Texas A&M Signs One of the Nation’s Top Pole Vaulters

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M women’s track & field program lands one of the nation’s premier high school pole vaulter in signing Heather Abadie to a National Letter of Intent, head coach Pat Henry announced Tuesday evening.

"Heather is a very talented pole vaulter, she's the best in Louisiana and if not the best in the country," Henry stated. "She was Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year in Louisiana as a junior. Overall she is just a good athlete, she does other events and hurdles on her high school track team and that just helps her become a better athlete."

As a junior, Abadie was named the 2019-20 Gatorade Louisiana Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. During the 2020 outdoor season, Abadie ranked No. 1 in the Bayou state and No. 9 in the nation at 4.06m/13-4. She won the AAU National Pole Vault Invitational clearing 4.03m/13-3.

Most notably she cleared a personal best height (4.06m/13-4) to win the Louisiana Pole Vault Compound Meet. In total she won seven of the eight vault competitions she entered during the outdoor season.

During the 2019 indoor season she cleared an indoor personal best mark of 4.00m/13-1.5 to claim the LHSAA Indoor State Championship, her mark ranked No. 1 in Louisiana and No. 10 in the nation. She placed top three in all seven vault competitions entered during the indoor season.

Taking after her mother, she has also competed in the 60m hurdles, 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles and long jump throughout her high school career. Most notably during the 2020 indoor season she was ranked No. 11 in the state in the 60m hurdles at 9.67

"Her mother ran for me while I was the coach at LSU,” Henry said. “She was a fantastic hurdler from Canada and competed post-collegiately, her family has some athletic background."

Under Coach Henry, Donalda Duprey-Abadie was a three-time All-American earning honors as a member of the 4x400m and 4x800m relays between 1989 and 1991. Post collegiately, she represented Canada in the 1992 Olympic Games in the 400m hurdles and appeared in the World Championships in 1991, 1993 and 1997. 

Heather Abadie (St. Michael HS/Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

Personal Bests:
Pole Vault – 4.06m/13-4