Nageotte moves into third in IAAF Diamond League pole vault standings in Birmingham...

BIRMINGHAM—Pullman’s Katie Nageotte (above/photo by Paul Merca) finished in a tie for third in the pole vault at the Grand Prix Birmingham Saturday in the final regular season stop on the IAAF Diamond League circuit before the pair of Diamond League finals in Zürich and Brussels in two weeks.

Nageotte cleared a best of 14-5.25 (4.40m) on her first attempt of the day, but missed all three tries at the next height of 14-10 (4.52m), as she tied with Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou of Greece.

Reigning world indoor champion Sandi Morris took the victory, as she was the only competitor to clear 15-1.75 (4.62m), defeating world and Olympic champ Katerina Stefanidi of Greece, who cleared 14-10 (4.52m).

The contestants were held back by less than ideal conditions that included a stiff headwind. Contestants and observers noted that had meet organizers set up the pits to go in the opposite direction, that the results would have been different, and that the vaulters could have jumped higher, as fifth place finisher and Birmingham favorite Holly Bradshaw noted in this tweet:





With her third place tie Saturday, Nageotte moved into third in the overall Diamond League standings with 27 points going into the final meet in Zürich on August 30th.

Morris (40) and Stefanidi (29) lead the season-long event after Saturday’s stop in Birmingham.

In the women’s 3000, Katie Mackey of the Brooks Beasts finished 14th in a time of 8:53.18, as Agnes Tirop of Kenya won in 8:32.21.

The current IAAF Diamond League standings are available here.

The results of the Birmingham Grand Prix meet are available here.

NOTE:  The IAAF contributed to this report.

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