Bartnovskaya Vaults into NCAA Lead in Wichita

WICHITA, Kan. – Kansas senior Natalia Bartnovskaya leaped to the top of the national ranks Friday night as she claimed a win in the pole vault at the Varsity Apartment Invitational.
 
The NCAA’s defending indoor champion in the event, Bartnovskaya catapulted her name back to the top of the national charts with her performance inside the Haskett Center Friday. As the only Jayhawk in action this weekend, the Krasnoyarsk, Russia native cleared a top bar of 4.32 meters (14’2″) to win the event by nearly a foot over the rest of the field. The mark is the best by a collegian thus far in the indoor season and puts Bartnovskaya among the top-30 vaulters in the world this year.
 
Bartnovskaya’s performance also made some edits to the school’s all-time performance charts. Her vault is the third-highest indoor vault in school history. She now holds six of the top-10 indoor pole vault marks in school history after only a year-and-a-half as a Jayhawk.
 
Bartnovskaya and the rest of her KU teammates will be back in action next week when they travel to New York City to take part in the Armory Collegiate Invitational. Action from the historic Armory on Manhattan Island will begin Friday, February 7 and conclude Saturday, February 8.
 
 
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