Katie Jones didn't think her coach understood what she mouthed to him from the runway at The Armory.
But Matt Concannon knew.
I'm winning this.
After clearing 13 feet, 6.25 inches at New Balance Nationals Indoor on March 12 in New York City, Jones found herself second to the reigning national champion, Carson Dingler, who had just cleared 13-6.25, too.
An uncharacteristic early miss by Jones put Dingler, who was clean in attempts, in the lead heading into their next efforts at 13-9.25.
Doubt could have begun to sink its teeth into any competitor. But Jones didn't let it.
I'm winning this.
"After that, there wasn't a doubt in me that she wasn't going to win," Concannon said.
Jones didn't disappoint. After missing her first attempt at 13-9.25, she went clean over her second effort, with it breaking her own Pennsylvania state record.
When Dingler missed on her final attempts, Jones had done it. A national championship.
Jones lives for the big meet atmosphere. It's no surprise her finest career jumps have come on the grandest stages. But it's within the confines of a large warehouse in the middle of Pennsylvania where Jones developed into the best of the best in her craft.
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Every Tuesday and Thursday -- and sometimes Sunday -- Jones has gotten into her parents' car and made a two-hour commute from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to Camp Hill for pole vault practice.
She's been making the drive for the last year and a half. And yet, the South Williamsport High School senior never seemed to mind much.
How could she? A Penn State University signee, Jones has accomplished all that you could ask, winning three PIAA titles, nabbing an indoor state record, and most recently, earning a national indoor crown.
And she's still got one spring left.
"You just get home late," Jones said of the habit. "That's just kind of what happens. It's what we do now."
In the fall of 2015, Jones and her family made the decision to start attending VaultWorX, a pole vault-specific club that was founded by Concannon in Camp Hill. It was located just minutes from Harrisburg and a trip across the Susquehanna River.
Since then, Jones has gone from an 11-foot vaulter to the greatest female pole vaulter in Pennsylvania history.
Jones is ready for even bigger things this spring.
She has her sights on the clearing the 14-foot barrier before her high school career is over, while possibly earning a national record in the process -- that currently stands at 14-7.5.
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It's a common thread for pole vaulters.
Gymnastics to the runway.
Jones, who was a competitive gymnast for much of her young life, made the switch when she entered high school. She stopped gymnastics after seventh grade and spent the next year as a manager for the track team.
It was then that she saw a local ex-gymnast doing fairly well in the pole vault. Jones decided to give the sport a try by heading into her freshman year of high school at South Williamsport.
She trained under coach Eric Hughes during her freshman year and then Ted Deljanovan in her sophomore season.
Jones was good early. She qualified for the PIAA Class AA Championships in both years, just missing a medal as a freshman and taking fourth as a sophomore. Her personal-best sat at 11-feet.
But both Hughes and Deljanovan left after those respective seasons to pursue other career opportunities. It was then that Jones and her parents started discussing other options.
"My dad brought up VaultWorX, because some guy talked to him at states about it," Jones said.
That guy turned out to be Concannon. Better yet, he first noticed Jones that spring.
"I saw her for the first time at the outdoor state meet and I saw her come down the runway and I thought, 'Wow, that's a special girl right there,'" Concannon said. "As coaches, you see some great athletes that make you say 'Wow.'"
Jones competes at the PIAA State Championships as a freshman in 2014 (Photo by Megan Zeller)
While Concannon was impressed by Jones that spring, he also noticed major flaws with her approach.
With the blessing of a new coaching staff at South Williamsport, Jones sought out the help of the growing central Pennsylvania group.
"At the end of my sophomore year, my parents asked me, 'Do you want to take this to the next level? Do you want to be good?'" Jones remembers. "And I told them yes."
When Concannon met with Jones at the VaultWorX facility, he instantly noticed something different. For most prospective athletes, he had taken time to explain what the club was about and go through the training "model."
Instead, Jones took control of the conversation.
"She was interviewing us," Concannon said. "We weren't sure what to expect out of a club," Jones said.
"We didn't want it to be a factory system. We didn't want it to be like they didn't care about the vaulters and just wanted to make money. That was not at all what VaultWorX was about.
"We wanted to make sure he was a good coach before we got all in to it. It's a two-hour commute each way, and it needed to be worth it for us to go down there two or three times a week."
It didn't long for Jones to realize that much. Concannon was in it for the right reasons.
So from there, it was time to get to work.
