Several World Outdoor finalists scheduled to open indoor seasons participating in elite competition Friday at annual event in Reno

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Reigning U.S. Indoor champions Andrew Irwin and Katie Nageotte headline the entries scheduled to participate Friday in the elite competition at the UCS Spirit National Pole Vault Summit at 7 p.m. PST at Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center in Nevada.

Also expected to vault in the men’s competition is two-time defending NCAA Division 1 Outdoor champion Chris Nilsen of South Dakota.

Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, last season’s NCAA Division 1 Indoor champion in his lone year of collegiate competition at LSU, is also scheduled to attend the annual event. However, Duplantis – the 2018 European champion and last year’s World Outdoor silver medalist – has not yet committed to vaulting Friday.

Matthew Ludwig, the 2017 Division 1 Outdoor champion at Akron and last year’s winner of the men’s elite competition, is also expected to participate, along with fellow American Cole Walsh, who placed 10th at the World Outdoor final.

Japan’s Seito Yamamoto, who took second to Ludwig in last year’s elite competition and placed 12th at the World Outdoor final, is scheduled to vault, along with Americans Devin King, Austin Miller, Tray Oates, Garrett Starkey, Jacob Wooten and Audie Wyatt.

In addition to Nageotte, who took second in last season’s elite competition and finished seventh at the World Outdoor final, three-time Division 1 Indoor champion Lexi Jacobus and 2019 NCAA Outdoor winner Tori Hoggard, both Arkansas graduates, are also scheduled to participate.

Fellow Americans Daylis Caballero-Vega, Megan Clark, Morgann Leleux Romero and Kortney Ross are also competing, along with first-year Puma professional athlete Chloe Cunliffe, who set high school national indoor and outdoor records as a senior at West Seattle High.

South Dakota’s Helen Falda, an Italian vaulter who placed seventh at the Division 1 Outdoor Championships, is also scheduled to compete, along with LSU standout Lisa Gunnarsson, who captured the silver medal for Sweden at the 2018 World U-20 Outdoor Championships in Finland.