As a young athlete, Elizabeth Poling never would have thought that track and field would be the course she would end up running. For most of her life, she had poured her blood, sweat and tears on the court and field and had seemed destined that her future would include a ball. Running track wasn’t even on her radar – at least, not at first. The spots on her shelf of trophies were soon to be filled.
Poling is a soccer, basketball and track star at Upper Arlington High School. She values consistency and hard work, spending 6 days a week staying fit in the gym all 12 months a year.
Poling has been active in sports her whole life. She began soccer and basketball at the age of 3, and began running track in 7th grade.
“I honestly don’t really know how I got into any of them. For soccer and basketball, that’s just probably where the youth teams were the most prominent for girls. Especially Kiwanis and Golden Bear Basketball Club,” Poling said. “I played softball a lot when I was a kid, and then baseball too. I filled most of my time up with soccer and basketball.”
She began running track in 7th grade to help her stay in shape. Now as a junior, she is competing at the national level. After excelling at such high levels, Poling came to the realization that it would be more beneficial for her to focus solely on high school athletics and less on club sports.
“My freshman through my sophomore year, I did club soccer and basketball. Now I’m not going to do any club sports. I’m just going to focus on track,” Poling said.
Poling has successfully been a consistent champion in all her sports. With that, believing in superstitions may give her a mental advantage over her competitors. Poling says she believes in superstitions. Superstitions vary from athlete to athlete, but in Poling’s case, they change depending on the season she is in. They might just be the upper hand needed for a close game.
“I’m the most superstitious when it comes to track, like lucky socks. All four of us in the 4×4, we all had lucky socks and that was just always a thing that we did. For soccer, it’s just more about the pregame ritual. Things like listening to my hype playlist, and it’s always my right shoe before my left. And basketball, I just eat the same thing the night before a game,” Poling said.
Poling’s track history is exceptional. Beginning with her freshman year, she placed 8th in the 400 and 2nd in the 4×2. At nationals, she placed 2nd in the freshman 400 and 2nd in the 4×4. And for last year, she and her teammates won states for the 4×4, and she got 5th in the 400. At nationals, they got 4th with an All-American award in the 4×4.
For the girl’s soccer team, they were announced district champions. This year, she was awarded Honorable Mention for the OCC and district champions. For girls basketball, they were awarded district runners-up.
Many years go into working toward these achievements. During that time, Poling has developed multiple nicknames given to her by her teammates. Her full name is Sarah Elizabeth Poling, but she most commonly goes by her middle name Elizabeth.
“It started with ‘Baby E’ my freshman year. All the upperclassmen called me ‘Baby E.’ As I got older, it turned into just ‘E,’” Poling said. “When basketball came around, there were two Elizabeths on the team. One was ‘E,’ and then I turned into ‘Epo.’ My basketball coach, Coach White, came up with that and it just stuck with me.”
Since then, she has been known as “Epo” in the classroom and on the court. Poling is just a junior and has a bright future ahead of her. Her athletic potential gives her a chance to play at the collegiate level if she would like to.
“I plan on running track in college,” Poling said.
For the class of 2026, track commitments will not be announced until next fall (Fall 2025). Other sports tend to announce verbal commitments during the athlete’s junior year. Be on the lookout for what is coming next for Elizabeth Poling. Her future holds high potential for success.
