June 11, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa - San Diego State sophomore Stephanie Bagan advanced to the finals of the pole vault on Wednesday evening at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Bagan was one of 14 student-athletes to secure a spot in the final round, which will take place Friday night.
The 2008 Mountain West Conference and NCAA West Regional champion came into the national meet with the top clearance in the nation at 14 feet, 3.50 inches. But on this day, 13-5.25 was all that was needed to advance to the final round.
Bagan passed on the first two bars, which were at 12-3.50 and 12-9.50, respectively, before clearing 13-1.50 on her first attempt. With the bar raised to 13-5.25, Bagan missed on her first try, but was successful on her second. Since more than 12 and fewer than 16 athletes cleared 13-5.25, the competition was halted and the championship field was set. Had a 17th vaulter cleared 13-5.25, the bar would have been raised to 13-9.25 until the field was narrowed to 12-16 competitors.
Bagan's 13-plus foot performance was her seventh in a row and ninth of the season. Only once this year has she failed to clear 13 feet and that came back on March 28 when she posted a height of 12-3.50 in the preliminary round of the Cal-Nevada Championships. That effort was tied for 1st and the next day Bagan won the title with a vault of 13-7.75.
Teammate Sherraine Pencil did not experience the same fate as Bagan after she narrowly missed out on qualifying for the semifinals in the 400-meter dash. The senior ran in Heat 5 of the preliminaries and found herself in a tight race all the way to the finish line. With four athletes running side-by-side, Jessica Beard of Texas A&M emerged victorious at 53.35 seconds and was followed by LaJada Baldwin of Mississippi (53.38), Penn State's Dominique Blake (53.44) and Pencil (53.78). Unfortunately for the Aztec team captain, Pencil found herself on the outside looking in as she had the 17th fastest time in the field with the top 16 times advancing to Friday's semifinals. Overall, she was just .07 seconds shy of moving to the next round.
National-meet action continues tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. CT/2:30 p.m. PT when freshman Briana Johnson looks to secure a berth in the semifinals of the 100 hurdles. Later at 5:10 p.m. CT/3:10 p.m. PT, Pencil will have another shot at moving closer to a national championship when she takes part in the prelims of the 200.