Jack Whitt, Jr., Oral Roberts, men’s pole vault champion, PR of 18-6½ (5.65m)

On feeling some discomfort today: “I wouldn’t say I was sick, but I definitely had a very sharp pain in my stomach. I don’t know if it was nerves or something I ate, or lack of eating, but I’m just glad I did what I did and got the ‘W’ for Oral Roberts.”
On the winning vault: “I was just happy that I brought my A-game today. I felt a little shaky in the first few bars, but I pulled it out when it mattered.”
On winning with a knot in his stomach and doing more vaults than he’s done all season: “It definitely took more vaults than I’m used to. I knew coming in, I had a pretty good shot, but I was going to have to jump my best. And last week at Oral Roberts, I jumped A [Olympic trials] standard; so you know I had a little bit of an edge on everybody else I could say. But everybody else came out and half the field PRed, so it took my best to pull it out.

Katerina Stefanidi, Sr., Stanford, champion, women’s pole vault, tied meet record clearing 14-7¼ (4.45m) on her first attempt (NCAA Outdoor Record: 4.45m, three other vaulters)
Stefanidi has finished as high as second at the NCAA meet and was third at both last year’s NCAA outdoor championships and this winter’s indoor championships.
On her winning performance: “I had a weird meet. I didn’t start out well. I think I was very nervous and it just got better and better as the height went higher.”
On her reaction to being an NCAA champion: “The first thing that I thought when I won was, ‘Finally.’ I mean I was third, I was second, I was third again, I was fourth and fifth. So I’ve been pretty close.”
On the perfect night for vaulting: “Yeah it was pretty good. The wind was kind of turning a little, so we had these little wind gauges and it was showing that the wind was so bad, but there was no wind on the track. I was really confused. But it was really good, particularly compared to last year.”  more

Nico Weiler broke his own school and New England collegiate record in the pole vault Friday (Ivy League Athletics).
DES MOINES, Iowa – Representing the Harvard track and field team at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor track and field championships, junior Nico Weiler shattered his own school record in the pole vault, placing fourth in the competition Friday. Weiler was one of 24 vaulters in the field and the only student-athlete from a Northeastern school. Continue reading →

DES MOINES, Iowa – Eastern Illinois track and field closed out the collegiate portion of its schedule on Friday evening with sophomore Mick Viken competing in the pole vault at the NCAA National Championships.
Viken placed 12th in the men’s pole vault on Friday evening in the event hosted by Drake University. Viken was among seven competitors that cleared 17’4.25″ with Viken having the third fewest misses among those seven  more