Caroline White - Women's Track & Field Coach - University of Minnesota Athletics

Caroline White

Title:
Volunteer Assistant Coach

Caroline White completed her 18th season as a volunteer pole vault coach for the Minnesota women's track & field team in 2020-21. White also began serving as volunteer coach for the Gopher men's pole vaulters during the 2018-19 season.

In her first 18 seasons, White has coached the Gopher women's pole vaulters to six All-America awards and six Big Ten titles. Under her tutelage, Alicia Rue and Samantha Sonnenberg became the first Gophers to clear 14 feet during their collegiate careers.

Over the last seven seasons, Lexy Berger, Katie Murgic, Cami Gilson, Karlie Place, and Lexi Kiefer have all moved up Minnesota's all-time top-10 list both indoors and outdoors under White's watch. Place cleared 14 feet during the 2018 indoor season, finished as Big Ten indoor pole vault runner-up, and earned Second Team All-America honors at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championship honors under White’s direction. The 2018 outdoor season saw Keifer place third at the B1G Outdoor Championship with a PR of 4.12m (13-06.25) as well. On the men's side, Mike Herauf and Ekhardt Van der Watt ended the 2021 season tied for seventh on Minnesota's all-time list at 5.25m (17-02.75) and both qualified for the NCAA West Prelim.

Along with Place’s 2018 All-America citation, Rue (indoor 2008, indoor 2009, and outdoor 2009) and Sonnenberg (indoor 2010, indoor 2011) collected All-America awards under White’s guidance. White helped guide Sonnenberg to a Big Ten indoor title in the pole vault and a seventh-place finish at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships. Sonnenberg also matched the school record set by Rue in 2009, clearing 14-3.25. At Minnesota, Sonnenberg improved her best indoor mark from 12-6 to 14-1.25 and her outdoor mark from 12-0 to 14-3.25. White also coached Sonnenberg to the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials.

Rue was White's first All-American, reaching that status in 2008. Rue repeated as an All-American in 2009, with a runner-up finish at the indoor meet and a tie for third outdoors. She won three straight Big Ten indoor titles (2008, 2009, and 2010) and an outdoor title in 2009. Rue's marks improved from 13-3 to 14-4.50 indoors and 13-0 to 14-3.25 outdoors during her time at Minnesota.

White was instrumental in Rue's gold-medal performance at the 2007 Junior Pan American Games, Laura Massey's 2006 Big Ten title, and Andrea Smith's NCAA Championships appearances in 2005 and 2008. During her first year at Minnesota, White coached Monica Stearns to the NCAA Championships and the U.S. Olympic trials (qualifying with a mark of 14-1.75) in 2004. Smith (12-7 to 13-5.25) and Stearns (12-10 to 14-1.75) both saw improvement under White's watch as well.

White earned two All-America certificates in the pole vault while competing at the College of St. Benedict. She was St. Ben's Athlete of the Year in 2001 and a two-time Academic All-American. She won Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) pole vault titles in 1998 and 2001 and was inducted into the St. Ben’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.

White graduated from St. Benedict in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in biology and earned a master's in education from St. Thomas in 2004. She currently teaches seventh grade at Maple Grove Junior High School. She completed her USATF Level 2 Coaching Certification in Jumps in 2005.

White and her husband Steve have two sons, Henry and Emmitt.