Charlotte 49ers Record-Breaker Riley Felts Takes Flight at Gold Standard

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – On a runway in the Carolina countryside, she is fierce, focused and taking fifteen feet of flight. Charlotte 49ers’ Riley Felts is taking their high jump program to new heights. Although she had a late start, she’s been a natural from the beginning.

“I just wanted to see where it goes- or where it’s going to go and now I’m here and it’s really cool. I definitely didn’t expect that,” Riley Felts said.
From unexpected to unprecedented, one of the most decorated athletes in Niner history didn’t pick up a pole until her sophomore year at Weddington High School.

“Through the first few workouts I could see- because of how well she could run and how strong she was-I knew she would do well. She wanted to take more jumps and not stop,” Felts’ first track coach, Bill Halvorsen said.
Unstoppable is right. Riley-the-record-breaker finished second at the 2024 NCAA National Indoor meet and has qualified for the outdoor national championships in Eugene, Oregon this weekend. No one in America has a better mark than her recent 15’1” vault.

“I remember that moment right before it happened when I officially got second and I looked at my coach and said ‘oh my gosh, I’m either going to make history or not.’ It was such a cool feeling,” Felts said.
Her training is as diverse as her skills and schooling. Every coach would love a professional problem-solver who lives to get better.

“Riley being an engineer, very meticulous, scientific and methodical about things- it helps her across the board. It helps her out here at practice. It helps her with the technique of the vault and checking the boxes and making sure positions are attained, velocities are correct and angles are right,” Charlotte Track & Field Director Bob Oleson said.

The NCAA Championships will be her moment. Riley is ready to rise to it.