From now through Friday, VMIKeydets.com will provide a preview of this coming weekend's Big South Indoor Track and Field Championships, set for Saturday and Sunday in Clemson, S.C. The first four days of the preview will feature one in-depth event preview per day, with a focus on events that could favor the VMI squad, and will culminate with a video interview with Coach Darrin Webb that will air on Friday. The preview begins today with the women's pole vault.
There is no clear cut favorite, as this may be the single-most competitive event all weekend. The list of potential victors is at least four-deep, beginning with Carrie Long of Gardner-Webb and including Shelley Parker of Liberty, Mary Lawrence of Coastal Carolina and VMI's own Kate Collins. Those four have posted the top four clearances in the Big South this year, each of which was greater than last year's Big South title-winning effort of 3.35 M (10'11 ¾”), but six other athletes have gotten within at least .20 meters of that mark.
Top contenders:
Long, Jr., Gardner-Webb: Long cleared 3.20 meters at her season-opening meet, but quickly improved at her next meet to jump to 3.35 meters for the season. Her season-best clearance, the Big South leading 3.52 meter mark, came this past week at the ASU Mountaineer Open. It is the just fourth-best effort of her collegiate career, as she was able to get over 3.65 meters last season. Long was the pole vault champion of the Atlantic Sun conference during the 2008 outdoor season, as she vaulted a GW record 3.70 meters (12'1 ½”), and was also an all-conference honoree during her freshman campaign in that league.
Lawrence, So., Coastal Carolina: Lawrence has been in action just three times so far this year after taking a medical redshirt during the 2009 season. She has steadily improved throughout her second campaign in Conway, S.C., as she opened her season with a 3.20 meter clearance during a meet at Virginia Tech in mid-January. After a 17th place finish at Penn State (3.30 M), she then finished fifth at the Tiger Paw Invitational, a meet that was held at the same facility that will host the Big South Championships. Her effort there, 3.47 meters, currently stands as the fourth-highest clearance in the conference this season.
Parker, Fr., Liberty: Parker is the only one of the top four contenders to clear 3.35 meters in every meet this season, as her lowest clearance came in early December at the Liberty Kickoff meet. She was fourth at that meet, just ahead of Collins, and Parker's season-best (3.50 M) jump came one month later at the Hokie Invitational. That mark remains tied with Collins' similar leap for the second-best effort in the conference this year. Parker cleared 3.45 meters in her final tuneup, the Liberty Quad on Feb. 12, and is certainly a potential contender this weekend.
Collins, Fr. VMI: Collins and Long come in with the most momentum of the contenders, as the VMI freshman enters this competition fresh off a collegiate best 3.50 M (11'5 ¾”) clearance. The effort equaled the school record, set in 2003, but remains .50 meters off of her personal best of 12 feet. In addition to her efforts this past weekend, Collins has also gone over the 3.40 meter mark twice, both efforts that would have won last year's conference title.
Others:
Taylor Cook, a freshman out of Gardner-Webb, jumped 3.35 M (10'11 3/4") early in the season and could be a surprise. Four athletes have cleared 3.20 meters this season, while Jennifer Sing of VMI is ranked 10th on the performance list coming into the Championships.
Tomorrow's preview - Men's Weight Throw
