LINCOLN, Neb. – Junior Kyle Ballew and sophomore Bethany Buell each captured pole vault titles to lead the South Dakota track and field teams at the Nebraska Invitational Saturday at Ed Weir Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. The meet is a final tune-up for the Coyote teams prior to the Summit League Outdoor Championships, which are May 10-12 in Fargo N.D.
Ballew (West Hills, Calif.) continued his strong outdoor season, winning the men’s pole vault with a personal-best mark of 17-5 ¾, which is the second-best height in the Summit League this season and 14th-best in the West Region.
Buell (St. Louis, Mo.) won the women’s pole vault at 13-8 1/4, with freshman teammate Emily Grove (Pontiac, Ill.) second at 13-4 ½.   more

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Purdue men’s and women’s track and field teams wrapped up their regular seasons on Friday as nine Boilermakers competed at the Billy Hayes Track & Field Invite at Indiana University. Byron Ferrell was the top finisher as he won the men’s pole vault.On the men’s side, Brandon Winters ran a time of 14.22 seconds to finish in second place. He had finished fifth in the prelims while Shane Mikesky finished in 17^th with a time of 15.05 seconds. Josh Lee was a late addition to the meet and competed in the 400m dash. He finished fifth with a time of 48.76 seconds. Ferrell won the pole vault after he cleared 5.05m (16-06.75). Mitch Erickson finished in fourth in the event with a height of 4.95m (16-02.75) and Zack Saunders finished sixth with a height of 4.80m (15-09.00).  more

 BATON ROUGE — Over the years, Vandebilt Catholic’s pole vaulters have dominated the awards podium at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association outdoor state track and field meet.Although they didn’t win an individual state championship at Saturday’s state meet at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium, the Terriers still had two vaulters place in the Top 3 of the Class 4A event.Vandebilt senior Nicholas Laurent finished as state runner-up in the boys’ pole vault with a second-place jump of 15-feet, losing only to champion Jacques Dugas of St. Thomas More (15-06).Vandebilt sophomore Patrick Watson placed third overall with a leap of 14-feet.Laurent entered the state meet as the defending Class 4A state champion.”I was hoping for another first, but I’m fine with second,” said Laurent, who will become a pole vaulter at Louisiana-Lafayette next year. “It is disappointing, but I beat my personal record. I’m fine with it.”Watson, who finished tied for fourth at last year’s state meet, said he was satisfied with a third-place finish. He topped his personal best at the meet.”I didn’t jump as high as I wanted,” Watson said. “My shoulder was really bothering me, but I’m happy to finish in third. I’m perfectly fine with finishing behind Nick. I know he works a lot and really wanted it. I’m fine with finishing right behind him.”Vandebilt Catholic senior Katie Watson finished second overall in the Class 4A girls pole vault with a jump of 10-feet. Assumption’s Bailey Daigle won the pole vault at 10-06, and Lakeshore’s Taylor Thompson was second.Watson, who placed second overall in the pole vault last year, said she was disappointed she couldn’t place first in the final high school track and field meet of her career. But after fighting through a knee injury all season, she said she was happy to make the podium at the state meet.”It was really rough finishing third,” Watson said. “I really wanted first, but I did what I could do. This was my last year, but so I wanted to win it. Finishing third was pretty rough, but considering everything, I think I did alright.”

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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University men’s outdoor track and field team finished in second place at the 2012 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships Saturday in Bloomsburg, Pa. The finish was The Rock’s highest since winning the competition in 2008. Leading the way for The Rock was pole vaulter Cameron Daugherty, who won his first outdoor conference championship with a clearance of 4.81 meters. In addition to Daugherty’s 10 points earned for winning the event, SRU also received unexpected points in the event from John Piserchio. more

Walsh University junior Stephanie Foster set a school record in the pole vault at Saturday’s Al Campbell/Wright Open at the University of Akron. Foster, who cleared 13-2, bettered her own previous record of 13-0.25.  more