Fisher Breaks BYU Pole Vault Record

SEATTLE -- Sophomore Rachel Fisher broke the BYU record for the pole vault with a vault of 4.26m (13-11.75) at the Washington Final Qualifier on Saturday.

"I was ecstatic when I saw that I had cleared the bar at 4.26m," Fisher said. "Going into the jump I knew it would qualify me for Nationals and that was the most important thing. Breaking the BYU record was just icing on the cake."

Fisher headed to the meet with hopes of moving up the national rankings and improved on her previous season best mark by 1.75 feet. She is currently ranked 10th on the NCAA descending order list and will qualify for the NCAA National Championships.

"I think our team can perform well at Nationals," Fisher said. "We are capable to finish in the top five if we all do what we know we can."

Junior Christen Botteron also competed in the pole vault in Washington on Saturday and finished fourth with a vault of 4.11m (13-5.75). Botteron’s season best mark of 4.22m (13-10.00) was ranked 14th in the nation coming into the day and may be good enough to qualify her for Nationals.

The Cougars will head to the NCAA Indoor National Championships in College Station, Texas on March 11-12 and will look to best their 14th place finish in 2010. BYU will have several athletes competing alongside Fisher, including the 2010 indoor 800m National runner-up Lacey Bleazard.