Posted: January 20, 2004

Athletics: Hartwig wins pole vault exhibition

American indoor and outdoor record holder Jeff Hartwig won a special pole vault exhibition Saturday as part of the John Dalton-Hyvee Invitational at the DakotaDome at the University of South Dakota.

Hartwig had a winning clearance of 5.70 meters/18 feet, 8.25 inches, while former South Dakota standout and 2003 U.S. Indoor champion Derek Miles was the runner-up with a vault of 5.59m/18-4.25. The special pole vault exhibition attracted a crowd of more than 1,000 spectators.

Currently ranked #1 in the U.S. and #5 in the world by Track & field News, Miles will compete next at the Verizon Millrose Games in New York City before he and Hartwig travel to Europe, where they will participate in several meets. Both are preparing for the 2004 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships February 27-29 in Boston.

Leading the South Dakota women's team at the Dalton-Hyvee meet was junior Marci Miller (Rapid City, S.D.) who had a season-best clearance of 3.73m/12-3 in winning the women’s pole vault. Her performance is the best in Division II this season and a provisional mark for the NCAA Division II Track and Field Indoor Championships.