Bloomington’s Ifft win 2026 Clutch Sports Media Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year

Claudia Ifft proved that continuing to work hard will lead you to where you want to be, even if it requires a lot of patience. 

The Bloomington pole vaulter qualified for the Class 3A state finals all four years of high school, finishing sixth in her freshman year before consecutive fifth-place finishes in her sophomore and junior years. But in 2026, Ifft broke through to win her long-awaited state title.

In doing so, Ifft became the fourth member of her family to win an IHSA state title in the pole vault. Her sister, Kassadee, won a Class 2A state title at Prairie Central in 2015, her brother Chandlar won a state title — also at Prairie Central — in 2019 and her sister, Lilliana, won a Class 3A state title at Bloomington in 2021. Claudia, the second-youngest in her family, gave Bloomington its 12th state championship winner in program history. 

Ifft won 11 meets combined between the indoor and outdoor season in her senior year, including the Bloomington/Normal Intercity Meet, the Big 12 Conference Meet and the Illinois Top Times Championships. All 11 of her heights cleared the Class 3A state qualifying standard by at least one foot and she set a new personal best height of 12 feet, 10 inches to win the state title over Normal U-High’s Caty Minton. That height was the top mark by any high school girls pole vaulter in Illinois this season.

During her high school career, Ifft won Intercity and Big 12 titles in all four seasons and was a three-time sectional title winner. She also won three Big 12 Conference Indoor titles and finished inside the top 10 at the Illinois Top Times Championships in all four years. Ifft was a first team selection on Clutch Sports Media’s 2026 Girls Track and Field All-Area Team.

Hear more about Ifft’s season and her career in our interview with her below. Some answers have been minimally edited for clarity.

What have you been able to reflect and look back on since the season has ended? 

“It's such a blessing because I had been working so hard just for this result, getting first at state,” Ifft said. “Every year, you would go down to Eastern [Illinois University] and the same thing is expected of you and some of us are expecting to have a gold medal to be around our necks when we walk back home. The years in the past were kind of frustrating and I'm reflecting on, like, ‘Man, I did work so hard for this,’ and it's not just because I did something this season, or just because two weeks ago, I got on a different pole or something. I've been working hard since my freshman year and I've been proud of myself, and thankful that the work has definitely paid off. I'm glad I stayed patient with it and I'm glad that I stuck with the workouts and stuck with everything to get that result.”

What inspired your love for the sport?

“I've done a few sports, I've played volleyball, I've done swimming. I did cross country all in junior high and I did gymnastics,” Ifft said. “Every single one of my siblings has tried [pole vault], not all of them have stuck with it and that's okay. But I did gymnastics for a long time and then my siblings, when I got older, said ‘Claudia, you seem like you got all the muscle groups for [pole vault], you might as well try it.’ I said ‘I guess I‘'ll try it, why not?’ So barefoot, I tried pole vault actually, for the first time and I was just kind of messing around with it, and then just seeing if I liked it. I didn't really want any pressure to do it and I went for the first time, I was like, ‘Man, this is actually kind of fun’ so I kept going back with my other siblings. Of course, when they would go to practice, I would just get my own little section at the end where my siblings will help me. Then I just eventually started going to practice and it just kind of stuck.”

How much as your family helped you and what’s your relationship like with your siblings?

“I have a pretty big family, so our family is really, really close to each other,” Ifft said. “Growing up, it was always like if we weren't eating inside or cleaning up dinner, we were outside playing some kind of game or some kind of backyard baseball so we're super, super close. I grew up going to all of their meets and my brothers wrestled for a bit, and when it came to the outdoor track season, I went to all their meets and went to every state meet, so I got a ton of experience just from watching, that definitely made a difference. They text me before every meet and they give me a few good reminders, and saying ‘You got this, you've been working super hard for this’, just a ton of support. The day of [state], my siblings were texting me from Indiana and Texas and I would get the little reminders on my watch, and it was really, really sweet. That's what really kept me going. It was really hot outside, and like three and a half hours of competing. I would keep getting those really sweet reminders on my watch while I was vaulting, and we’re very, very close. I'm super grateful for all of them and the sort of support they've given me.”

What’s a motto or mindset you take when you’re competing?

“For me, I like to stay consistent so staying clean, staying consistent so that’s something I personally focus on. My coaches would say that consistency is comfort so they like to make me uncomfortable in a good way. I like to go into competition hoping for a consistent, clean meet, and for the most part for that state meet I was consistent besides like one bar. But being consistent and staying clean is what I go into my meets saying and telling myself.”

Aside from winning, what was your favorite memory of the season?

“After I had won state, like after the other competitor had gotten out and I was still vaulting but my coach comes up to me and he is one of the most serious [people],” Ifft said. “He understands everything because Zach Bradford is his son and he's off vaulting at massive world meets. He comes up and I'm asking him ‘Hey, what are we doing now?’ and he goes ‘Claudia, you really worked hard for this’ and he's like tearing up and it meant so much to see him just as invested as I was. I had not known I had such an impact. It was really, really heartwarming and it started to make me emotional on the track…but that was super special. And then my teammate, after the whole meet was said and done, she came down the track and she gave me the biggest hug and that was awesome.”

What are your future plans or aspirations?

“I'm going to [Illinois] Wesleyan for my first year so we're going to see what that has in store for us,” Ifft said. “Obviously, I'm staying in town, so I live in Bloomington but seeing all we can do there. My goal personally, I want to make it to the national meet, which looks like it could be in store, and I want to clear that 13 foot bar sooner than later. That would do loads for me.”