EWU’s Monterola withdraws from NCAAs

Due to a family emergency, Eastern Washington University All-America pole vaulter Keisa Monterola will not be compete in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships today in Des Moines, Iowa. According to EWU head women’s coach Marcia Mecklenburg, Monterola is returning this morning to her native country of Venezuela. She was scheduled to jump today at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time. With an outdoor-best mark of 14-0 hit at the 41st Annual Pelluer Invitational, Monterola sits 13th in the nation. Tina Sutej (Arkansas), who won the indoor championship, holds the nation’s best mark of 14-11. The Venezuelan national record holder, Monterola made her Eastern debut on Dec. 3, 2011, at the Candy Cane Invitational with a school-record effort of 13-11 1/4, breaking the previous indoor record of 13-4 1/2 set by Sarah Hegna in 2007. Nearly two months later, Monterola broke the Big Sky Conference indoor record for the women’s pole vault in January with a career-best 14-4 at the UW Team Invitational in Seattle, Wash. The previous record was 14-1 1/4 set by Elouise Rudy of Montana State in 2008. Monterola went on to place fifth with a height of 14-1 1/4 at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 10 in Nampa, Idaho.