Jenn Suhr readies for the extension that would take her over the bar at 14-11. Photo by Alan Versaw.
There is nothing quite like an Olympic champion showing up at your meet to change the feel of things.
That is exactly what happened today at the Cadet Field House. For those in attendance, it was quite a show--even if it was a rather short show. 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jenn Suhr made one clearance today in the pole vault. That clearance, however, happened to be at 4.55m, or 14-11. That added almost two inches to the Cadet Field House record. Suhr made three more attempts at 4.65m, but never quite found the combination that would send her over the bar.
In addition to becoming the new Cadet Field House record, Suhr's mark also becomes the Colorado soil record for the women's pole vault. April Steiner-Bennett, another elite pole vaulter who happened to be on hand, bowed out of the competition at 4.45m.
In other highlights of the non-high school action on the day, former Berthoud High School teammates Cheyenne Hall and Courtney Mills squared off in the triple jump. Reversing the high school order of things, Cheyenne Hall won the competition with a mark of 40-1.25. Mills recorded a second with 38-9.75.
Colorado State's Jessica Sharbono and Kiah Hicks took 1-2 in the weight throw, both with throws over 60 feet. Sharbano's first-place heave measured 60-9.25; Hicks' second stretched the tape to 60-4.
Colorado's Eileen Gehring continued her local domination of the longer sprints, winning the 200 in 24.73 and the 400 in 55.62.
On the men's side, Joe Morris ran away from everyone in the 200 with a clocking of 20.80. Jeremy Dodson went a little longer than his specialty distance of 200 meters but still made a win of it in the 400 at 48.71.
Colorado Mines graduate Mark Husted jumped out to an early lead in the 800 and refused to let anyone draw close enough to threaten his lead. Husted stopped the clock in 1:52.49, a little more than two seconds ahead of Smoky Hill grad and current Air Force senior Mathieu Caldwell.
Brendan Ames beat Trevor Brown in a very fast first-hurdles-out-of-the-gate race by a margin of 7.66 to 7.85.
In the high jump, it was Kobi Rex's turn to take a win over Mark Jones of CU. Jones breaking through the 7 foot mark to win at the Air Force Holiday Open. This time it was Kobi Rex who exceeded 7 feet for the win. Figure there's at least one more matchup between the two to break the tie.
Nick Frawley (AFWCAP) and Sam Pierson both cleared 17-6.5 to nail down the top two places in the pole vault.
Colorado's Alex Kizirian continued his run of nice weight throws this season, winning the event with a best toss of 64-5.