COLLEGIATE PERSONAL BESTS: PV – 17.075 (5.20m)
CAREER RECORDS, AWARDS AND NOTES:
AWARDS:
1x Big Ten Distinguished Scholar ('26)
1x USTFCCCA All-Academic Team ('24)
3x Academic All-Big Ten (Spring '24, Spring '25, Spring '26)
1x Big Ten Sportsmanship Award (Outdoor '26)
RECORDS:
T-No. 2 all-time in indoor pole vault (17-0.75 or 5.20m)
T-No. 4 all-time in outdoor pole vault (17-0.75 or 5.20m)
Outdoor 2026
Season: Competed in six meets for Penn State, headlined by recording the fourth-best pole vault mark in program history at the Westminster Invitational.
Florida Relays (4/3-4): Recorded a no height in first outdoor meet of 2026…Westminster Invitational (4/10-11): Won the event with a 17-0.75 (5.20m), moving to fourth in program history with a 17-0.75 (5.20m)…Virginia Challenge (4/17-18): Competed in pole vault… Penn Relays (4/23-25): Turned in a 16-11.50 (5.17m)…Big Ten Championships (5/15-17): Cleared16-7.50 (5.07m)…NCAA First Round (5/27-30): Competed in pole vault...
Indoor 2026
Season: Competed in eight events, including setting the second-best mark in program history at the Sykes & Sabock Challenge.
Bison Opener (12/5-6): Opened the season with a first-place finish, clearing 16-4.75 (5.00m)…Nittany Lion Challenge (1/17): Claimed a second consecutive victory with a clearance of 16-6.75 (5.05m)…Penn Elite (1/24): Placed second after clearing 16-6.50 (5.04m)…Penn State National Open (1/30-31): Captured his third event title of the season with a 16-8.75 (5.10m) clearance…Sykes & Sabock Challenge (2/7): Earned another first-place finish while setting a personal best of 17-0.75 (5.20m)…Tyson Invitational (2/13-14): Cleared 16-6.75 (5.05m)…Penn State Tune-Up (2/20): Closed the regular season with a victory, clearing 16-10.75 (5.15m)…Big Ten Championships (2/26-28): Cleared 16-2.00 (4.93m)...
Outdoor 2025
Season: Competed in seven meets, including equaling his personal best and earning two top-3 finishes.
Penn Challenge (3/22): Finished second with a clearance of 16-0.00 (4.88m)…LSU Battle on the Bayou (3/28-29): Matched his personal best with a clearance of 16-10.75 (5.15m)…Duke Invitational (4/10-12): Cleared 16-3.50 (4.97m)…Virginia Challenge (4/18-19): Competed in the pole vault…Penn Relays (4/24-26): Competed in the pole vault…Larry Ellis Invitational (5/2-3): Cleared 15-10.00 (4.83m)…Big Ten Championships (5/16-18): Competed in the pole vault...
Indoor 2025
Season: Competed in eight meets, all in pole vault, headlined by a third straight appearance in the Big Ten Championships...
Bison Opener (12/6-7): Opened the season with a second-place finish, clearing 16-4.75 (5.00m)…Nittany Lion Challenge (1/18): Claimed first place with a clearance of 15-11.00 (4.85m)…Penn 10 Elite (1/25): Surpassed the five-meter mark for the second time, finishing second with a clearance of 16-5.50 (5.02m)…Penn State National Open (1/31-2/1): Recorded a third-place finish with a clearance of 16-1.25 (4.91m)…Sykes & Sabock Challenge (2/8): Placed third after clearing 16-0.75 (4.90m)…Tiger Paw Invitational (2/14-15): Competed in the pole vault…Penn State Tune-Up (2/21): Finished second with a 16-4.75 (5.00m) clearance…Big Ten Championships (2/28-3/1): Cleared 15-11.00 (4.85m)...
Outdoor 2024
Season: Qualified to the NCAA East Region Prelims for the first time in his career thanks to a personal-best mark in the pole vault.
UCF Knights Invite (3/22-23): In his outdoor opener, cleared 16-4 (4.98m) to claim third place in the pole vault...Virginia Challenge (4/19-20): Finished second overall with a 16-4.75 (5.00m) mark...Jim Thorpe Invitational (5/3): At Penn State’s only home meet of the season, McGarrah showed out in a big way, setting his lifetime-best pole vault mark with a 16-10.75 (5.15m) clearance…His top mark sits fifth in school history during outdoor season…his mark also qualified him for the NCAA East Prelims... Big Ten Outdoor Championships (5/10-12): Cleared 15-11.25 (4.86m), finishing tenth in the conference... NCAA East Region Prelims (5/22-25): Finished 35th in the region with a 16-7.5 (5.07m) clearance in his first NCAA-level competition...
Indoor 2024
Season: Finished fourth in the Big Ten in the pole vault with an indoor career-best clearance…Posted four top-three finishes in the pole vault during the regular season.
Nittany Lion Challenge (1/13): Finished third in the pole vault in the 2024 opener with a 15-7 (4.75m) clearance. Penn State National Open (1/26-27): Cleared 16-0.75 (4.90m) for sixth overall. Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational (2/9-10): Placed third in the pole vault with a 15-11 (4.85m) mark. Penn State Tune-Up (2/16): Won the pole vault competition with an impressive 16-2.75 (4.95m) clearance. Big Ten Indoor Championships (2/23-24): Broke out in a big way, clearing a then-lifetime-best 16-10 (5.13m), his first five-plus-meter mark, to take fourth place in the Big Ten in the pole vault…At the time, his mark was fourth in Penn State indoor history.
Outdoor 2023
Season: Posted five top-ten finishes in pole vault competition during the 2023 outdoor season.
LSU Lloyd Willis Invitational (4/8): Finished ninth with a 15-1.5 (4.61m) clearance. Bison Outdoor Classic (4/14-16): Set a season-best clearance with a 15-7 (4.75m) effort at Bucknell, finishing eighth. Jim Thorpe Invitational (5/5): Cleared 15-1 (4.60m) in Penn State’s first and only home meet of the season.
Indoor 2023
Season: Earned five top-five finishes in the pole vault in his first collegiate indoor season…Cleared 15-7+ twice, including a lifetime PR.
Hokie Invitational (1/20-21): Posted his first 15-foot clearance, going 15-5.5 (4.71m) for a second-place finish. Music City Challenge (2/10-11): Hit his lifetime PR, a 15-9 (4.80m) clearance, for fourth place.
PRIOR TO PENN STATE
HIGH SCHOOL PRs: Pole Vault – 15-7
*Indicates school record
Competed in pole vault for four seasons at Butler Area High School...Named team captain senior year 2022 and team MVP junior year 2021...Set school record at 15'7 in the pole vault...Named PIAA All-State in 2021 and 2022.
PERSONAL
Parents are Christine and Jerry McGarrah...Has three siblings: Rachel Cellurale, Andrew Goettler and Adrianna McGarrah...Majoring in landscape management...Born in Pennsylvania.