Men's Track & Field

JacobSobota

  • position Pole Vault/Multi
  • class Graduate Student
  • Hometown Knoxville, Tenn.
  • Previous School Duke
  • High school Bearden High School
  • Major Data Science

https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/6583339/Duke/Jacob_Sobota.html 

Career Accolades 

  • 2020 All-ACC First Team (Heptathlon, Indoor) 
  • 2018 All-ACC First Team (Heptathlon, Indoor) 
  • 2018 All-ACC Second Team (Decathlon, Outdoor) 

Academic Accolades 

  • CSC Academic All-District – 2023
  • All-ACC Academic Team (Indoor) – 2018, 2020 
  • All-ACC Academic Team (Outdoor) – 2018 
  • SEC First Year Academic Honor Roll – 2022 
  • USTFCCCA All-Academic – 2022 

2022-23 (Graduate)

Outdoor

  • Placed 4th with a personal best vault of 16’0”/4.88m at the UCF Black & Gold Invite
  • Tied for 12th with a vault of 16’4″/4.98m at the Tom Jones Memorial
  • Placed 4th with a personal best vault of 16’8.25″/5.09m at the Michael Johnson Invitational
  • Placed 2nd with a personal best vault of 16’10″/5.13m at the Jim Green Invitational which ranks at number eight on the UK all-time performers list
  • Placed 35th with a vault of 16’0.75″/4.90m at the NCAA East Preliminaries

Indoor

  • Scored and placed career bests in both the Long Jump (23’0.5″/7.02m) and High Jump (6’3.5″/1.92m) at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships.

2021-22 (Graduate) 

Outdoor 

  • Competed in pole vault for five meets including SEC Championships 
  • Best mark came in fourth place finish at the Black and Gold Invite (16’5.25”/5.01m) 

Indoor 

  • Scored at SEC Championships with seventh place finish in the heptathlon 
  • Competed in first heptathlon as a Wildcat at the McCravy 
  • Finished third in the pole vault (16’5.5”/5.02m) and competed in the 60m hurdles at the Jim Green Invitational 
  • Placed seventh in pole vault at Virginia Tech (16’5.25”/5.01m) 

2017-21 at Duke 

  • Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in economics 
  • Earned a silver medal in the pentathlon at the 2020 ACC Indoor Championships (2/27) with 5,184 points 
  • His performance included a first-place height in the pole vault (4.85m) and third-place finish in the 1000m (2:49.75) 
  • Finished fourth in the decathlon at the 2018 ACC Outdoor Championships, totaling 6,825 to earn Second-Team All-ACC honors 
  • Named to the 2018 All-ACC Academic Men’s Indoor Track and Field team 

High School 

  • Lettered for four years in track & field under the guidance of coach Michael Morrison at Bearden High School 
  • 2016 Hershey National Champion in the Decathlon 
  • Finished as runner-up in the 2016 Tennessee state meet in both the decathlon and pole vault 
  • Named 2017 Bearden Team MVP and 2016 Field Event MVP 
  • Ranked number one in the state of Tennessee for both the decathlon and pole vault for the 2017 season 
  • Also competed for the Tim Mack Pole Vault Academy and for the Gymtek Track team during his high school career 
  • Lettered as a member of the Bearden Climbing team 
  • Member of National Honors Society 
  • Involved in student government 
  • Corresponding secretary in the Knoxville Teen Board as well as performing the most male service hours 

Personal 

  • Birthday: February 18 
  • Parents: Jennifer and Jason Sobota 
  • Siblings: Josh and Jaedyn Sobota 
  • Earning M.S. in data science 
  • Hobbies: Hiking the Smoky Mountains, playing video games with friends, playing guitar 
  • Favorite athletes: Ashton Eaton and Tim Mack 
  • Fun fact: Played the standup double bass in middle and high school 
  • Note: Younger brother Josh is a thrower on the team 
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