With her best jump in two years, Delsea graduate Ashley Preston of Villanova tied for 5th in the Championship Pole Vault at the 127th Penn Relays Saturday. The vault was held indoors because of bad weather.
Preston, a Villanova senior cleared 13-2 ½ before going out at 13-6 ½, which would have been a personal best.
She cleared her lifetime-best 13-3 ¾ in April of 2021 in the Quaker Invitational, also at Franklin Field. Last weekend in Charlottesville, Va., Preston cleared 13-1 ½, her best performance in two years. And she topped that Saturday in cool, wet conditions.
Preston cleared opening height of 12-2 ¾ on her first attempt and 12-8 ¾ and 13-2 ½ on her second. She and Victoria Atkinson of Cornell also cleared 12-8 ¾ and 13-2 ½ on her second attempts, and Preston and Atkinson tied for 5th.
Preston won the college-division vault at Penn in 2019 at 12-5 ½ and placed 6th in the championship division last year at 12-2 ¾.
With her 13-3 ¾ Preston ranks No. 2 in Villanova history behind Alexandra Wasik, who cleared 13-7 ¼ at the 2014 NCAA preliminary round in Jacksonville. Indoors, Preston is No. 3 all-time at Villanova at 13-3 ¼ from the 2020 Big East at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 