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A business owner at the time, he turned down countless requests to coach vaulters from other schools. But eventually, he relented in 2010.
He started coaching an athlete from Red Land, a sister school. Then one athlete grew to a dozen, and Concannon soon had a vaulting pit in his backyard.
When the temperatures dropped, Concannon saw a need for an indoor facility. Parents told him he should charge for his coaching to make that happen.
He took them up on the suggestion, selecting what he calls a "real crappy warehouse," before he moved to a more modern location.
"For five years, it was a hobby; everything that came in went back to supporting VaultWorX," Concannon said. "Then my other business started to die, because I was spending so much time at VaultWorX.
"At that point, I needed to start paying coaches and paying myself to be able to support my family," he continued.
And VaultWorX continues to grow. The club has consistently fielded athletes who appear in the state rankings and on the championship podium since its inception in 2010. Five of the 12 entries at this year's Millrose Games junior girls pole vault were VaultWorX athletes.
At the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor State Championship in February, three VaultWorX girls and three boys earned medals.
One of those boys is East Pennsboro's Payton Morris, the silver medalist on the boys' side this past winter and a threat to go over 16 feet this spring.
The facility is 10,000-square feet and consists of three pits. Two have full runways. The location in Camp Hill has provided an opportunity in the region for many athletes to get better. With a specialized event like the pole vault, the right coach and access to proper equipment and facilities can make all the difference.
"Some of the bigger schools have all the equipment they need, and other kids didn't have that equipment," Concannon said. "They were getting beat because they didn't have the right equipment.
"It's all about giving talented athletes the opportunity to jump the highest they possibly can," he added. "If the end result is that the heights are being raised and the standards are going up, and if we're a part of that, then that's awesome."
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She was strong on the top of her jump, but she needed work on the finer points -- a stronger plant and a better pole carry and shift.
After just two sessions, Concannon saw that she had already mastered those techniques.
"I've coached a lot of athletes, but that was something else," he said.
That was in early November. By the time December rolled around, Jones was already clearing 12-feet consistently, just in time for the indoor season.
"Vaulting takes a while, whether you're talented or not," Concannon said. "You gotta get used to raising your grip, getting on better poles, and she was on way bigger poles in three or four months."
And Jones knew the potential was there. As a sophomore, she cleared 11-feet with room to spare, but when the bar went up to 11-6, it became mental. She was also going over on her back at that time, a much less efficient style, she said.
"At [South Williamsport], we have a pole vault pit and a runway, but it's not great," Jones said. "Sophomore year, I just didn't get enough reps. The thing VaultWorX helped me with was getting on the right poles and getting more reps."
Simple repetition, she said, is the key to getting better in the pole vault.
"Look at Mondo Duplantis," she said. "He vaulted his entire life, and it's really paying off for him."
That two-hour commute may have played a role in her development as a pole vaulter, too.
While it had its drawbacks, Jones certainly saw plenty of benefits. Sometimes she did homework in the car, but often times she spent the ride back to Williamsport reviewing her training videos and critiquing her jumps.
"I think it's helped me a little bit because … I would watch the videos the whole way home, really studying my film," Jones said.
In her junior year, Jones took second at the Millrose Games, setting a personal best of 12-11.5. After that, Jones cleared 12-6 to win the PTFCA Indoor State Championship (just missing on a 13 foot attempt) and took third at New Balance Nationals Indoor.
Jones' junior outdoor season was a flawless through states. She went undefeated, picking up high profile wins at Penn Relays and the Nike Henderson Invitational.
At outdoor states, she cleared 13 feet to break the PIAA Class AA meet record. At nationals, she placed third.
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Jones at the Kevin Dare Invitational this past winter (Photo by Don Rich)
Pole vaulting is a tricky game. It may not always be the fastest or strongest that wins. Sometimes it's all about having the perfect mix of talent and attitude.
Concannon believes no one epitomizes that balance more than Jones.
"She is not the fastest girl we have; she's probably down the list," he said. "Other girls have a better technical jump, but when you put together the mental, the competitive fire, and her positive attitude, she just cannot be stopped."
While some have to learn how to be mentally tough, Concannon said Jones walked through his doors with that in tow.
In fact, he had to get used to that intensity.
"You can't skate through a practice as a coach when Katie is around," he said.
She's also developed into a leader among her peers. Jones has played a big role in the development of some of the other VaultWorX gems, such as Spring Grove's Nathalie Elliott, Loyalsock's Hailey Zurich, and Manheim Township's Mackenzie Horn and Courtney German.
