CHICAGO — Indiana State junior Will Staggs racked up his third consecutive pole vault championship on Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field meet at the Dr. Conrad Worrill facility at Gately Park.
Staggs, a 2021 South Knox graduate, cleared 5.45 meters (17-10½) on his third attempt to secure the win. Runner-up Brendan Safley of Northern Iowa was at 5.35 (17-6½), and third place Charles Cruse of Illinois State jumped 5.05 (16-6¾).
Staggs won the indoor MVC title last season with a school-record mark of 5.41 (17-9), but came up short in the outdoor conference meet last spring, taking runner-up.
The Sycamores wrapped up the MVC team championship Monday, topping runner-up Illinois State, 183.5-116.5. Staggs was not only named MVC Most Outstanding Field Athlete, but he was also named to the MVC Elite 17, which goes to the highest grade-point average among top-three finishers in each event.
On Feb. 9, Staggs jumped 5.52 (18-1¼) in a meet at Arkansas. That mark not only broke Staggs' own indoor school record, but it also qualified him for the indoor National Championship meet. Last June, Staggs placed 18th in the outdoor National Championship meet.
The NCAA Indoor National Championship is in Boston on March 8-9.
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