GENEVA, Ohio – Olivia McDaniel of Linfield College cleared a lifetime best of 13 feet, 5¼ inches (4.10 meters) to capture her second NCAA Division III pole vault championship in fourth months, highlighting the first day of action Thursday at the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Spire Institute. 
 
Also in national championship contention, Linfield's Keaton Wood sits in fourth place after the first day of the men's decathlon.
 
Weather played a factor early with morning rain and strong winds causing delays and rescheduling some events. The clouds cleared by the afternoon, making for a great day of competition with temperatures reaching the mid-seventies. 
 
McDaniel cleared her first attempt at 13-1½ (4.00m), claiming the title without a missed attempt. The bar was then raised to a personal-record height of 13-3½ (4.05m). Making that clearance on her second try, the bar was elevated to 13-5¼ (4.10m).  

The senior from Scappoose, Oregon, needed only one attempt to surpass her personal best for the second time of the competition. McDaniel matched the NCAA III crown she claimed in February at the Indoor Championships in Boston.
 
With the outcome already decided, McDaniel then asked that the bar be raised to 13-11¾ (4.26m) in an attempt to break the school record of 13-11¼ but was unable to make a clearance.

McDaniel concludes her Wildcat career as the No. 2 women's vaulter in program history and is Linfield's second two-time women's pole vault champion, joining indoor/outdoor champion Catherine Street (2012). Coincidently, Street was also a nursing major.

Wood, a junior from Lake Oswego's Lakeridge High School, is sitting in a strong position to make the podium after his first day of the decathlon competition. Wood totaled 3,646 points through five events, trailing first-day leader Will Daniels from Central College (3,990) and Dylan Cooper (3,731) and Abrahm Schroedl (3,646), both from Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Wood started the day running a wind-aided 10.89 lifetime best in the 100 meters, earning 885 points. He followed by leaping 21-11½ (6.69m – 741 points) in the long jump, tossing the shot 36-2¾ (11.04m - 548 points) and clearing 6-0½ (1.84m – 661 points) in the high jump. He finished his first day by running 50.23 in the 400 for 804 points.

The decathlon concludes Friday, starting with the 110m hurdles, followed by the discus, pole vault, javelin throw and finishing with the 1,500m run.