ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The 18-foot mark was in Montana State pole vaulter Colby Wilson’s mind long before he stepped on the runway at the Albuquerque Convention Center at the UNM Team Open this Saturday.
In fact, he’s been thinking about clearing that height for over a year.
Last year, the junior from Olympia, Wash. cleared 18 feet for the first time in practice on what he said wasn’t “necessarily that great of a jump.” It was almost serendipitous. Yet throughout his breakout sophomore season — complete with setting the MSU indoor school record, winning a Big Sky title indoors and qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in outdoor season — that 18-foot mark was still a weight on his shoulders.
