Apr 4, 2025 By For the Greene County Messenger 2 min read

Former Waynesburg Central standout Drew Layton earned first team All-America honors and broke the Slippery Rock and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference records in the pole vault at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships that were held in Indianapolis.

Layton earned his second career All-America honor after picking up second-team honors last May at the outdoor national meet when he placed 10th. He upped that recognition to first team honors and earned his first career podium finish with a sixth-place finish while making his indoor nationals debut.

A sophomore, Layton entered the meet seeded 17th out of 18 vaulters with his career-best vault of 16-7 1/4. He was clean over the first two bars of the competition at 15-10 ½ and 16-4 ½ before his first miss.

Layton cleared the bar at 16-10 1/4 on his second attempt, setting a new career-best and advancing to 17-2 1/4 with 14 other vaulters still in the competition. After missing his first attempt, Layton cleared the mark on his second try to give him his first career clearance at a bar higher than 17 feet.

That vault locked up a sixth-place finish after he missed three attempts at 17-6 1/4.

Layton broke the Slippery Rock indoor record of 17-0¾ that had stood since 2013. It also topped the PSAC record of 17-1 that was set in 2019.