On the strength of an outstanding track and field career at Mahar Regional School, Sienna Moore has launched herself onto an NCAA Division I program for the 2022-23 track season.
Moore will be transitioning from a Senator to a Crusader, when she takes her pole vaulting skills to the College of the Holy Cross.
But first, Moore has to worry about her senior track season in Orange, and she’s coming off a unique junior year.
Going into her junior campaign, Moore injured an already aggravated ankle on the first day of practice. This resulted in her missing five weeks of her track season.
“On the first day of track practice, I was warming up and I jumped and I landed on it wrong,” Moore said.
Moore still managed to get in just enough practice to compete in the Central/West Division 2 championship. But competing wasn’t enough for Moore. She blew the competition away by winning the pole vault and breaking a school record while doing so. The number to beat for future athletes is 10 feet, four inches.
“It was definitely special especially since it was one of the only meets I had [been able to compete in] that year,” Moore said. “It was exciting to say the least.”
This isn’t the first time that Moore has dominated a sectional championship meet. As a freshman, Moore won the pole vault at the Western Mass. Division 2 championship with a height of 9-6. That same year, she also won the Central/West Division 2 championship with a height of 10 feet even.
She has been improving ever since.
It’s no question why Moore has exceptional skills in pole vault. She has multiple former track stars in her family, including her father, Daniel Moore, who is still in the record books at Mahar … also for pole vault.
“He had me out in the yard before I even got into seventh grade, practicing drills,” Moore said. “I definitely got the interest from him.”
Moore is going to need to continue these practice sessions with her father if she’s going to reach the goals she has set out for her senior year.
“I’m hoping to get 11 [feet], six [inches] by the end of this season,” Moore said.
Over the summer of 2021, Moore inched closer to this goal. She was able to reach 10 feet, six inches at one of her meets. Now she has one final high school season left to extend her personal best by a whole foot before she becomes a Holy Cross Crusader.
There were no doubts in Moore’s mind when she decided to make Worcester her collegiate home. After meeting with the coach and track athletes at Holy Cross, Moore was sold. In fact, she didn’t apply to any other school.
“I just liked the community of the team. It just seemed like they were a big family and that was important to me,” Moore said.
Outside of the vaulting world, Moore is looking forward to declaring her major when she becomes a sophomore at Holy Cross. She wants to pursue a degree in general biology with the hopes of one day becoming a veterinarian or genetics counselor.
Moore won’t be doing all of her learning inside the classroom, however. Her main goal for her freshman year is to take in everything her coaches teach her and apply it to her performance during the season. She will be striving to improve herself as a pole vaulter. Breaking records will come later.
“The coaches at Holy Cross are very knowledgeable, so I’m hoping that extra time with them is going to help me improve my form and skills and my vaulting overall.”
The Senators begin their outdoor track season on April 5 with a home meet against rival Athol.