Duke pole vaulter Jillian Schwartz fell just short of capturing the NCAA individual pole vaulting crown last weekend in Eugene. Ore., but that does not mean she is disappointed.
Schwartz, who already owned both the ACC and Duke women's pole vaulting records going into the NCAA championships, finished second to Arizona's Andrea Dutoit in the national championship meet, as Dutoit was the only vaulter to complete all of her attempts at a height of 13'09.25, giving her a winning score of 10 points. Meanwhile, the Duke senior cleared the 13'09.25 mark on all but one of her attempts, registering seven points, which tied her with UCLA's Tracey O'Hara for the runner-up position.
Even though Schwartz did not take home the NCAA championship, she once again succeeded in breaking her own school record and improved her own personal best with her impressive vault in Eugene. Furthermore, her jump at the NCAAs places her as the eighth best women's vaulter in the United States, including all amateurs and professionals.
Duke pole vaulting coach Scott Still was thrilled with Schwartz's effort at the NCAA meet.
"In our world, what we try to do every week
"I think she likes to progress in the sport itself. It just so happens that every one of her progressions is a new school record. That's just icing on the cake for her."
The numerous records, accolades, and respect Schwartz has gained from her emergence as one of the nation's best pole vaulters were hardly a thought in the Illinois native's mind when she entered Duke four years ago. Surprisingly, Schwartz had never competed in the pole vault during her high school track and field days, and was actually recruited for her hurdling, long jump and triple jump abilities. Even when she began to concentrate fully on pole vaulting during her sophomore season, Schwartz was not sure how things would pan out.
"[Success was not] something I expected coming in, since I hadn't pole vaulted before," Schwartz said.
But ultimately, with the help of Still and the encouragement of fellow Duke vaulter Seth Benson, success is exactly what Schwartz achieved. And the accomplishments of Schwartz and Benson--who won the IC4A championship two weeks ago--has dramatically raised the prominence of the upstart Blue Devil pole vaulting program.
"Any time you have two athletes who not only break records, but also do it in the big meets, that's an important thing," Still said. "Jillian is just a big meet vaulter. Seth has had an up-and-down year. But I think both of them have left a mark on Duke vaulting and they've definitely left the foundation that enables me to go out and get top recruits. That's the most important thing that seniors or juniors can do for your program."
While Still and his Duke pole vaulters hope to continue to improve their stature on the national level, Schwartz will continue to improve her own pole vaulting throughout the next year. In fact, the recent graduate has deferred her acceptance to the Washington University Law School for at least one year, so she can resume her training and competition in pole vaulting events.
"I'm really just thinking about next year," Schwartz said. "Right now, I'm just going to take it a year at a time and see how it goes. I just want to improve a lot, keep getting better. And as long as that happens, I think I'll keep with it."
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