NCAA Track and Field Preview: Pole Vault

A talented group of 18-foot vaulters hope to deny Rice’s Jason Colwick a second outdoor title.  Meanwhile, 2009 women’s NCAA champ, Kylie Hutson of Indiana State, tries to overcome to her competition and a hand injury in Eugene.

Schedule

Thursday, June 10

4:00-Men’s Final

Friday, June 11

4:00-Women’s Final

Men’s Preview

The 2010 men’s pole vault competition is shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory.  Defending outdoor champion and our favorite, Jason Colwick of Rice, will face some stiff competition from a group of quality 18 foot vaulters.

Though he struggled at the recent Pac-10 Championships, Washington’s Scott Roth was able to get the best of Colwick at the 2010 NCAA indoor championships.  Jordan Scott of Kansas currently shares the NCAA season best mark of 18-3 3/4 with Colwick.  After finishing fourth and second in the last two NCAA outdoor championships, Virginia Tech’s Yavgeniy Olhovsky is a vaulter with the pedigree to challenge for the title.  Clemson’s Xavier Tromp was the ACC runner-up to Olhovsky and is one of the five competitors to go over 18 feet this season.

Men Pole Vault
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     Name                        Year School            Seed Mark
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  1  Cody Doerflein                SO S. Illinois           5.30m
  2  Scott Roth                    JR Washington            5.30m
  3  Brandon Estrada               SR USC                   5.30m
  4  Xavier Tromp                  SR Clemson               5.30m
  5  Elliott Haynie                SR S. Carolina           5.30m
  6  Ryan Vu                       JR Washington            5.30m
  7  Jordan Scott                  SR Kansas                5.30m
  8  Nick Frawley                  SR Air Force             5.30m
  9  Chris Little                  JR BYU                   5.30m
 10  Jason Colwick                 SR Rice                  5.30m
 11  Michael Seaman                SO Samford               5.25m
 12  Kevin Schipper                SO Notre Dame            5.25m
 13  Eric Sparks                   SR Purdue                5.25m
 14  Jared Jodon                   JR VA Tech               5.25m
 15  Yavgeniy Olhovsky             SR VA Tech               5.25m
 16  Brad Holtz                    SR Tennessee             5.25m
 17  Robert Rasnick                FR Tennessee             5.25m
 18  Jeremy Klas                   SO Idaho                 5.25m
 19  Connor Landry                 JR California            5.25m
 20  Shea Kearney                  SO Rice                  5.25m
 21  Hayden Clark                  FR Texas                 5.25m
 22  Josh Dominguez                SR LSU                   5.25m
 23  Parker Smith                  JR North Carolina        5.25m
 24  Jeffrey Coover                SR Indiana               5.25m

Women’s Preview

Will a hand injury prevent 2009 champion, Kylie Hutson of Indiana State, from defending her title?  Hutson suffered a left hand injury when her pole snapped at the Bill Hayes Invitational.  It only took Hutson one attempt to clear 4.00m at the East Regional and punch her ticket to Eugene.  Even with the injury, we think she is the favorite for victory in Eugene.

At the most recent NCAA indoor championships, Oregon’s Melissa Gergel was able to secure eight points for her team and a similar performance would be a huge boost for the Ducks.  Others hoping to knock Hutson off the top spot include: a trio of vaulters from Arkansas led by current No. 2 NCAA performer, Katie Stripling; current Big 12 champ  Shade Weygandt; the Pac-10′s Katerina Stefanidi of Stanford, and Tori Pena and Kati Viuf of UCLA.

Women Pole Vault
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     Name                        Year School            Seed Mark
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  1  Katerina Stefanidi            SO Stanford              4.20m
  2  Tori Pena                     SR UCLA                  4.20m
  3  Melissa Gergel                JR Oregon                4.20m
  4  Jenny Soceka                  SR Wisconsin             4.20m
  5  Katy Viuf                     SR UCLA                  4.20m
  6  Kari Clark                    SR BYU                   4.20m
  7  Tina Sutej                    SO Arkansas              4.20m
  8  Natalie Willer                JR Nebraska              4.20m
  9  Janice Keppler                SR Arkansas              4.20m
 10  Katie Stripling               SR Arkansas              4.15m
 11  Brysun Stately                SR USC                   4.15m
 12  Shade Weygandt                FR Texas Tech            4.15m
 13  Kylie Hutson                  SR Indiana St.           4.00m
 14  Kelsie Ahbe                   FR Indiana               4.00m
 15  Brianna Neumann               SR Purdue                4.00m
 16  Vica Shobe                    SR S. Carolina           4.00m
 17  Carrie Kayes                  SR Akron                 4.00m
 18  Tiffany Maskulinski           SR Buffalo               4.00m
 19  Kat Majester                  SR Georgia               4.00m
 20  Nicole Kazuba                 SR William & Mary        3.95m
 21  Rachel Laurent                SO LSU                   3.95m
 22  Neal Tisher                   FR Ole Miss              3.90m
 23  Katie Nageotte                FR Dayton                3.90m
 24  Jocelyn Witmer                SO Penn St.              3.90m