NEW ORLEANS – Having taken a look at the team race at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships earlier this week when the final National Team Computer Rankings were released, the attention now shifts to some of the biggest individual storylines of the upcoming weekend.
Two-time defending indoor pole vault champion Andrew Irwin of Arkansas is rounding into his usual form after a slow start to the season, but he’ll have to overcome The Bowerman Watch List member Sam Kendricks of Ole Miss and Canadian record holder Shawn Barber of Akron to make it three titles in a row. Irwin and Kendricks, who are tied at No. 9 on the all-time indoor collegiate performers list, also cleared identical heights at the SEC Championships.
Of the top 13 women in collegiate pole vault history, five of them will be in action this weekend. Top seed Emily Grove of South Dakota is equal to No. 3 on the performer list, Morgan Leleux of Georgia is equal to No. 5 and defending indoor champion Natalia Bartnovskaya of Kansas, Texas’ Kaitlin Petrillose and Virginia Tech’s Martina Schultze are all equal to No. 9. Also in the mix is defending outdoor champion Beth Firsick of South Dakota.
Men’s vault — Saturday at 5:30
- 1 356 Bringhurst, Braydon JR BYU 5.50m
- 2 316 Barber, Shawn SO Akron 5.66m
- 3 615 Thoirs, Jax SO Washington 5.50m
- 4 589 Woepse, Michael SR UCLA 5.50m
- 5 608 Laidig, Torben FR Virginia Tec 5.45m
- 6 433 Wait, Kyle SR Kansas State 5.45m
- 7 384 Geraghty, Peter SR Eastern Illi 5.45m
- 8 461 Siegmeier, Zach SR Minnesota 5.45m
- 9 315 Uhle, Joey JR Air Force 5.44m
- 10 452 Pujats, Pauls JR Memphis 5.45m
- 11 431 Bishop, Alex SR Kansas 5.45m
- 12 621 Cato, Japheth SR Wisconsin 5.55m
- 13 583 Wolfle, Chase SO Texas A&M 5.46m
- 14 385 Babits, Max SR Eastern Mich 5.51m
- 15 466 Kendricks, Sam JR Mississippi 5.70m
- 16 338 Irwin, Andrew JR Arkansas 5.60m
Women Friday at 6 pm
- 1 152 Tobel, Kiley SR Michigan 4.25m
- 2 86 Marshall, Mandissa SR George Mason 4.32m
- 3 230 Firsick, Bethany SR South Dakota 4.31m
- 4 10 Paine, Alexis SR Alabama 4.35m
- 5 301 Schultze, Martina JR Virginia Tec 4.40m
- 6 303 Planell Cruz, Diamara SO Washington 4.25m
- 7 143 Newman, Alysha SO Miami 4.35m
- 8 255 Petrillose, Kaitlin SO Texas 4.45m
- 9 111 Bartnovskaya, Natalia SR Kansas 4.32m
- 10 277 Van Meter, Merritt SR Tulane 4.27m
- 11 232 Grove, Emily SO South Dakota 4.51m
- 12 23 Nowell, Danielle SR Arkansas 4.30m
- 13 7 Roloff, Annika SO Akron 4.36m
- 14 27 Voskamp, Ariel SO Arkansas 4.30m
- 15 97 Leleux, Morgann JR Georgia 4.38m
- 16 54 Clark, Megan SO Duke 4.40m
