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Rue Wins Third Pole Vault Title, Gophers Lead After Day One



Senior Alicia Rue captured her third consecutive indoor pole vault title on Saturday, highlighting the Golden Gophers’ day one at the Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships in University Park, Pa., on Saturday. Rue set a new Big Ten Championships record clearing a height of 14 feet, 3 1/2 inches.

Three-time defending Big Ten champion Minnesota is in first place after six events with 41 points. The Gophers are followed by Illinois with 37 points, Purdue with 36 and Wisconsin with 34. Host Penn State, however, has set themselves up for a great second day with a large number of athletes qualifying for Sunday’s finals.

“We had a very good first day,” said Golden Gopher head coach Matt Bingle. “We had a lot of people hit personal bests and it’s always nice to see school records fall. Tomorrow will be interesting. All we can do is our best.”

The Gophers went 1-2 in the pole vault with junior Samantha Sonnenberg adding a second-place finish with a height of 13-9 1/4. Sonnenberg’s vault is the second-best in Gopher history and improves her NCAA provisional qualifying mark. She also finished second to Rue in 2009.

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