Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Sports Xtra: From Living on Wakeforest Street to Pole Vaulting at Wake Forest University
3/4/2022 12:00:00 PM | Track and Field
As Ahrens became a prolific high school pole vaulter and started searching for the right college destination, she came to realize that not only was Wake Forest University an actual school, it was the right place for her.
Jill Ahrens grew up in a Houston subdivision in which the streets were named after colleges. Right around the corner from her was Rice Street, Vanderbilt Street and Duke Street.
Ahrens just happened to live on Wakeforest Street and at a young age was confused why her street wasn't the name of a college like all those surrounding.
"How come we aren't on a college street?" Ahrens said she thought at the time. "It's ironic that's where I went, because for the longest time as a kid I didn't even think it was a school."
As Ahrens became a prolific high school pole vaulter and started searching for the right college destination, she came to realize that not only was Wake Forest University an actual school, it was the right place for her.
"I had a long list of what I was looking for in a school, but I didn't really know where that would be," Ahrens said. "I was looking for a small school that had college football, Division 1 sports for track and small class sizes. I also hated the cold, so I didn't want anything North of the Mason-Dixon line."
Her counselor at the small private school in Houston she attended looked at the criteria and suggested she apply at Wake Forest. The years of subliminal street-sign messaging took its toll, and Ahrens arranged a visit.
"When you first step on campus, the overall beauty is incomparable," Ahrens said about both her visit and overall experience in Winston-Salem. "One of the biggest shocks for me was the changing of the seasons. Coming from Texas, seeing the leaves change was just phenomenal. We had four-or-five snow days my freshman year, which also was very new to me.
"I didn't know how to run outside with cold-weather gear, because we didn't really have to deal with that in Texas, But I loved all those things and love coming back in the fall to experience them. It's easy to forget how beautiful it is until you come back."
Ahrens quit gymnastics in sixth grade and was quickly invited to the track team, where she gravitated toward pole vaulting.
"You'll see a lot of former gymnasts, including me, who will convert to pole vaulting," she said. "The skills correlate well together."
"It has some tricky pieces to it. You have to be fast, because you're running down the runway. You need courage and bravery, because you're launching yourself hopefully 12-14 feet in the air. You need body awareness and be incredibly strong to control all that on a pole while you're running full-steam ahead."
After winning several meets in middle and high school, Ahrens realized it was something she was good at and something that she wanted to be a priority when she was in college.
"One of the important factors was track, that they would have a spot for me and I'd be part of the equation," Ahrens said. "The academics and athletics went hand-in-hand for me."
"I grew up when pole vaulting was still new and we were breaking records all over the place. We were getting invited as females to things for the first time quite often."
She set both the indoor and outdoor record for pole vaulting as a sophomore in 2005, hitting 11-05 ¾ in three different meets.
"It held for a while," Ahrens said about the record. "I remember getting a call when it fell a few years ago. I'm happy to see the people behind me be successful. It was a fun time to be vaulting because it was so new."
Being an avid sports fan, she made the most of her time at Wake Forest not just competing on the track herself, but also in the stands celebrating the many successes across the athletic department during that era.
"You always wanted to experience as much of campus life as possible in the fall, because the schedule in the spring got so hectic with travel and track," Ahrens said. "I grew up really into sports, so I went to baseball, basketball and football games all the time with my friend group. We wanted to support the other teams.
"I always claim that I was at the heyday of Wake Forest Athletics. When I was there, we went to the Orange Bowl. We won the ACC Championship and I was there. I was going to Wake Forest during the Chris Paul era. We had some basketball brilliance and some heartbreak. We won the College Cup and the Field Hockey team was great as well. It was a fun time to be a Deac."
Ahrens, a Double Deac with both a bachelor's and master's in accounting, is back in Houston where she is a Partner at Ernst & Young. Her parents still live on Wakeforest Street.
