Completed Event: Track and Field versus Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships on February 26, 2026 ,
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Sam Kuzminski
Coro: Lundberg vaults into Lopes lore
6/30/2021 10:00:00âŻAM | Track and Field, Paul Coro
Pole vaulter went from walk-on to team's 1st female DI All-American
Madelyn Lundberg is getting married this week and the wedding needs to clear a high bar to become the best thing that happened to the Grand Canyon pole vaulter recently.
Lundberg became GCU track and field's first female Division I All-American three weeks ago, when she placed 12th at NCAA Championships to land on All-America second team.
It is a good thing she rescheduled her bridal shower.
Even after Lundberg's vaulting momentum was squashed by the 2020 outdoor season cancellation and not touching a pole from March to October, Lopes associate head coach Todd Lehman kept telling her that she would qualify for NCAAs this year. When Lehman learned that Lundberg booked her bridal shower in conflict with NCAA Championships, he had a different save-the-date in mind.
"No, you've got change that and like now," Lehman told her. "You're going to make nationals. It's going to happen."
Lundberg conceded, but not until early May when she reached Lehman's confidence level.
"I'm glad I made the switch," she said as she prepares to wed former GCU baseball player Nico Burgarello on Saturday in Flagstaff.
Lundberg's pole vault of 4.27 meters (14 feet) at the NCAA West Preliminary (aka regionals) was historical as a GCU record and an NCAA Championships ticket-puncher. But her entire Lopes career has been a towering leap, going from walk-on to All-American.
"Making it to regionals alone was a highlight of my career," Lundberg said. "And then to do so well and make it to nationals, every step I took at that arena (Oregon's famed Hayward Field) was just something I felt so blessed to be experiencing and I'll never, never forget it. I'm proud of myself that it was where I ended my career."
Lundberg had settled on GCU without pole vaulting in the picture when she was at Sandra Day O'Connor High School in north Phoenix. As a sophomore, she met Lehman at one of his pole vault camps. Normally outgoing, Lundberg was alone that day and he made a point to talk her out of her shell.
Lundberg, whose father, Bryan, played Lopes baseball and mother, Donna, was a high school three-sport standout, embodied GCU and showed early that she was coachable and could swing on the pole well with her gymnastics background. She finished fourth at WAC Championships as a freshman, broke the school record as a sophomore and was WAC runner-up as a junior with improvement to her acceleration, plant and takeoff.
"She's the total package of a vaulter and she is the consummate teammate," Lehman said. "She's the gold standard of what you would want out of a student-athlete."
She came into GCU with Alyson Schwartz, and Lundberg has been pushed by the workout partner and friend ever since. Lundberg narrowly missed out on WAC titles because Schwartz, who will compete next season, has won the pole vault at the past five WAC indoor or outdoor championships.
"I'm so thankful to have amazing teammates," Lundberg said. "Having them by side all these years, encouraging me, was the highlight of my career."
After doing student teaching in the fall, Lundberg eventually regained her 2019-2020 form during this season until expectations got the best of her usual fun-first ways. Lundberg placed third at the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in mid-May behind two teammates, Schwartz and Megan Fry.
"
When I got to that conference meet, I had a little freak-out moment," Lundberg said. "I was projected to win the meet. I'd been doing so well and I got in my head a little bit and got some nerves. I'm glad that I did have a freak-out at conference so that I could get my head back on a swivel."
For the next two weeks, she prepared to use a longer pole at the regional meet. Lundberg hit a success plateau on a 14-foot pole and trained to use a 14-foot, 7-inch pole that she tried once unsuccessfully at a March meet.
After clearing 4.02 meters at regionals with ideal form, Lehman told her, "It's now or never." She switched to the longer pole and cleared 4.17- and 4.27-meter bars for third place in the West and a NCAA Championships qualification.
"It was pretty surreal," Lehman said. "It was a little bittersweet because she had two teammates that I thought were just as capable and I'm every bit as invested with them. Madelyn was helping them in the middle of her biggest day. A coaching friend texted me to say what a great teammate she was."
Lundberg is always that caring, giving person and made sure she was engaged in fun and community at GCU when she was not competing. She lived with non-athletes to immerse herself in traditional campus life and left pole vault stresses at the track.
"I've been to a lot of campuses with track and seen what other colleges have to offer, and there really is nothing like Grand Canyon," Lundberg said. "The support that we have from Athletics staff and the student body is a match. I feel blessed to be a part of what Grand Canyon is doing in the growth stage. I've seen where it has been, where it is now and I can't wait to see where it is in the next 10 years. I love Grand Canyon."
She feels the same for Lehman, who she considers more of a family member than a coach. That is the connection Lundberg strives to have when she guides youth. She is seeking a middle school teaching job, preferably in social studies. She will have their attention, as an invested leader and a former All-American.
