Brynn King of Roberts Wesleyan qualifies for U.S. Olympic women's pole vaulting team
Roberts Wesleyan fifth-year senior Brynn King qualified for the three-person U.S. Olympic women's pole vaulting team Sunday at the trials in Eugene, Oregon.
"Honestly," she said afterward, "I'm jumping higher than I ever thought I could."
King, 23, a Texas native who transferred from Duke University to train with former Olympic gold medalist and Roberts graduate Jenn Suhr of Riga and her husband Rick, cleared a personal-best 15 feet, 6.25 inches in her fifth vault on her first attempt at the height.
The other two qualifiers also finished at 15-6.25 – Bridget Williams of Greensburg, Pa. and Katie Moon of Lakewood, Ohio. But King's ascent to the Olympic team is the most improbable since her best finish in the ACC at Duke was fourth, she never qualified for an NCAA championship and did not compete in USATF outdoor nationals. Her career best height at Duke was 13-11.25.
"Deep down, I thought if I could execute what I've been doing in practice, I definitely had a shot to make the team," King said on track and field Web site Dyestat.com.
King, of Tomball, Texas, was just an inch short of the collegiate record of 15-7.25 set by top-seeded Sandi Morris at the University of Arkansas in 2015. King passed at two heights, 14-6.25 and 15-4.25, before clearing 15-6.25. Morris was fourth Sunday.
"It allowed me to save my legs for the big jump that I needed," King said on RunnerSpace.com of the strategy to pass twice. "I was on big poles with big grips, so if I was going to execute that jump I knew I could make that bar. I was just visualizing being back in Rochester (jumping) in their (Jenn and Rick Suhr's) backyard.
"I focused on listening to the coaches and doing exactly what they tell me to do."
According to the Roberts Wesleyan University sports Web site, King was a flier in competitive cheerleading for 11 years in her hometown of The Woodlands, Texas.
"Every sport I have ever done has had that element of being in the air," King said on the Roberts Wesleyan Web site. "It’s an adrenaline rush."
King earned a degree in evolutionary anthropology at Duke before entering the transfer portal and attending Roberts in the spring of 2023 for a fifth year of eligibility.
She won both indoor and outdoor national Division II championships in the last four months to become the only student-athlete from Roberts to win an NCAA individual championship.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Brynn King earns spot on U.S. Olympic pole vaulting team
