I just returned from my first track meet of the outdoor season, the Stanford Invite in Palo Alto, CA. Overall the meet was a success and a good confidence booster for the rest of the year. The field was fairly large with 30 vaulters total, which resulted in a long competition. I ended up waiting 3 hours after the warm-up to attempt my opening height. This was something I expected for the most part, because this meet gives college vaulters of all levels a good opportunity to get a mark. So I patiently waited for the bar to reach 17'2.5" and then I began jumping. It was 71 degrees and sunny with light winds that only required a little patience to become favorable. I cleared my opening height on the first jump, but when the bar went to 17'6.5" I ran through on my first to attempts. This was something extremely rare for me to do, but I was having issues with hitting top speed to early and throwing off my plant. I was in unfamiliar territory jumping outdoors on a runway I had never jumped on, so I got the opportunity to practice making adjustments along the way. My third attempt was more controlled and I made it over with no problems. The bar was raised to 5.45m (17'10.5") and I made it on the first jump which ended up giving me the win. It was also a new PR and I was immediately engulfed by the feelings of happiness and relief. I thanked God as I walked off the pit. Not because I made a specific height, but because I felt so lucky to have the ability to do all the things I do and enjoy the fruits of my labor. My hope is that the spectators got as much enjoyment out of watching as I did out of performing. I then had the bar raised to 5.55m (18'2.5") to get an Olympic Trials qualifier. My first 2 attempts ended with me getting stood up because I miss gauged the winds, so on my 3rd attempt I waited for a light tail wind to come around. When it finally did I took my last jump which was reasonably close, but not quite enough. It was the highest bar I had ever attempted. Here is the video of my winning jump of 17'10.5".
