Hokie Club
In her first year (2025) as an assistant coach, Rachel Baxter, the former Virginia Tech track & field pole vaulter, coached four individuals to All-American honors in the pole vault and two vaulters to ACC individual titles.
In the 2026 indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, Baxter continued to lead her athletes to multiple ACC and NCAA honors. In the indoor season, Chiara Sistermann reached a new personal best mark of 4.47m in the Doc Hale Invitational, second place at the ACC Indoor Championships, and a Second Team All-American honor at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Sistermann would follow up with another podium finish at the ACC Championships and another Second Team All-American honor in the outdoor season. Baxter coached the men’s vault duo of Maddox Hamm and Conner McClure to First Team All-ACC and All-American honors in the outdoor season. Hamm would also break the indoor program pole vault record with a mark of 5.70m.
During the 2025 outdoor season, Baxter led the pole vault squad through the postseason, helping Lyndsey Reed to a personal-best 4.42m (14'6") for the ACC individual title and Conner McClure to silver at the ACC Championships. At the NCAA Southeast Regional, Baxter pushed four Hokies through to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships, facing less-than-favorable conditions for the qualifying round. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Baxter coached Chiara Sistermann to Second Team All-American honors and Benjamin Conacher to a fourth-place finish and First Team All-American honors. Earlier in the season, Conacher cleared a personal-best height of 5.61m (18'4.75"), and then reached 5.58m (18'3.75") at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
During the 2025 indoor season, Baxter assisted with the development and recovery of former pole vault national champion Julia Fixsen. Fixsen cleared a personal-best 4.58m (15'0.25") to become the second female vaulter in program history to clear 15 feet, second to only Baxter. Fixsen went on to capture the ACC individual title and First Team All-American honors. All four female pole vaulters that qualified for the ACC Championships scored points for Virginia Tech. On the men's side during the indoor season, Baxter assisted with the coaching of Maddox Hamm, who cleared a personal-best 5.61m (18'4.75") and collected silver at the ACC Championships and First Team All-American honors at the NCAA Championships, which is where he reached his personal-best. Three of the five men's pole vaulters scored points for Virginia Tech at the ACC Championships to push the team through to the team title.
As a student-athlete at Virginia Tech (2018-2022), Baxter was a seven-time All-American, four-time ACC Champion, eight-time All-ACC honoree and was the first pole vault national champion in program history. She currently still holds the program record and ACC record of 4.62m (15'1.75").