Eliza McCartney yesterday cleared 4.82m to break the Oceania Record Pole Vault record, previously held by Alana Boyd, at 4.81m.
McCartney was a clear winner in the competition, held at the Auckland Track Challenge. She continues a good run of form to start the season for the 20 year old, after winning the Vertical Pursuit on Wednesday with a jump of 4.70m.
“I was super happy to get that, not only because it’s my all-time PB, it’s also a massive PB for the run up I was on, and I’m pretty sure it’s a world lead for the year and an Oceania record. So I banged them all out in one which is really nice.
“The jump felt really good. It did look lucky the bar stayed on but those jumps happen every now and then.”
McCartney said she had an inkling something special might be on when she turned up at her home track with conditions perfect, and a big crowd in attendance.
“I felt really, really good today, from the second I started warming up. My run up moved back heaps which means my speed was really good today. It moved back a lot during the competition, more than it’s ever moved before, so I was really, really fast today and got on to really big poles and that really helps.”
With that jump, McCartney moves to 11th all time. She will be looking towards the world championships in London in August 2017 as her major focus of this season.
