Eston Winn brought national attention to Penn State Behrend pole vault competitors from 2008-2011. He won three consecutive Mason-Dixon Championships and was an All-Conference honoree in the pole vault. In his junior year, Winn broke the Salisbury facility record and hit an NCAA provisional mark with his best jump of the season (15’ 7.25”). He held a Top 20 spot in both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor rankings. To this day, Winn’s best outdoor mark ranks him third all-time.
As a freshman, Winn competed at Division I Kent State. His experience at that level helped him make an impact over the next three years with the Behrend track & field program. He became a master of his craft, the pole vault. Winn’s hard work during his sophomore year led to the first of three Mason-Dixon Championships.
In 2009, at the Kane Invitational hosted by Cornell, Winn hit an ECAC qualifying mark, reaching 14 feet, 3.25 inches to finish sixth among Division I, II and III athletes. He and the rest of the men’s team gained national attention and earned a No. 15 ranking in the Division III poll produced by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Behrend went on to place third at the Mason-Dixon Conference Championships, matching the men’s best finish (105 points). Winn cleared 14’11 in the pole vault to be crowned the conference champion while earning All Mason-Dixon honors in the 4x100 meter relay.
In his junior year, he saved his best jump of the season for the conference meet in Salisbury, Maryland. Winn broke the facility record and hit the NCAA provisional mark (15’ 7.25”), repeating as the pole vault champion. He was nationally ranked 20th for the pole vault in indoor and outdoor competition, a ranking that would have qualified him for the NCAA Championships but was cut short of the competition due to field-size funding.
Winn elevated the Behrend program and increased the expectation of future student-athletes. He became a mentor to his teammates and stepped in when he was needed. He won his third Mason-Dixon Championship in the pole vault and anchored the men’s 4x100 relay team, earning All-Conference honors and qualifying for the ECAC Championships in his senior year.