"I just love to have kids speak their minds, especially in middle school when there are so many questions they have and so many opinions being thrown at them," Lundberg said. "I want to provide an opportunity to let them communicate and know they're loved and supported to send them on their way to who they think they should be."
Lundberg became GCU track and field's first female Division I All-American three weeks ago, when she placed 12th at NCAA Championships to land on All-America second team.It is a good thing she rescheduled her bridal shower.
Even after Lundberg's vaulting momentum was squashed by the 2020 outdoor season cancellation and not touching a pole from March to October, Lopes associate head coach Todd Lehman kept telling her that she would qualify for NCAAs this year. When Lehman learned that Lundberg booked her bridal shower in conflict with NCAA Championships, he had a different save-the-date in mind.
"No, you've got change that and like now," Lehman told her. "You're going to make nationals. It's going to happen."Lundberg conceded, but not until early May when she reached Lehman's confidence level.
"I'm glad I made the switch," she said as she prepares to wed former GCU baseball player Nico Burgarello on Saturday in Flagstaff.
Lundberg's pole vault of 4.27 meters (14 feet) at the NCAA West Preliminary (aka regionals) was historical as a GCU record and an NCAA Championships ticket-puncher. But her entire Lopes career has been a towering leap, going from walk-on to All-American.
"Making it to regionals alone was a highlight of my career," Lundberg said. "And then to do so well and make it to nationals, every step I took at that arena (Oregon's famed Hayward Field) was just something I felt so blessed to be experiencing and I'll never, never forget it. I'm proud of myself that it was where I ended my career."
Lundberg had settled on GCU without pole vaulting in the picture when she was at Sandra Day O'Connor High School in north Phoenix. As a sophomore, she met Lehman at one of his pole vault camps. Normally outgoing, Lundberg was alone that day and he made a point to talk her out of her shell.
Lundberg, whose father, Bryan, played Lopes baseball and mother, Donna, was a high school three-sport standout, embodied GCU and showed early that she was coachable and could swing on the pole well with her gymnastics background. She finished fourth at WAC Championships as a freshman, broke the school record as a sophomore and was WAC runner-up as a junior with improvement to her acceleration, plant and takeoff.
"She's the total package of a vaulter and she is the consummate teammate," Lehman said. "She's the gold standard of what you would want out of a student-athlete."
She came into GCU with Alyson Schwartz, and Lundberg has been pushed by the workout partner and friend ever since. Lundberg narrowly missed out on WAC titles because Schwartz, who will compete next season, has won the pole vault at the past five WAC indoor or outdoor championships."I'm so thankful to have amazing teammates," Lundberg said. "Having them by side all these years, encouraging me, was the highlight of my career."
After doing student teaching in the fall, Lundberg eventually regained her 2019-2020 form during this season until expectations got the best of her usual fun-first ways. Lundberg placed third at the WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in mid-May behind two teammates, Schwartz and Megan Fry.
"
When I got to that conference meet, I had a little freak-out moment," Lundberg said. "I was projected to win the meet. I'd been doing so well and I got in my head a little bit and got some nerves. I'm glad that I did have a freak-out at conference so that I could get my head back on a swivel."For the next two weeks, she prepared to use a longer pole at the regional meet. Lundberg hit a success plateau on a 14-foot pole and trained to use a 14-foot, 7-inch pole that she tried once unsuccessfully at a March meet.
After clearing 4.02 meters at regionals with ideal form, Lehman told her, "It's now or never." She switched to the longer pole and cleared 4.17- and 4.27-meter bars for third place in the West and a NCAA Championships qualification.
"It was pretty surreal," Lehman said. "It was a little bittersweet because she had two teammates that I thought were just as capable and I'm every bit as invested with them. Madelyn was helping them in the middle of her biggest day. A coaching friend texted me to say what a great teammate she was."
Lundberg is always that caring, giving person and made sure she was engaged in fun and community at GCU when she was not competing. She lived with non-athletes to immerse herself in traditional campus life and left pole vault stresses at the track."I've been to a lot of campuses with track and seen what other colleges have to offer, and there really is nothing like Grand Canyon," Lundberg said. "The support that we have from Athletics staff and the student body is a match. I feel blessed to be a part of what Grand Canyon is doing in the growth stage. I've seen where it has been, where it is now and I can't wait to see where it is in the next 10 years. I love Grand Canyon."
She feels the same for Lehman, who she considers more of a family member than a coach. That is the connection Lundberg strives to have when she guides youth. She is seeking a middle school teaching job, preferably in social studies. She will have their attention, as an invested leader and a former All-American.
"I just love to have kids speak their minds, especially in middle school when there are so many questions they have and so many opinions being thrown at them," Lundberg said. "I want to provide an opportunity to let them communicate and know they're loved and supported to send them on their way to who they think they should be."
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