VIRGINIA TECH SOPH Julia Fixsen was having the meet of her life. Four consecutive first-attempt clearances, the last equaling her outdoor lifetime best, 14-7¼ (4.45), as she stood in 1st.
And yet, as the bar went to 14-9 (4.50), she could hardly relax. Even though they already had a dozen misses between them, Washington’s Nastassja Campbell and South Dakota’s Gen Hirata were very much alive. First to 14-9 gets the blue ribbon. Or so it seemed.
It hadn’t been that much of a season for the 22-year-old from Shoreview, Minnesota. Fixsen had won the ACC title but was only 11th at the NCAA Indoor. She had not surpassed her outdoor or indoor PRs.
Nevertheless, Fixsen felt ready: “I’ve had really good practices and I have been jumping well over the bars, so I felt really comfortable.”
As the competition unfolded, two potential challengers quickly vanished: the reigning Indoor champion, Arkansas’s Amanda Fassold, and the Big 10 winner, Chloe Timberg of Rutgers, both no-heighted. It would be the first time in a decade that the Razorbacks failed to place in the event, a reign that included four national champions — Tori Hoggard, Lexi Jacobus, Sandi Morris and Fassold.
When the bar went to 14-5¼ (4.40), Fixsen was still tied for 1st with the previously unknown Sevanna Hanson of Arizona State, whose first-attempt clearance of 14-1¼ (4.30) was the first time in her life she had cleared 14ft. She wound up 4th.
At 14-7¼ (4.45), formchart favorite Campbell kept the pressure on with a third-attempt clearance, while Hirata passed her final attempt in order to have a final chance at 4.50 (14-9). When all three failed at that height, the title was Fixsen’s, on misses over Campbell, cheered on by the winner’s rooting section.
“I had 15 family members here,” she said, “so it was kind of a little bit of pressure for me to do well. They all came out to watch me. I really appreciated them cheering me on every time.
“Being able to greet them when it was all over and take lots of pictures was really great.”
WOMEN’S VAULT RESULTS
(June 08)
1. **Julia Fixsen (VaT) 14-7¼ (4.45) =out PR;
2. Nastassja Campbell (Wa) 14-7¼ (4.45);
3. *Gennifer Hirata (SD) 14-5¼ (4.40);
4. Sevanna Hanson (AzSt) 14-1¼ (4.30) PR;
5. *Sydney Horn (HPt) 14-1¼ (4.30);
=6. **Sara Borton (Wa) 14-1¼ (4.30);
=6. **Marleen Mulla’ (SD-Est) 14-1¼ (4.30);
8. ***Kenna Stimmel (VaT) 14-1¼ (4.30);
9. tie, *Rachel Vesper (HPt), **Olivia Lueking (Ok) & *Amari Turner (Cal) 13-7¼ (4.15); 12. Aliyah Welter (Louis) 13-7¼; 13. tie, *Mackenzie Hayward (Ar) & *Journey Gurley (VaT) 13-7¼; 15. Hayley Horvath (VaT) 13-7¼; 16. tie, **Tori Thomas (Il), *Riley Felts (Char) & *Kaitlyn Banas (Ar) 13-1½ (4.00); 19. tie, *Erin Bogard (Young) & *Filippa Miller’ (FlInt-Swe) 13-1½;… nh—*Amanda Fassold (Ar), **Chloe Timberg (Rut), *Cassidy Mooneyhan (SD);… dnc—**Abby Knouff (Cinc).
| 13-1½ | 13-7¼ | 14-1¼ | 14-5¼ | 14-7¼ | 14-9 | 14-11 | 15-1 | |
| Horn | o | xo | o | xpp | xx | — | — | — |
| Timberg | ppp | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lueking | ppp | o | xxx | — | — | — | — | — |
| Fassold | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Felts | o | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mooneyhan | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Thomas | o | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Welter | xo | o | xxx | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bogard | xo | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Miller | xo | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stimmel | o | o | xxo | xxx | — | — | — | — |
| Banas | o | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gurley | o | xo | xxx | — | — | — | — | — |
| Campbell | ppp | xxo | xo | o | xxo | xxx | — | — |
| Mulla | o | xxo | xo | xxx | — | — | — | — |
| Fixsen | ppp | o | o | o | o | xxx | — | — |
| Knouff | dnc | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hanson | o | o | o | xxx | — | — | — | — |
| Horvath | xxo | xo | xxx | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hayward | o | xo | xxx | — | — | — | — | — |
| Turner | o | o | xxx | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hirata | o | xxo | xxo | xo | xxp | x | — | — |
| Borton | xo | xo | xo | xxx | — | — | — | — |
| Vesper | o | o | xxx | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4.00 | 4.15 | 4.30 | 4.40 | 4.45 | 4.50 | 4.55 | 4.60 |