Hempfield's Carena Nottoli, who cleared 12-9 indoors and took second at states in Febuary, has provided good intrasquad competition for Jones.
"I find it very important to have student athlete leaders set the tone and Katie does that," Concannon said. "She encourages everybody. She is the standard and she's going to be greatly missed next year."
Jones is more bashful.
"I like to consider myself a leader," she laughed. "I think they look up to me -- I'm not sure, though."
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Jones and Concannon embrace after she won at New Balance Nationals Indoor
After a strong junior season, Jones was looking for more at the start of indoors.
She fine-tuned aspects of her jump over the summer and was ready -- even the weakest part of her approach--her run--was much improved in the offseason.
But Jones said she wasn't fully healthy. An IT band injury she suffered during soccer had hampered her all winter.
"I'm still recovering from that. It's still nagging," she admitted. "My run can get better. I can't do running workouts this season."
That may have been hard for most onlookers to notice this, though. Jones rolled through the early part of her schedule, notching wins at Dickinson, the Burdette Classic and the Kevin Dare Invitational.
On January 28, she journeyed to Boston for the New Balance Grand Prix. Competing against an elite field, which included indoor world record holder Jenn Suhr, Jones shined.
She cleared 13-6.5, breaking Abby Schaffer's 2008 state record. On February 11, she cleared 13-0.25 to win the Millrose Games.
A few weeks later, she went over 13 feet to win her second straight PTFCA indoor state title.
But at indoor states, she fell short of the state meet record, and while she was happy to win another state crown, she was hungry for more.
"I knew a big jump was coming because I hadn't jumped big since Boston," she said. "I knew I had it in me. I was mad after states."
It was all set up for a big jump at The Armory for New Balance Nationals Indoor.
The defending national indoor champion, Dingler, was there. Same for Becky Arbiv of Georgia, who cleared 13-7 earlier that winter.
Early on, however, Jones missed her first attempt at 12-6.
"I made a stupid mistake and came down on the bar," she said.
After a discussion with Concannon, she realized it was an easy fix, and refocused. She was easily over 12-6, 12-10 and then 13-2, but found herself in fifth place because of the earlier miss.
"That's a miss she's not used to having that early in a competition," Concannon said. "But right away she wasn't thinking that she blew it. She's thinking 'I'm going to jump higher than everybody.'" 
Back to 13-9.25 along with Dingler, Jones would have to clear it for the national title.
On her first attempt, Jones got over, but as she hit the mat the bar fell.
"At that moment I thought, 'that's the national championship right there---we just missed our chance,'" Concannon admitted. "It's hard to do that two jumps in a row."
But Jones amazed her coach one more time. She put down an even better jump on her second attempt and cleared 13-9.25, a new PR.
After Dingler failed to convert on her final attempts, it was over.
Katie Jones, National Champion.
"It makes the whole trip worth it, and it makes all the hard work you put into the sport worth it, too," Jones said.
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A week after indoor nationals, Jones was back at the VaultWorX Facility.
Back to another training session.
She and Concannon had work to do fixing a long step on her approach. Even after the big win, Concannon was still trying to find areas where he felt Jones could get better.
The coach saw those improvements at the session.
"The fact that she improving after she just won a national title is pretty exciting," Concannon said. "So I'm at practice feeling excited and invigorated about what she's going to do coming up on outdoors."
This spring, Jones has her sights set more history. Lindsay Regan's outdoor pole vault record of 13-6 has stood since 2005. That will be first on the list.
Next will be clearing 14 feet.
After that, can she challenge the national record of 14-7.5, which was accomplished by Cabot (AR) High's Alexis Weeks in 2015?
Jones thinks so.
"I think I had the capabilities to jump above Lexi Weeks' record," Jones said. "It's just putting it all together at a meet---getting on the right pole with the right grip---I think I can definitely get that record."
Concannon sees big things ahead, too.
"As a coach, you're just looking to get that next three inches out of them," he said. "I don't see any end to her improvement, and I still see a lot of areas where she can get better. She still has a long way to go. She's gonna peak a few years out in college.
"I saw her as a 13-footer on day one and I see her as a 15-footer right now."
Jones is slated to open her season at the Molly Dry Invitational at Mansfield University on April 13. Her schedule will include stops at Lock Haven, the Penn Relays and Henderson before heading into the championship season.
Jones has targeted some of those big meets to go after some historic heights.
And whatever happens, it was worth the drive.
