Extraordinary is what I’ll call Saturday’s USA Women’s Pole
Vault Competition. ONE world record, TWO
personal bests, and FOUR vaulters over the 15’ mark! It was the best women’s indoor competition in
the USA…ever.
 |
| Credentials for Indoor USA's |
The competition was delayed by an hour because the men’s heptathlon
pole vault was still going on. Instead
of getting all worked up about it, my best friend, Mary Saxer, and I decided to
hang out in the warm up area. We laid
down, put our feet up(literally), and jammed to some pump up music on my
iPhone(which consisted of Macklemore’s song, Thrift Shop)! Haha
Finally the men’s heptathlon pv ended and we were ready to
go out and warm up on the runway. Right
away I knew this was going to be a good day!
My steps were on, I was being aggressive, and felt fearless. I got on the biggest pole I ever had in
warm-ups, which was actually a brand new pole from Gill Athletics!
I came into the competition at 4.40m(14’5”) with an easy
first attempt clearance. Greg(my PHX
coach) had me pass 3 heights up to 4.55m(14’11”), then to 4.65m(15’1”) with
easy first attempt makes. Then the bar
goes up to 4.70m(15’5”). By this time
all of the running events on the track were finished and all eyes were on the
pole vault! The atmosphere in the
building was electrifying! I couldn’t
believe that literally hundreds of fans stayed to watch the outcome. That gave
the entire field a really good feeling of support. Unfortunately I missed my first 2 attempts at
4.70m(15’5”) and quite frankly was running out of gas. So I went down to the end of the runway,
visualized myself clearing this bar, and told myself that I knew I could do
it. 3rd attempt personal best
clearance! Yes!! Now the bar is up to 4.75m(15’7”). I had 2 solid attempts at it. My adrenaline was running high; I was pumped,
and knew I was going to clear it. The
bar might have shook a little, but it stayed!
OMG, I thought to myself, I just cleared 15’7”…I’m Back! My eyes instantly welled up with tears of
happiness. Greg called me over for
celebration hugs and high fives, then looked me in the eyes and told me that it
was time to regroup…the bar was going up to 4.80m(15’9”). I tried to get ahold of myself before I took
that next attempt, but once they moved the bar up I only had 3 minutes. I still hadn’t calmed all the way down for my
first 2 attempts at 4.80m(15’9”). On my
3rd attempt I was up and over the bar, but came down on it. AHHHH!
So close! But holy shit, what a
day! It felt so great to be in the upper
15’s and to finally, after 2 years, increase my personal best.
 |
| 4.70m(15'5") clearance |
Jumping 4.75m(15’7”)
puts me 3rd on the All-Time Indoor USA list behind 2 Olympic
Champions and a world record holder…#2 - Stacy Dragila 4.83m(15’9.25”) &
#1 - Jen Suhr 5.02(16’5.5”). It also
puts me 11th on the All-Time Indoor WORLD list! Only 10 other women in the world have jumped
higher. It seems unreal to put it in
that perspective.
View a recap of the women's pole vault competition by clicking this link:
View my 4.70m(15'5") jump by clicking this link:
After I was finished, Jen Suhr went on to jump 5.02m(16’5.5”)
– the new world record. What a
jump! Even though I placed 2nd,
it’s pretty cool to have the person that beat me jump the world record. Congratulations Jen!
There was an incredible amount of excitement in this meet! Congrats to my BFF Mary Saxer for clearing
the IAAF “A” standard 4.60m(15’1”) and placing 3rd! Can’t wait to see what we can do
outdoors! Thank you for always being
there for me :)
 |
| Mary and I after the meet! |
So now that my indoor season is over, I have taken a full
week off! I am ready to get back to the
grind of heavy lifting and running for a base training cycle on Monday!
Bring on the Outdoor Season!! I AM READYYY!
Thanks for reading!
Kylie
@ratherBvaulting
www.facebook.com/pv.kylie
