On the ground at Brown University’s Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, throwers were stretching, runners were sprinting and jumpers were getting ready for their jumps. Five meters and 20 centimeters above the ground, Dartmouth pole vaulter David Adams ’26 soared into the program’s history books. With a 5.2-meter vault at the Brown Invitational this Saturday, Adams broke the program record — 5.18 meters — that he had set in 2023.
“I turned my brain off a little bit, trusted my instincts and jumped,” Adams said. “When I was falling, I realized that [the crossbar] was still up there, and yeah — it was super relieving.”
Relief might have been the overwhelming feeling for Adams — who said he had been “waiting for that bar for a minute” — but for his teammates and coaches, the moment was one of pride and awe.
“It was picturesque,” pole vaulter Madeline Kaufman ’28 said. “I was warming up for my competition, and I see Dave 17 feet in the air. … I couldn’t see what the height was, but I was just super excited.”
Jumps and pole vault head coach Amanda Kulas credited the historic jump to Adams’s progress over the last year, adding that she knew he could break the record before he even lifted off.
“His approach was eight lefts, and on his second left, I was like, ‘Oh, he’s got this,’” Kulas said. “Both of us were just kind of in that moment, ‘Oh, my God, that just happened.’”
While it might have appeared like a picture-perfect jump to those on the sidelines, Adams said it was actually “not a very clean vault” — and even required split-second adjustments to pull off.
“I plant[ed] [the pole] across my face and I took off too far under,” Adams explained. “But I applied a lot of top arm pressure, got the poll to roll into the position I wanted, inverted and went for it. You don’t need to be perfect, but you need to be able to adapt.”
The adaptability Adams showed off comes from years of experience, as well as dedicated coaching from Kulas. The coach is in her first year at Dartmouth after spending three years on the Bowdoin Track and Field coaching staff. She did not make this transition on her own: the track and field coaching staff experienced major turnover in the past year. While staff changes are never easy, Kulas and the rest of the team have adjusted seamlessly to the new environment.
“It’s been a really easy transition,” Kulas said. “Everybody’s really bought into the goals. We are setting big goals, but also taking care of each other, and I always say, ‘Love, trust and respect is what I build my coaching foundations on,’ and I think it’s been going really well.”
The athletes have noticed the bond the coaches have with one another — and have seen it translate to the track. According to team members, the new coaching staff has breathed new life into the program, from helping them through practices to cheering them on during meets.
“The group of them works together so well — they’re all best friends,” Kaufman said. “But they know how to lock in and help us all get what we need to get done, done.”
For Adams, Kulas and the staff have been especially pivotal to helping him recover from a hip injury that kept him out his whole sophomore year.
“I love them,” Adams said. “They bring a good energy to the track anytime we’re in there, and [Coach Kulas] has been very helpful with everything — especially with the injury and trying to get me what I need to succeed.”
The injury forced Adams to take a different role on the team, one which included plenty more coaching and advice. His recovery over the last two years, culminating in his most recent record, is a token of his hard work and passion — an inspiration for his pole vaulter teammates.
“Seeing him work so hard at his physical therapy and still show up to practice last year — it was just very exciting to see it all come together for someone who works so hard and truly loves the sport so much,” pole vaulter Ellison Weiner ’27 said.
Weiner’s sentiments were echoed by Kaufman, who has attributed a significant part of her growth through her freshman season to her teammates.
“I get so much insight from the team, and especially Dave,” Kaufman said. “He loves to coach and help out, and I take his advice as if he was my coach, because he knows so much about pole vault.”
For Sam Starrs ’26 — who entered Dartmouth alongside Adams and is the only other male pole vaulter on the team — Adams is not only a coach but a “brother.” He added that the relationship is one in which they build off each other.
“After we both committed to Dartmouth in our senior year of high school, I would PR and he would PR and we kept out doing one another, so we had a competitive dynamic established before we got here,” Starrs said. “Once we got here, he took off with his pole vaulting, and we do pretty much all of our training together, which is super fun and super special.”
Along with the physical recovery from his hip injury, Adams also had to regain his mental confidence. In a sport which requires one to leap in the air using a pole, mental strength can be just as vital as physical fitness. Aware of this, Kulas and the staff work hard during practice and meets to establish a calm gameday mindset.
“Something I say a lot to Dave is, ‘Be exciting, not excited,’” Kulas said. “‘Keep everything cool and collected but also, be exciting to watch.’ Something that we started doing midway through [the indoor season] was writing a positive affirmation — like, ‘I’m strong and confident’ — and what their process goal is, so when they go on Saturday they know the things to remind themselves of.”
The Brown Invitational may have been the last event of the regular season, but more competition awaits.. This weekend, the Big Green will travel to Cornell University for the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships. While there are major goals and expectations for the team — especially for Adams, who carries forward the momentum of a record-breaking leap — the team is focused on process rather than results. Athletes and coaching staff alike are going into the high-pressure environment like they would any other.
“It’s just another meet,” Kulas said. “My goal was that they felt really good going into this championship weekend and that we got there healthy and we got there happy, and we’ve done a great job at that.”
