New school record at Illinois

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Richartz Places Third with School-Record Pole Vault at Big Tens


Freshman Stephanie Richartz broke her own school record and took third in the pole vault at the Big Ten Championships.


May 13, 2011

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IOWA CITY, Iowa - Freshman Stephanie Richartz broke her own school record in the pole vault on Friday at the Big Ten Championships, clearing a height of 13-3 ¾ (4.06m) and scoring six points with a third-place finish. The Island Lake, Ill., native surpassed her first three bars with ease before vaulting to her personal best and earning the bronze medal. Senior Elizabeth Boyle added a point with an eighth-place finish in the 10,000m while senior Kelly Washington is in solid position in fourth place after racking up 3,156 points through four events of the heptathlon.

"It was a great start to the Big Ten Championships," head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. "Stephanie is just a freshman and improved on her indoor finish with another personal best and school record. Elizabeth gave us a point in the 10,000m, and Kelly started out great in the heptathlon and is way ahead of schedule."

Richartz, who placed fifth at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, set the pole vault school record at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets this season. She bettered her previous best outdoor mark of 13-1 ¾ (4.01m) from the Polytan Invitational by five centimeters. Sophomore Maria Scheet also tallied a career day in the pole vault and just missed scoring with a 10th-place finish. Scheet notched the third-best mark in school history with a height of 12-4 (3.76m) while sophomore Elizabeth Eitzen competed in the event and tied for 12th with a mark of 12-0 (3.66m).