Pole Vault Special--2016 INdoors

Consider this Part One of my Weekend Results Blog.
Or see it as a paean to an event that is fast becoming THE Event of the 21st Century!
And yes, I WILL be presenting ALL of the fantastic marks that spilled forth from several venues in the past 30 hours or so!

When Women first started Vaulting--seriously--Sergey Bubka was at the end of a career that saw him break literally DOZENS of Records---many of which he still holds!
World, National, Meet, Age, you name it!

So when Renaud Lavillenie took away Bubka's INdoor WR on February 15, 2014, jumping 6.16, or 20-2.50, one "era" ended, and another was born!
The name given to this new era was narrowed down to the "Year of the Vault".
Except in 2014, the "other" vertical jump, the High Jump, took that moniker as its own!

Then 2015 began.

And in the space of 24 hours (more like 16!!), the Women's INdoor Collegiate Record was broken, then broken again!
Sandi Morris, then in her Senior year at Arkansas, jumped over 15-1.50.
Then Demi Payne (of Stephen A Austin) removed that mark with her 15-2.25.

It happened with a couple of High School Men too!
One minute, you had Deakin Volz jumping a HSR of 17-10.50, removing Devin King's mark.
Then, in whipsaw fashion, the HSR belonged to Paulo Benavides's 17-11.
(Which, ironically, Volz took back with his current HSR of 17-11.50!)

I won't detail all the OTHER exchanges of the Women's CR or what happened OUTdoors!
Suffice to say, 2015 became THE "Year of the Vault".
(It became a bit Dali-esque when Shawn Barber up-ended Lavillenie in the OUTdoor WC in Beijing last summer!)

Well, here we go again!!

"2016"  INdoors began in early December of 2015.
That was when I reported a clearance of 15-9 by Jenn Suhr, the highest leap EVER in December!!
Then, later last month--after Christmas--Suhr vaulted 15-5--twice, in meets 2 days apart!

In 2016 itself, Shawn Barber opened HIS campaign with a leap of 19-3.50--half an inch higher than he'd opened in 2015!

It was looking like a good year for this popular event!
And that, dear readers, is pretty much THE understatement of the year, and maybe the century!!

It began in Arkansas (again!!) for the Women!
With Morris graduated, and a Pro, it became a question of who might take her place!
We knew that Tori and Lexi Weeks had signed on to become Razorbacks.
But, however good they were--both HSR holders!!--they'd be Freshmen--and Frosh are unpredictable.

Fear not, Arkansas fans (AND Women's Collegiate PV fans!)!
In her very first Collegiate meet, Lexi (or Alexis, as TFRSS and the meet's results page referred to her!--they also called twin sister Tori, Victoria!!), hit a PR bar set at 14-9!
She was perfect at 4 heights, from 13-1.25 through 14-1.25.
She then passed 14-3.25, and was perfect again at 14-5.25.
And at 14-9, it was another first-attempt clearance!
Then she tried 15-1, or 4.60.
Three misses, but to be a First Year Collegiate Woman, and to even TRY to clear 15-1, is simply unheard of!

Her sister cleared "just" 13-9.25.
In light of what Lexi did, Tori's mark pales!
But--prior to yesterday, the highest Women's Collegiate PV was--13-7.25!
There but for her sister....!!

Lexi Weeks is now 8th A-T Collegiate, tied with 5 others!
She's also 21st A-T US, tied with 4 others!
And it's the Collegiate Frosh Class Record!!

The Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada.
That is the scene for the next Act of this Award-Winning drama!

Shawn Barber is the OUTdoor HSR holder at 18-3.50 in 2012.
That was just after he'd graduated from a Texas HS, and we all believed we had the next great American Vaulting star!
Then he announced he'd be competing for Canada, where he was a dual citizen!

He has simply DEMOLISHED the PV Record Book for his "new" home nation!
OUTdoors and INdoors!

And in Reno, he took his attack to new levels--raised the bar, so to speak!
He BEGAN at 5.77 (18-11), then cleared 19-1.50.
With the bar set at what would become his overall PR--19.5.75--he cleared that easily!
Thus he broke his own Canadian National and Age 21 Records!
(Remember, he'd jumped 19-5 last summer--when the event was held INdoors during the OUTdoor meet!)
But he wasn't done--yet!

With the bar now at the iconic height of 6.00 meters (19-8.25), Barber cleared cleanly.
Again, he broke the National Record of Canada, and the Age 21 Record!
His FIRST new Record--the 19-5.75--moved him from 13th A-T World to 11th--no ties.
The 6.00 moved him from 11th A-T World to 6th, where he's tied with 3 others!

Another National Record fell--to Saito Yamamoto, as his 18-11 becomes the Japanese NR!

The Women's event in Reno was a doozie!!
THREE Women cleared 15-5.50, or 4.71.
For two of them, it was an INdoor PR (or a tie of one).

