ORLANDO, Fla. – Three Virginia Tech All-Americans, freshman Martina Schultze (pole vault), redshirt senior Hunter Hall (pole vault) and senior Hasheem Halim (long jump), all earned wins as the Hokie men’s and women’s track & field teams competed on day one of the University of Central Florida Invitational at the UCF Track & Field Complex Friday.Schultze and fellow freshman All-American Victoria von Eynatten each set the UCF facility record in the women’s pole vault as both women cleared 13 feet, five and a quarter inches (4.10m). Schultze earned the win on misses as she had first attempt makes at her first four heights. von Eynatten earned runner-up honors and the performances moved the tandem into a tie for second on Tech’s all-time list. Also in the women’s pole vault, redshirt sophomore Leigh Allin tied for ninth at 11-11.75 (3.65m).Hall had a strong start to his  outdoor season as he won the men’s pole vault with a solid early season mark of 17-4.5 (5.30m). Entering the weekend, Hall’s mark of 5.30m ranks second in the country and first in the NCAA East Region. Fellow redshirt senior All-American Joe Davis was sixth at 16-2.75 (4.95m), while freshman Chris Uhle (eighth) and senior Mike Miller (ninth) each posted a best vault of 15-9 (4.80m

UCF: Orlando, Fl

Women Pole Vault
  1       Schultze, Martina   FR Virginia Tec           4.31m      4.10m   13-05.25 
  2       von Eynatten, Vict  FR Virginia Tec           4.37m      4.10m   13-05.25
3       Gasparino, Christy  SO Clemson                4.01m      4.10m   13-05.25 

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NAPLES,Florida  — To pole vault is, by itself, an incredible feat. To pole vault after having your chest caved in is miraculous, if not a little insane. This is the story of St. John Neumann senior Brian Ullrich.At the Bear Run Invitational at Palmetto Ridge last week, pole in hand, Ullrich sprinted down the runway, and jammed it into the ground. The fiberglass pole nearly bent in two before it shot an upside-down Ullrich into the sky. He pushed off the pole and flew over a crossbar set more than 13 feet in the air. He fell to Earth and landed on a thick cushion meant to catch the daring young man. “Good,” yelled the official. Ullrich, as one of the county’s best pole vaulters and a state qualifier in the event last year, was victorious once more. Ullrich’s mark of 13 feet, 6 inches was a personal best and tied the school record. Though he has his sights on a return to states, his goals are of a higher order.“Clearing 14 feet,” Ullrich said. “I have no set goals past that.”That Ullrich is even pole vaulting, let alone trying to clear the height of a small house, is a story unto itself.In January 2011, Ullrich, then a junior, was involved in a tree-trimming accident at his home. His injuries were severe — two collapsed lungs, three broken ribs and three days spent in the intensive care unit at Naples Community Hospital.

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Shawn Barber and Dillon Bell face each other at the Texas Relays

Boys Pole Vault HS Section A

1 Barber, Shawn 12 Kingwood Par

2 Bell, Dylan 12 Alvarado

3 Dugas, Jacques 12 St. Thomas M

4 Duvio, Dylan 11 Curtis, John

5 Favor, Everette 12 Houston Stra

6 Hicks, Marques 12 Hallsville

7 Jones, Chase 12 Midland

8 Kehoe, Marcus 11 Lampasas

9 Lookout, Dillon 12 Jenks OK

10 Murphree, Daven 11 Big Sandy Ha

11 Padalecki, Kyle 12 San Antonio

12 Sonnen, Josh 12 Midlothian

13 Watson, Reese 12 Spring

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The Nebraska track and field team will be in Tempe, Ariz., on Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24 for the Arizona State Invitational at Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium. NU’s hurdlers, select sprinters and throwers will make the trip, while the rest of the team will continue to prepare for next weekend’s Arkansas Spring Invitational.

EntriesMen Pole Vault

1 Mitchell, Simon Northern Ari

2 Markuson, Logan Minnesota

3 Tibbs, Michael Air Force

4 Kraft, Cory Arizona Stat

5 Austin, Dylan Arizona Stat

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With a successful 2012 indoor season under their belts, members of Texas’ men’s track and field team seek to continue the trend as they dual the UCLA Bruins at Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. this weekend.

The No. 7 Longhorns will kick off their outdoor season with a select group of athletes. Texas is coming off strong performances in the NCAA Indoor Championships with eight athletes receiving All-American honors.

But they should not take this battle against the Bruins lightly. In last season’s outdoor tri-meet at Mike A. Meyers Stadium in Austin, between Arkansas, Texas and UCLA, the Bruins posted 145 points — just four shy of Texas’ first place finish of 149.

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Reno, Nevada –Madison Mills made her first trip to the state track and field meet as a freshman, and while there witnessed multiple seniors attempt to set a state record and clear 12 feet, 8 inches in the pole vault.“Maybe when I’m a senior I can do that,” she thought at the time.Now a senior at Bishop Manogue, Mills set 12-8 as her goal when the season began.She already has a new goal.Mills cleared 12-8 last week at a home meet to match the state’s all-time best performance.“That jump was huge for me. That was kind of my year goal,” Mills said this week. “By the end of the year, I wanted to jump at that state record. So for it to be able to happen in the first couple weeks was huge.”Mills is tied with Reed’s Ashley Feinberg for the state’s all-time best mark. Feinberg cleared 12-8 in 1997.

The 12-8 mark is not a state record because state records in track and field can only be set at a state meet. Feinberg holds the state record of 12-7, which she set at the 1997 state meet.

Mills’ recent jump might not be a state record but it gave her the school record, previously held by Logan Miller at 12-5, and didn’t diminish what she accomplished. It also was the fifth-best jump in the country this year, according to athletic.net.

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Sergei Bubka Jr., whose father is an Olympic gold medalist, is making his name on the courts. Sergei Bubka Jr. has lived his entire existence being called “the great pole vaulter’s son.”
Now, tennis aficionados have begun adding “World No. 1’s boyfriend” to the list.
But if he keeps fighting the way he did Thursday at the Sony Ericsson Open, the affable 25-year-old with the piercing gray-green eyes, shock of brown hair — and wicked serve — will soon be known as “Sergei the tennis player.”
Bubka, a Ukranian who lives in Monaco and is romantically involved with WTA Tour No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, is the son of legendary former world champion and Olympic gold medalist pole vaulter Sergei Bubka.
Sergei Jr., No. 182 in the ATP World Tour rankings, played a strong opening main-draw match at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park, defeating 79th-ranked Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-4, on a low-profile side court.

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