Amanda: For me, my first challenge was injuries. I had a back problem and then I’ve had little problems along the way. I dealt with those by seeking out a physical therapist and a chiropractor. I like getting ahead of injury by doing core stability and stuff like that because you’re twisting a lot and if you don’t have a strong core, there’s a lot of problems that can happen and it also benefits you.

I think doing all the preventative stuff has really helped because now I don’t have many injuries. And I also think my coaches have gotten smarter with injuries. I think it’s definitely really beneficial to find some injury prevention exercises.

The other challenge I faced was mental blocks. This has happened twice. I actually had a mental block right before I left for Colombia. Basically, I think both happened when I slipped off the pole and then I couldn’t trust myself and my plant. The first time I actually went into a spiral. Like I was thinking about it and so I wouldn’t commit and then I would feel myself slipping again. I spiraled down. And then I figured out what I was doing. What helped me out of that was going back to the basics and then building up my confidence again.

Hana: I had a similar problem a little bit before her and what helped me was spending a lot of time with my mind and telling myself that it’s okay because I needed to build confidence in myself. I bubbled up those negative thoughts and acknowledged all those fears, and let it go, which helped.

Amanda and Hana Moll

TAKEOFF: Great. Do you keep training journals?

Amanda: We’ve used to. I have one in my backpack, but it’s never stuck. It’s not something I need to have, I think.

Hana: The only time I’ve really used it recently was after a bad practice. I had these key things that I wanted to hit in my vault. I wrote them down to use as motivation so I would go for it.

TAKEOFF: What other track events do you all participate in?

Hana: This past high school year, I participated in the 4 X 100m relay where I ran the anchor leg and then the 100 meter hurdles.

Amanda: I was a part of the 4 X 100m team also, and then I did the long jump. I also do hurdles, but I didn’t this year because it was hurting my body. I decided to stick with just the sprints and long jump.

TAKEOFF: You both are very calm when competing. How do you achieve that?

Amanda: I do some visualization beforehand, and I try to be as prepared as I can so I’m not like, oh my gosh if something goes wrong. I know some things can go wrong and I just let those happen. Not having high expectations also helps. So just going in expecting nothing and being prepared.

Hana: Same thing for me. I mean, personality wise, we don’t exert our emotions very much when we’re focused. I’m usually more withdrawn to myself when I’m competing because I’m focusing and I don’t really have room for nerves.

TAKEOFF: How do you get the best from yourselves while you support another?

Hana: I think it’s important to separate ourselves and our performances and just acknowledge that we’re two different people. Like, I shouldn’t be comparing myself to her. So, if she has a good day and I don’t, I can still be happy for her because she’s not me, you know?

Amanda: I completely agree. We’re at a point where we’ve always done pretty much the same thing throughout our entire lives. We just know that we’re two different people with two different vaults and two different minds. While we do have the same genetics, different things can happen. I think we just acknowledge that part. If I see Hana doing well, I’m like, okay, she’s doing really well. And then I just come back to myself.

TAKEOFF: So, it’s really no different than being two different competitors.

Amanda: I do think it’s a little different because we can help each other emotionally. Like I can come to Hana and be like, hey, this is like what I’m struggling with, and she can help me.

Hana: I think it’s just that we don’t compete with each other in the household as much as people might think we do. I don’t see her as a competitor.

TAKEOFF: Great. Do you have any other siblings?

Hana: No, it’s just us.

TAKEOFF: What’s something people don’t know about you?

Hana: Most people don’t know that we used to race cross-country mountain biking in middle school.

Amanda: We still mountain bike, but not racing. In our off time, we like to mountain bike.

Hana: We say we rock climb. I think people know that. But we don’t talk about mountain biking as much just because it’s not as popular of a sport.

TAKEOFF: How did you get involved in cross-country mountain biking?

Hana: My dad’s a big mountain biker. I was at a point where I wasn’t doing gymnastics anymore so I was exploring my options for sports. I’ve always liked mountain biking, so we decided to train.

Amanda: I think when we were younger and we did gymnastics we were fortunate enough to be part of a club that wasn’t all consuming. We had time to do other things. Our dad would sometimes take us mountain biking. And one of our family friends started a mountain biking club around the time we were exploring sports and their daughter is one of our friends. We just started doing that together and then we decided to race and train for it.

TAKEOFF: How do you train for that?

Hana: Well, we’re fortunate enough to live half an hour away from a forest with miles and miles of trails, good ones, too. So, we just go out for a ride.

Amanda: I would compare it to running, you know, like you can go outside and run, but you can also go on the treadmill. For biking, you could do the elliptical, but you can also go out on the trails. I prefer going out on the trails.

TAKEOFF: What does a typical pole vault training week look like for you?

Hana: Typically, no matter the season, we vault two days a week and then usually sprint a couple of times a week and then we’re off one or two days , I’d say.

Amanda: I always have one day of rest and we do stuff on the side of sprinting, like plyometrics or lifting. But usually, it’s a rest day or two and then training and then two days of pole vaulting.

TAKEOFF: And do you sprint with Coach Strong?

Amanda: Yes. Pole vault is an hour to an hour and a half away depending on traffic. We do everything else here in Olympia, and Coach Strong’s an amazing coach.

TAKEOFF: What is amazing about him?

Hana: He knows so much about track. He’s been involved with it for a long time.

Amanda: If you talk to him, you can tell he knows his stuff and he’s just a great person.

Hana: He’s super invested in what he does. He’s always looking for new training and for what might benefit us. That combination of wanting to learn and already knowing a lot is what makes him really great. And he’s a good person too.

TAKEOFF: What’s it like to train with Coach Tim?

Amanda: I think he’s so great be cause he allows you space to learn when you jump. He will ask what do you think you did? And what do you want to work on? And then he gives his advice.

Hana: He guides you, but he never pushes you. He gives you a small bit of advice, and doesn’t overwhelm you with advice, which I also think is very important because coaches could easily give you three things you need to work on. But he focuses on one thing at a time. And I think that’s really important for understanding your goal and improving and keeping that improvement.

Amanda: He’s very emotionally aware and he’s a very good teacher.

TAKEOFF: What is next for you? Is your season over?

Both: Yep. Yep, we’re done.

Amanda: We usually have a month and a half or two months off. We had a longer season, so we might have a little less time. But now, we’re just going to actively rest. We’re going to do our fun activities like rock climbing, mountain biking, and then family and friends and get ready for school, too.

TAKEOFF: Are you looking forward to your senior years?

Amanda: I think so. Looking forward to taking classes I like more than last year.

TAKEOFF: Junior year can be tough. What are you thinking about beyond senior year?

Hana: Definitely vaulting at a four year college. We’re planning on going to a four year college together and then, I don’t know, after that maybe we’ll go pro. We’ll see. Right now we’re planning to go to college and then we’ll figure the rest out.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Hana and Amanda recently committed to the University of Washington. We wish them every succes!

Hana Moll