"I'm still an avid Deacon fan," Ahrens said. "For nearly a decade I was the alumni president in the Houston area. All my coworkers know about Wake Forest, because I talk about the Deacs all the time. Not many people meet me and don't know I went to Wake Forest. It's one of those things I'm proud of and talk about frequently."
Ahrens just happened to live on Wakeforest Street and at a young age was confused why her street wasn't the name of a college like all those surrounding.
"How come we aren't on a college street?" Ahrens said she thought at the time. "It's ironic that's where I went, because for the longest time as a kid I didn't even think it was a school."
As Ahrens became a prolific high school pole vaulter and started searching for the right college destination, she came to realize that not only was Wake Forest University an actual school, it was the right place for her.
"I had a long list of what I was looking for in a school, but I didn't really know where that would be," Ahrens said. "I was looking for a small school that had college football, Division 1 sports for track and small class sizes. I also hated the cold, so I didn't want anything North of the Mason-Dixon line."
Her counselor at the small private school in Houston she attended looked at the criteria and suggested she apply at Wake Forest. The years of subliminal street-sign messaging took its toll, and Ahrens arranged a visit.
"When you first step on campus, the overall beauty is incomparable," Ahrens said about both her visit and overall experience in Winston-Salem. "One of the biggest shocks for me was the changing of the seasons. Coming from Texas, seeing the leaves change was just phenomenal. We had four-or-five snow days my freshman year, which also was very new to me.
"I didn't know how to run outside with cold-weather gear, because we didn't really have to deal with that in Texas, But I loved all those things and love coming back in the fall to experience them. It's easy to forget how beautiful it is until you come back."
Ahrens quit gymnastics in sixth grade and was quickly invited to the track team, where she gravitated toward pole vaulting.
"You'll see a lot of former gymnasts, including me, who will convert to pole vaulting," she said. "The skills correlate well together."
"It has some tricky pieces to it. You have to be fast, because you're running down the runway. You need courage and bravery, because you're launching yourself hopefully 12-14 feet in the air. You need body awareness and be incredibly strong to control all that on a pole while you're running full-steam ahead."
After winning several meets in middle and high school, Ahrens realized it was something she was good at and something that she wanted to be a priority when she was in college.
"One of the important factors was track, that they would have a spot for me and I'd be part of the equation," Ahrens said. "The academics and athletics went hand-in-hand for me."
"I grew up when pole vaulting was still new and we were breaking records all over the place. We were getting invited as females to things for the first time quite often."
She set both the indoor and outdoor record for pole vaulting as a sophomore in 2005, hitting 11-05 ¾ in three different meets.
"It held for a while," Ahrens said about the record. "I remember getting a call when it fell a few years ago. I'm happy to see the people behind me be successful. It was a fun time to be vaulting because it was so new."
Being an avid sports fan, she made the most of her time at Wake Forest not just competing on the track herself, but also in the stands celebrating the many successes across the athletic department during that era.
"You always wanted to experience as much of campus life as possible in the fall, because the schedule in the spring got so hectic with travel and track," Ahrens said. "I grew up really into sports, so I went to baseball, basketball and football games all the time with my friend group. We wanted to support the other teams.
"I always claim that I was at the heyday of Wake Forest Athletics. When I was there, we went to the Orange Bowl. We won the ACC Championship and I was there. I was going to Wake Forest during the Chris Paul era. We had some basketball brilliance and some heartbreak. We won the College Cup and the Field Hockey team was great as well. It was a fun time to be a Deac."
Ahrens, a Double Deac with both a bachelor's and master's in accounting, is back in Houston where she is a Partner at Ernst & Young. Her parents still live on Wakeforest Street.
"I'm still an avid Deacon fan," Ahrens said. "For nearly a decade I was the alumni president in the Houston area. All my coworkers know about Wake Forest, because I talk about the Deacs all the time. Not many people meet me and don't know I went to Wake Forest. It's one of those things I'm proud of and talk about frequently."
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