Vaulters, Throwers move up rankings in New Mexico

Friday, February 3

Albuquerque, N.M.

All Day

University of Texas

New Mexico Classic

Photo by: Big 12 Conference

Vaulters, Throwers move up rankings in New Mexico

02.03.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country

Poth, Mills grab wins for Longhorns

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The first day of action at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic was full of personal records for the Texas Longhorns as the throwers and pole vaulters put on a show Friday evening.

Barrett Poth posted his third PR of the season in as many meets as the redshirt sophomore got the win over Olympian Logan Cunningham. Poth cleared 5.40 meters (17-8.50) on his first attempt at the height with his hips well over the bar. Cunningham went over on his second attempt. Poth then missed his three chances at 5.50 meters with his final attempt being nearly good enough.

Cunningham passed that height and then failed to safely get over the bar at 5.60 meters, which gave Poth the victory. Poth's height ties him for 11^th in the NCAA this season.

Barrett Poth 5.40 @UTexasTrack pic.twitter.com/CnZm4fNUgk
— brian mark elmore (@brianmarkelmore) February 4, 2017

Another victory came in the only distance event Texas ran in at the meet on Friday. Sophomore Charles Mills grabbed his first collegiate win in the 3,000 meters. Mills ran a smart race, climbing his way near the leader each lap. He overtook the lead with two laps to go and ran away for the win in 8:31.40.

In the women's weight throw, Lauryn Caldwell continued to inch closer to the school record. The junior posted two personal bests on the day and finished in fifth place with her biggest toss of 18.08 meters (59-4.00). She keeps her spot at No. 2 in school history but now is within striking distance of the record at 18.56 meters (60-10.75).

To close the night in Albuquerque redshirt junior Alan Zapalac posted his best performance of the year. He also tallied two PR's on the night and finished in second place. His mark of 20.55 meters (67-5.25) ranks him third in the Big 12 Conference this year and gets in the top 25 nationally.

Assistant Coach Ty Sevin said he was more than pleased with how his pole vaulters and throwers competed to open the weekend. With another day of action on Saturday to build he is looking forward to seeing what this group can do the remainder of the season.

"I'm really happy that the plan is coming together," Sevin said. "First of all, we're trying to get to a place where we can be really competitive at conference and take home a team title, and we want the throws and pole vault to be a big contributor to that."

Saturday will see the women's pole vault compete with four Longhorns slated to take the runway. The men's and women's shot put will also go off. Texas will have runners in the men's and women's mile as well. Fans can watch the action live with FloTrack providing coverage through its subscription service FloPro. Action begins for Texas at 11 a.m. CDT.

Coach Talk
Assistant Coach Ty Sevin
On the support staff for Texas Track & Field: I feel like we do have the best strength and conditioning staff in the country working with us. When Todd Tuetken and Clint Martin are able to come on the road with us, it's just really important for them to be integrated into our team. And with me running back and forth between the pole vault and the shot put or weight throw, having someone like Brian Elmore, our volunteer pole vault coach, to be there to step in when I have to go away to watch a throw that makes my job so much easier.