Nageotte posts 2020 world leading mark in pole vault; Pop-up distance meet in Portland this weekend?
With Morris' usual training facility at the University of Arkansas shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Morris moved home to train. During her time living with her parents, she and father Harry, with the help of friends and neighbors, built a full-length runway alongside the housing community's soccer field in order for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist to train. They also were loaned a pink vaulting pit by her pole sponsor UCS Spirit.
Morris got the win, also clearing 15-9.25 (4.81m) on her first attempt, while Nageotte cleared the same height on her third attempt.
Both athletes had strong vaults at 16-1.25 (4.91m), with Nageotte’s best opportunity coming on her first try and Morris enduring a near miss on her second attempt.
“As a vaulter, you know when it’s a good jump and you know when it’s close, and so I was like, ‘We have this.’ And so while maybe it didn’t come today, it’s there and it’s in that pole,” said Nageotte.
There have been four occasions where multiple American female vaulters have cleared at least 15-9.25 in the same indoor competition, with Morris involved in all of them. Nageotte won the 2018 U.S. indoor title in Albuquerque, N.M., with a 16-1.25 clearance to edge Morris at 15-11.25 (4.86m) and Jenn Suhr at 15-9.25.
The only previous outdoor women’s pole vault event held on American soil that produced at least two marks of that magnitude was the 2018 Nike Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene, with New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney and 2012 Olympic champion Jenn Suhr of the USA both clearing 15-11 (4.85m).
Washington alum Olivia Gruver, who tied for third last week at the RSS/American Track League meet in Marietta, Georgia, finished in a tie for fourth with a best of 14-1.25 (4.30m).
Complete results of the Acacia Invitational are available here.
You can watch the replay of the meet below, courtesy of ESPN's YouTube page.
POP-UP MEET IN PORTLAND THIS WEEKEND?
According to Ken Goe of the Oregonian, expect the folks at Portland Track to stage a pop-up meet sometime this weekend.
In his track & field column, Goe says that "Everyone is tightlipped. Spectators will be prohibited for coronavirus-related reasons. But I expect the meet to take place this weekend at an undisclosed location."
Two weeks ago, Portland Track staged a meet between runners from Pete Julian's Nike group (the former Nike Oregon Project) and members of the Nike Oregon TC Elite.
Athletes from the Seattle based Brooks Beasts have posted on social media that they expect to race somewhere this weekend. paulmerca.blogspot.com attempted to text Beasts coach Danny Mackey about this matter, and got no reply.
Additionally, Julian posted on his Instagram account within the last hour that, "It’s happening this weekend. More teams, more athletes, more rigorous testing and a lot more racing! Maybe a relay?? Stay tuned. We can do this and we can do this safely."
As they say in the business, stay tuned!
NOTE: Media partner RunnerSpace.com and OregonLive.com contributed to this report.
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