Tampa Catholic senior Nicole Carroll kick started 2015 with the third highest pole vault in the state of Florida notching a new personal best of 13'0 at the Jimmy Carnes Indoor Meet. The USF signee attributes the year over year growth to paying closer attention to her mechanics.
"2015 has been a great start, the Jimmy Carnes meet surprised me I wasn't expecting to jump that high but now I'm ready to go even higher. My coach and I broke down my vault completely after states last year, and really concentrated on my plant, and now we are not working on the top half of the pole and moving to bigger poles."
Her vault is currently the ninth best in the country and has earned her a spot in the Millrose Games in New York City. Carroll, who has won the 2A state meet in back to back years, says it was an honor to be invited to such a prestigious event.
"This is such a prestigious meet and I am so honored to be here. It is an overwhelming feeling to Just Imagine all the athletes and Olympians that have competed here before me for over 100 years."
According to the list of invited entries posted on MileSplit New York all nine girls have cleared 12'0, but Carroll is the lone entrant to surpass 13'0. Despite, being the top seed she says her mindset is the same for every meet she goes to.
"You can never underestimate your opponents. I just focus on my own personal goals and try and improve at every meet."
Carroll arrived in New York yesterday and has been spending time with family in the area. She plans to head to the Armory three to four hours before her scheduled vault time of 7 p.m. to soak in the atmosphere. After the meet, she plans to have a little fun such as seeing a Broadway show and riding snow mobiles and take in all the Big Apple has to offer.
'm staying until Tuesday , so today I'm focusing on the meet. Today , like every other meet, jumping higher than my pr would be a success. For the rest of the time we are going to do a lot of tourist stuff. My cousin lives in Brooklyn and she is taking us to dinner and a Broadway show on Sunday . We have more family in NJ with lots of baby cousins so we will visit with them also and get in some playtime in the snow with them.
