CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a track meet marred by gloomy clouds and thunderstorms, it was only fitting that the one they call “The Hurricane” provided the Wildcats with a lightening-rod of joy. Katrina Rodriguez won the national pole vault crown to start Saturday’s action at the NCAA Track & Field Championships at Johnson C. Smith University’s Irwin Belk Track Complex in Charlotte, N.C., and in doing so sparked a storm of Chico State success. The Wildcats netted six All-America awards Saturday. Michael Wickman finished second in the 1,500 meters and seventh in the 800 meters, Beau Rogers finished third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Kara Lubieniecki was fifth in the 1,500 meters, and Ryan Bertucci eighth in the high jump, giving him three straight top-10 finishes at the National Championships. The Wildcats men’s and women’s teams logged their best finish since 2007, finishing eighth and 18th, respectively.
“I’m on cloud 11, 12, 15… I’m way up there,” exclaimed a giddy Rodriguez following her moment at the top of the podium.
To get there, she vaulted higher than she ever had before. With five competitors still remaining, Rodriguez was the first to attempt 12-feet-10.75. She cleared the bar on her first try, setting a new personal standard and putting pressure upon the shoulders of her opposition.
Two competitors missed once before clearing the height, while two more missed on all three attempts. Rodriguez looked around and saw the unthinkable – to her at least – that she was guaranteed a top-three finish.
“Coming up to this day I kind of thought I didn’t really have a chance. I was so scared I wasn’t going to be able to compete at this level with these women who are all so talented,” said Rodriguez. “I just kept telling myself to just fight. If there’s one thing I knew it was that I was going to do today it was fight. So when it got to the top three I was just so excited, amazed that I was guaranteed a spot in the top three.”
She missed her first attempt at 13-feet-2. Then her two competitors did as well. She missed again. So did they. They each had one more chance. Rodriguez, up first again, missed.
“She just brushed (the bar) off, barely, on the way down,” said Chico State Women’s Track Coach Oliver Hanf.
What Rodriguez did not realize, however, is that by virtue of her clearance on the first attempt at the last height, she was still in position to win. The next competitor sprung into the air. The bar came down with her. One vaulter remained between Rodriguez and the national title.
“I was standing next to Oliver and he had told me before the last girl went: ‘If she misses you’re the champ’,” said Rodriguez. “I was going to walk away because I couldn’t watch, but Oliver grabbed my arm and told me I had to watch. When she missed I just gave him a great big hug and it hit me that, holy moly, I’m the National Champion.”
Though extremely proud of his vaulter, Hanf was not surprised.
“She was the class of the field from start to finish,” said Hanf. “She had the appearance of a champion. It was a beautiful victory. I’ve never seen such a giddy and gleeful winner.”
Nor had Hanf ever seen one of his athletes standing on the track, pole in hand, ready to make her first vault of the National Championships, only to hear an announcement postponing the event. Not until Friday, that is. Rodriguez was seconds from taking off down the runway when the announcement came.
“She showed amazing composure this week,” said Hanf. “She warmed up for an hour and a half yesterday before they suspended things. We spent two-and-a-half hours in this old gymnasium with 500 athletes. There’s rain and thunder. Then we get the call that the meet will resume in one hour. Finally her turn came, and with the pole in her hand, they called it off again. This time we waited in the gym for an hour before they told us to come back (Saturday).”
Also back after Friday’s delay was Bertucci, who had just cleared 6-feet-8 in cold, rainy conditions when the meet was delayed. Saturday, Bertucci cleared 6-feet-9.5, but missed on three straight attempts at 6-feet-11.75. Bertucci finished 10th in the event as a sophomore, fourth last season, and eighth this year.
For the next four hours, the Wildcats lit up the track like the lightening had the night before.
First, Rogers broke the school’s 36-year-old 3,000-meter steeplechase record, crossing the line in 8:53.07 to finish third. The fourth-place finisher in the event last year, Rogers went from sixth to third over the final 200 meters and nipped one competitor at the line by two-one-hundredths of a second. The All-America honor was Rogers’ second on the track and third overall. The record he broke had belonged to Tim Brown, set in 1974.
“Beau caught a pretty good gear over the last 200 meters,” said Towne. “But still, from my angle, I didn’t know if he was in fourth, fifth, or third. To break the school record in your last race at the National Championships is a great way to end your career. We’re very proud of Beau.”
Kara Lubieniecki was the next Wildcat to take the oval and take down a school record. Running the 1,500 meters, she crossed the line in 4:28.46, breaking the school mark and finishing fifth for her first All-America honor on the track.
“That was really cool,” said Towne. “She raced beautifully. She kept in contact with the leaders even though it was a real honest pace throughout and it all came together nicely. I’m very proud of her effort as well.”
Wickman was next. Coming off a pair of third-place finishes at last year’s NCAA Championship Meet, the senior had his sights set on a title this time around. That title was nearly his, but he was edged at the finish line by a quarter of a second by Colorado Mines sophomore Mack McLain. His finishing time was 1:46.57. He gave it one more shot less than two hours later, but finished seventh in the 800 meters. The dual All-America honors brought his career total to six.
“It was a bittersweet day, but I’m very proud of him and happy with the result,” said Towne. “(The 1,500) was one of those races where four guys had a chance to win with a hundred meters to go and everybody in the stadium was on the edge of their seat. I think he had the lead with about 30 meters left but then McClain pulled clear of him. For a second I thought, ‘Oh, this is amazing. He’s going to win,’ but just like that the (Colorado) Mines kid caught a gear that Michael didn’t have today.”
“All you can do is put yourself in the best position possible and he did everything possible to do that from the last day of last season up until now. He was on the tough side of losing a national title, but then again he was second in the nation and scored a lot of points for the team.”
Julianne Conrad and Tori Tyler finished one spot shy of the podium in ninth, Conrad in the high jump and Tyler in the 5,000 meters. In the men’s 5,000 meters, Jimmy Elam and Brent Handa finished 12th, and 14th, respectively.
“This was as good a day as we’ve had as a team in a long time in terms of athletes reaching their potential,” said Towne. “Today was a very, very good day.”
The closing ceremonies took place at 10 p.m. in Charlotte. Following a day of excitement, thrills, the screams of fans, and the sounds of joy emanating from athletes who had achieved their dreams – many of them wearing cardinal and white – Johnson C. Smith University’s Irwin Belk Track Complex suddenly grew eerily quiet. It was almost as if a hurricane had blown through. After all, The Hurricane had.
FINAL MEET RESULTS
