BYDGOSZCZ, Poland — The LSU track and field program inked one of the world’s premier pole vault recruits when Rachel Laurent signed with the Lady Tigers in February, and she proved to be just that with her performance this week at the IAAF World Junior Championships.
In her final competition as a high school athlete, Laurent stepped onto the runway against the best junior vaulters from across the globe and took fourth place after clearing a height of 13 feet, 11 ? inches in Friday’s final at Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak Stadium.
Despite equaling the clearance of World Junior bronze medalist Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece, she settled for fourth place with the tie being broken based on the number of missed attempts.
“It was really exciting to be in the hunt for a medal. I jumped 100 percent better today than I did in qualifying, and I was really happy with my jumps,” Laurent said. “I could’ve gotten the last one, but it started raining on my second and third attempts. But I can’t be too hard on myself as I did jump well. It was a great experience, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
“This experience helps a lot during my transition to the college level. I don’t think there is a meet in the U.S. that is going to feel as big as this one did. That should help me a lot.”
Laurent cleared each of her first three heights on her first attempt as 12-5 ?, 13-1 ? and 13-5 ? proved to be no match for the skill of the senior from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma. She then went up and over the bar at 13-9 ? and 13-11 ? on her second attempt before dropping out of the competition with the bar resting at 14-1 ?.
A clearance at that height would have set a new personal best for Laurent, who wraps up a stellar junior career ranked No. 2 all-time among high school girls in the United States with a career best clearance of 14-0 set earlier this season at the Nollie Arcement Relays.
Valeriva Volik of Russia took home the gold medal after clearing 14-5 ? without a single miss to that point, while teammate Ekaterina Kolesova won silver with an equal clearance.
Laurent looks to make an immediate impact in the field events for the Lady Tigers after wrapping up a brilliant season at Vandebilt Catholic with an even better summer as she earned a spot on the U.S. Junior team by winning a gold medal at the USA Junior Championships in Columbus, Ohio, on June 22 with a meet record clearance of 13-10.