faust dances over pole vault record

Because of a dance class that meets Friday afternoon, sophomore Alex Faust wasn’t sure if she would be able to make it to the Muhlenberg Invitational in time to compete in the pole vault. She did, and the record book isn’t the same anymore.

Faust cleared 11 feet, 9 inches, breaking the school and Centennial Conference record of 11-7 she set two weeks ago in the Mules’ first meet of the season. Faust also improved her standing on the NCAA performance list; before the weekend there had been only two better vaults in Division III. She took three shots at the automatic-qualifying height of 12-3½ and came close.

Faust, who also won the 400 meters, was responsible for two of nine-first place finishes and one of three school records for the Muhlenberg teams at its biggest home indoor meet ever – seven teams, including CC rival Haverford. Other noteworthy performances are pictured below.
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(left) Sophomore Debra Crockett won the shot put at the Muhlenberg Invitational for the second year in a row. (center) Junior Stuart Udis (receiving baton) won the 800 meters in Deitrich Fieldhouse-record time (1:59.28). He and sophomore Patrick Thornton (handing off) both ran on the 4x1600-meter relay team that broke the school record by more than a minute. (right) Freshman Abby Simons won the 800 meters and contibuted to a school record in the 4x1600-meter relay.

The meet came to a thrilling finish as senior Dan Steinhart (left) held off a Haverford runner down the stretch to win the 4x400-meter relay by five one-hundredths of a second. Sophomore Jeremiah Lachaud (right) joined Faust as a double winner, taking first place in the 55 meters and 200 meters and setting Fieldhouse records in both.