Paul Panning's finish in pole vault at the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend helped vault him up the national rankings and qualify him for the NCAA Championships.
"I'd been waiting for him to jump that high all year long," assistant coach B.J McKay said. "It was kind of a relief to see him jump that high."
Before the regional, Panning ranked 49th in the country. However, after placing third in the regional with a vault of 17 feet, 11 inches, he now ranks seventh in the country. The vault was a personal best for Panning and set a school record.
It didn't come easy, though. Before the competition started, Panning said, he didn't feel very well because of the heat, and his nerves were getting to him.
Nevertheless, he went out and cleared the first bar of 16 feet, 5 inches on his first attempt. He also cleared the second bar of 16 feet, 11 inches on his first attempt.
When it came down to the third bar of 17 feet, 3 inches, though, Panning didn't clear it on his first two attempts, leaving one last try before his season was over.
"Once you miss the first time, it's a little frustrating," Panning said. "In a meet like this, you just have to make bars on the first attempt because that can be the difference."
McKay, who was taping every jump, stopped for this jump because he wanted to give Paul some support. He started to clap, and the crowd, which was pretty quiet most of the day, really got into the competition. With the crowd clapping and almost everyone's eyes on the pole vault, Panning ran down the runway and cleared the bar.
"When he cleared 17 feet, 3 inches, I started getting pretty excited," head coach Jermaine Jones said. "I started jumping around and I started running and screaming.
"I was probably one of the lead fans."
To advance to the NCAA Championships, contestants must finish in the top five, and after he cleared that bar, only five remained so the field that was going to the NCAA Championships was set and the pressure was off.
With the bar set at 17 feet, 7 inches, Panning cleared it on his second attempt, which was his personal best and broke the school record. Only three of the five cleared the bar and moved onto 17 feet, 11 inches, which Panning cleared on his final attempt. A try to clear 18 feet, 2 3/4 inches failed, with only Jeremy Scott of Arkansas clearing it, to win the event.
"The rest of the meet was just fun," Panning said. "Everything went perfect; I couldn't complain about anything other than the weather was a little hot."
Compared to last year, Panning said, he feels much better about where's he at.
"Last year it was kind of a battle to just get into regionals," Panning said. "I felt like I was out of place, but this year I feel like I definitely belong here.
"I don't want to be that timid vaulter like I was last year."
Even though he might have been timid last year, he managed to finish eighth in the country, making him an All-American. Panning and McKay said a top five finish this year is very doable, but a top three would be really great. To earn All-American again he would need to finish in the top eight.
In other events, the men's team had freshman Kurt Kinkead place 19th in the 400-meter hurdles, Jeremy Gillingham finished 20th in the shot put, Kyle Cleaver finished 27th in the hammer throw, and Andrew Miller finished 15th in the javelin.
Miller had a problem with his elbow after his first throw in warmups and wasn't able to perform well. If he would have thrown like he did at the MAC Championships, though, he would have qualified for the NCAA Championships, Jones said.
For the women's team, Crystal Winfrey posted the team's best finish with an 11th place finish in the 400-meter dash.
Junior Jill Scully finished 13th in the 5,000-meter run, and Ashley Gillies tied for 18th in the high jump.
Ball State sent three competitors in the long jump. Freshman Amanda Barnhart had the best finish, with a jump of 19 feet, 1/2 inches. Terri Abraham came in at 19th with a jump of 18 feet, 9 3/4 inches, while Jennifer McCoy fouled in the event.
McCoy will compete in the NCAA Championships in the Heptathlon because she received a provisional mark for her performance at the MAC Championships.
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