Blustery winds made the vaulting difficult, but didn’t change the formchart much. By 14-11(4. 55), the field had boiled down to the four projected contenders for the team: Jenn Suhr, Mary Saxer, Kylie Hutson and Becky Holiday.
Hutson would pass that height. Saxer missed, and when Holiday cleared on her first, the Notre Dame alum passed to the next setting. Meanwhile, AR holder Suhr cleared on her second attempt.
Hutson’s gamble paid off at 15-1 (4.60), and her first attempt clearance gave her the lead.Suhr matched that to stay in 2nd.
But both Saxer and Holiday ran into problems.Hutson’s clearance had pushed Saxer to 4th. She missed her two remaining attempts and thus, the trip to Moscow. Holliday, with the pressure off, passed her final attempt before going out at 15-3 (4.65).
With the team set, Suhr cleared 15-5 (4.70) on her second; Hutson passed her remaining attempt before missing at 15-7 (4.75). That gave Suhr win No. 7 and freed her up for three attempts at U.S. outdoor best of 16-2 (4.93), none of them particularly close.
“Any time you come into this meet, and it’s a qualifying meet, you take a lot of jumps at lower heights to ensure 3rd and then 2nd and then 1st,” said the winner.
“So, a lot of jumps were taken early just to do that. By the time that I put it to 4.93, I was just too tired and too hot for that.” /Jeff Hollobaugh/
