Neuenswander to compete in pole vault nationals

Vera Neuenswander competes for Indiana University during the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The Jefferson City High School graduate will vault in the USA National Championships this weekend in Des Moines, Iowa.
Vera Neuenswander competes for Indiana University during the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The Jefferson City High School graduate will vault in the USA National Championships this weekend in Des Moines, Iowa.

Vera Neuenswander performed her best, and now she gets to compete with the best.

By vaulting a personal-record 14-71⁄4 during the Vault in the Ville competition June 8 in Louisville, Ky., the former Jefferson City Lady Jay cleared an automatic qualifying height that sends her to the USA National Championships at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Neuenswander, who also won a Big 10 title at Indiana in 2011, is ranked 10th in the country. She hopes to finish among the top-three Sunday in order to qualify for the world championships that take place in August at Moscow, Russia.