Mary Saxer tied her 2014 best, but finished 3rd, because of more misses.
Ekaterina Stefanidi finished 2nd with her 15.5.50.
And Sandi Morris took the top spot, with HER 15-5.50.

She moves from 6th A-T US to 5th, tied with 1 other.
She's also now 19th A-T World, tied with 3 others.

They all missed their attempts at 4.81 (15-9.25).

In 4th was Kylie Hutson, who got a 14-9.
Three more cleared 14-5.25!!
They were Melinda Withrow, Melissa Gergel, and Leslie Brost!

In the HS portion of this important meet, the most amazing--albeit not very shocking!!--mark came from Sophomore Phenom--on a WORLD Class level!!--Mondo Duplantis!!
(Like Barber, he's another American who can--and does!--compete for another nation--in his case, Sweden!)

In my last post, I reported his destruction of the Soph Class record--his 17-2.25.
If you recall, I said he missed his tries at 17-6.
Not this time, folks!!

He made that height, and made it with room to spare!!
Then he tried 17-10---and ALMOST made that height too!!
But the 17-6, besides being the new Soph Class Record, also moves him from 18th A-T HS to 9th, where he's tied with 2 others!

Chris Nilsen finished 2nd, his 17-2 making him 19th A-T HS, tied with 2 others!

Three Women cleared 13-4 in the Reno HS event.
Andrea Willis has a higher PR (See a previous post!!), but Rachel Baxter and Laura Marty got new PR's.
They're now both 24th A-T HS, tied with 4 others each, including each other!

Before leaving High School PV'ing behind, let's return to the saga of Erica Ellis.
She's that 9th Grader who cleared 12 feet for the first time this year.
(She'd done 11-9.75 in one of those December meets with Jenn Suhr!)
Well, she raised that to 12-1, and again last week to 12-4.
According to one report, she again cleared 12 feet (exactly??), and was VERY close to topping 12-7!!
Remember, the Frosh Class Record is 12-9.50!!

Speaking of Ms Suhr, guess what SHE jumped this weekend?
Only 16-1.25--in a meet in Kent, Ohio!
She entered at 4.61 (15-1.50), clearing on first attempt.
Then she cleared, on 2nd try, 4.81, or 15-9.25.
She made the 4.91 on her 3rd attempt.
Then, she missed 3 tries at a World INdoor Record height of 16-6, or 5.03 meters!!

And she was disappointed she missed!
WOW!
(She of course set the current INdoor WR of 16-5.50 at the 2013 USATF meet!)

Had enough?
Well, go take a break, grab a snack, because I've got MORE---from just the Pole Vault!!

Demi Payne still has 2016 eligibility at SA Austin--for the OUTdoor season upcoming!
So without INdoor eligibility, she's competing unattached this season!
And she's about where she was when 2015's season ended!
She easily made 15-3, then missed 3 tries at a new PR of 15-7.25!

We can expect the fierce rivalry between Demi & Sandi Morris to continue--especially once Payne turns Pro after her OUTdoor season ends!
Meanwhile, whatever their status, they are assuredly HUGE factors on the American Women's PV scene!
(You can be SUHR about that!!  Heh.)

Beyond the truly elite levels---in any of my 4 main groups (World, US, Collegiate, HS)--there were LOTS of other good marks worth reporting.
Since this special post is already too long, I'll just list them--without too much comment!

Megan Clark opened at a solid 14-3.25 in her Senior year at Duke.

Mackenzie Shell, now a Frosh at Oklahoma, reached the height of 14-0.50, making the list of FROSH Collegiate Women clearing at least 14 feet this season a rather extended one!!
(And it's still only the middle of January!!)

Another one with a PR is Annie Rhodes, whose 14-3.50 misses my Collegiate DDD list by half an inch!!

I mentioned Devin King and Deakin Volz as MALE HS PV'ers.
Well, Mr King is now a Soph in college, while Volz is a Frosh.
King cleared 17-9, while Volz reached 17-11, both decent early season jumps!

What can we expect in the remaining 8 weeks of INdoors 2016?
Well, I already mentioned that Lavillenie will Vault in 7 meets, with his initial outing coming next week!!
I have no doubt he'll be challenged to the utmost by Barber.

Suhr said she will NOT try for TeamUSA at the USATF meet Trials for the Portland WC.
Maybe.
Maybe not!

But if she stays away, the US won't be without WORLD Class level competitors on the Women's side.
Challenging whomever the Rest of the World throws out there will be Ms's Morris, Payne, and Saxer--among others!
(But don't expect the Weeks sisters to try, as their NCAA meet is the same weekend as the USATF!!)

One thing's for---um, SURE (HaHa!)--we CAN expect 2016 to be another Year of the Vault!!

Stay tuned to this blog for all the amazing Records & Marks yet to come!

(And you can expect my report on all the OTHER events in a few hours!!)