Dragila wins U.S. Indoor pole vault title
Dragila wins U.S. Indoor pole vault title
ATLANTA, Georgia (AFP): Stacy Dragila won her sixth
consecutive US Indoor women's pole vault on Friday, clearing
4.56m to edge Kellie Suttle by virtue of fewest misses.
Suttle set a new personal best in the event to join Dragila on
the US team that will compete at the World Indoor Championships
March 9-11 in Lisbon.
Suttle's previous best was 4.53m, set outdoors last year.
Dragila's height was well below the world record 4.70 she
cleared in Pocatello, Idaho, on February 17 -- her third
improvement of the mark in 15 days.
"I keep landing deep in the pit, so I still need to get some
of the kings out," Dragila said. "I need to focus more on
conditioning and doing intervals. My coach will not be with me in
Portugal, so I need to get ready."
She is especially looking forward to the World Indoors after a
disappointing eighth-place finish there in 1999.
"It means a lot to me, because in '99 I was recovering from a
foot injury," she said. "It was a humbling experience and it
shows that I'm human like everyone else. I think I'm still right
there."
The victory also kept Dragila on track to win the Pontiac
Grand Prix Cup, a point-based system that awards a 2001 Pontiac
Grand Prix car to both the top male and female athletes of USA
Track and Field's Indoor Golden Spike Tour. The victory gave
Dragila 2,465 points, the standard that athletes competing in
Saturday's events must chase. Terrence Trammell, who will compete
Saturday in the men's 60m hurdles, is the favorite to win the
Pontiac Grand Prix Cup on the men's side.
In Friday's other individual-event final, Tiombe Hurd
successfully defended her US Indoor title in the women's triple
jump with a leap of 14.04m.
In Friday's qualifying heats, 40-year-old Johnny Gray broke
his own US masters record in the 800 with his time of 1:48.81 in
the heats of the 800 meters. Elliot Gaskins was the top qualifier
for Saturday's final at 1:47.97. Defending US Indoor and Olympic
Trials champion Hazel Clark led all women's qualifiers at
2:06.89.
Kevin Little, the 1997 World Indoor champion, was the top
qualifier in the men's 200 with a time of 20.61 seconds.
Defending indoor champ James Davis posted the fastest 400m
qualifying time of 45.79, and after four events Stephen Moore led
the heptathlon with 3428 points, propelled by a 2.17m clearance
in the high jump.