Kentucky senior Keaton Daniel won the pole vault competition at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Oregon on Wednesday.
Daniel, who also won the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships, cleared a height of 18’7.25”/5.67 meters equaling his outdoor season best. He inevitably held off Kansas’s Clayton Simms for the gold medal.
Here’s a recap from UK Athletics:
The 2024 Pole Vault Champion!
Keaton Daniel wins the Pole Vault with a vault of 5.67M!
ESPN+ #NCAATF x @KentuckyTrack pic.twitter.com/WE8ATwhrbj
— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 6, 2024
EUGENE, Ore. – Senior Keaton Daniel secured the first medal of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships for the Wildcats this afternoon winning the pole vault competition at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
The title was secured for the Nevada native after he cleared a height of 18’7.25”/5.67 meters equaling his outdoor season best. After deciding to skip the first couple of heights, Daniel entered the competition at a height of 17’7.25”/5.37 meters clearing the bar on his first attempt. Daniel cleared the next three heights remaining perfect as the field condensed around him. He was untouchable in the final stages as he held off Kansas’s Clayton Simms for the gold medal.
The title is the first NCAA Outdoor Championship for Daniel after two previous attempts saw him place third in 2022 and eighth in 2023. Daniel, who also won his first NCAA Championship title this year at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, Massachusetts becomes the first Wildcat in program history to win both indoor and outdoor NCAA pole vault championships in the same season.
After the victory, the men concluded day one of the championships in third place with 10 points. UKTF will continue the NCAA Outdoor Championships tomorrow with the women’s side of competition starting at 6 p.m. ET with the hammer throw.
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