TAMPERE, Finland – On Day 3 of the World Junior Championships, Virginia Tech's Rachel Baxter represented the U.S.A in the pole vault Thursday afternoon.
In the preliminaries on Tuesday, the rising sophomore vaulted 4.20 meters (13 feet, 9.25 inches) securing a place in today's finals.
Baxter got off to a good start clearing the 4.00-meter (13 feet, 1.5 inches) mark on her first attempt, but had problems with finding her rhythm at the second bar on our her way to finishing in 11th place.
"Rachel had some trouble finding the right takeoff step at the second bar," pole vault coach Bob Phillips said.
With today's final, Baxter concluded her outstanding freshman campaign where she medaled both indoor and outdoor at ACCs, and earned all-America honors indoor and outdoor. The highlight of the season may have been in mid-June in Bloomington, Indiana, where Baxter set a new personal best of 4.42 meters (14 feet, 6 inches) at the U.S. Junior Outdoor Championships and won the gold medal.
"Rachel had a great freshman year, medaling at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets, earning All-America honors and winning her third consecutive U.S. junior title with a new personal best of 14 feet, 6 inches. I'm excited about what next year will bring," Phillips said.