EUGENE, Oregon — Notre Dame sophomore Nate Richartz took only four pole vault attempts on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field, and he missed three. But he still had a smile on his face.
“You’ve got the crowd right next to you,” he said. “We had a beautiful day, a perfect tailwind; I really couldn’t have asked for more.”
Richartz finished tied for 14th place after vaulting 16 feet, 10 3/4 inches in his introduction to Eugene and the national championships.
The McHenry East grad and Island Lake native found himself among the top 24 collegiate pole vaulters after finding some late-season success. He came into the meet Wednesday having just set a new personal record of 17 feet, 2.5 inches last weekend, when he won the East regional qualifier in Jacksonville, Florida.
“The success I’ve had this late in the season kind of caught me off guard,” said Richartz. “I really didn’t start getting to these higher heights until late in the season. I was just glad to qualify and glad to make a bar and be a competitor.”
He and the other athletes who didn’t qualify for the finals still hung around in the infield and watched the rest of the competition. Shawn Barber of Akron was the eventual winner when he vaulted 18 feet, 4 1/2 inches in the sixth round.
For Richartz, it was more than just his own experience that made today special.
His older sister, Stephanie, is a senior at the University of Illinois and will vault tomorrow.
“I was really happy to qualify and be with her,” he said. “We don’t really have many meets together and especially since this is her last year. We have a family trip now to Eugene. Everyone’s here, and it’s just great to have that support.”