June 11, 2010
EUGENE, Ore. ---- Samford pole vaulter Michael Seaman finished 16th in the men's pole vault event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Thursday evening in Eugene, Ore. Seaman, the first male athlete to represent Samford at the NCAA national meet, cleared a height of 16-04.75 to tie with Idaho's Jeremy Klas for 16th place.
Seaman cleared the first two bars on his first jumps before officials determined that the bar had been set at the wrong height. Therefore, every athlete in the competition was allowed to jump again. With the restart of the competition along with rain and heavy headwinds, the competition lasted approximately four hours.
"I felt it was a great opportunity for Michael to get his feet wet against the best guys in the country," Samford head coach Rod Tiffin said. "He had positioned himself well before the mistake with the bar height and had to restart the competition. It got us off our game a little bit and we were unable to get it going again. The mistake was not the reason he didn't jump as well as we would have liked but with adverse weather, it didn't help get that momentum back."
Seaman became the first Samford male athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships May 26 when he finished fifth in the pole vault in the East Division of the NCAA First Round in Greensboro, N.C. His mark of 17-02.75 broke the school record that Seaman had previously set at the Georgia Tech Invitational May 15.
Seaman was one of the most consistent performers during the Bulldog outdoor season. He began the season with a second place finish in the pole vault at the Alabama Relays. A week later, he faced off with some of the nation's top competitors at the Pepsi Florida Relays and tied for 14th place. He then set a personal best and finished second a week later at the Ole Miss Invitational before breaking a school record at the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships and earning All-SoCon honors with a vault of 16-08.75.
Jordan Scott of the University of Kansas won the event with a vault of 17-08.50. LSU's Josh Dominguez placed second with the same mark followed by Air Force's Nick Frawley in third with a mark of 17-04.50.
