Wednesday, June 9
Eugene, OR
University of North Texas
vs
NCAA Championships
Photo by: Mario Terrana
Gonzalez at NCAA Championships
6/8/2021 9:41:00 AM | Track & Field/XC
EUGENE, Ore. – North Texas track and field pole vaulter Michael Gonzalez concludes his record-setting outdoor season at the NCAA Championships June 9 hosted by Oregon at Hayward Field.
The Championships begin Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. CST with Gonzalez competing at 7:30 p.m. Men's pole vault will be broadcast on ESPN3 and live results will be available.
Gonzalez became the first North Texas pole vaulter to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 12 years with his Mean Green record height of 5.45 meters at the West Preliminaries May 26 and is the first overall Mean Green representative at the NCAA Finals since 2016.
"To represent UNT at the NCAA championships is an honor," Gonzalez said. "I'm incredibly grateful to the staff for giving me an opportunity to compete for UNT, to go this year without any injuries, and get the training and coaching that I needed to continue to make progress. Putting on that uniform and having that name out front gives me pride and makes me want to go out and perform to the best of my ability."
Gonzalez began the 2021 outdoor season at the TCU Invitational with a mark of 4.72 meters and continued to improve. He posted a height of 4.80 at the Texas Relays, followed by a 4.87 performance at the UT Arlington Invite and a mark of 5.00 at the North Texas Classic. After three straight meets of no heights and disappointment, Gonzalez came back strong at the C-USA Outdoor Championships to score a runner-up performance at 5.26 meters.
At prelims, Gonzalez confidently improved on each try with seven successful attempts and only three total miscues to achieve his personal best and school record height of 5.45 meters for a spot at the championships.
"It's an honor to be here, but it's something that has to be earned and deserved. I'm not just here because of luck or because of some fluke; my hard work and dedication has gotten me to this level, and I intend to compete for the championship. This goes down in history, and I'm not going down without a fight. I'm going to remember to stay grounded, live in the moment, remain humble, and attack each bar as if it was my last. At the end of the day if I do those things, I'll be able to leave knowing I did my best and hopefully the results reflect that," Gonzalez said.
"It's an awesome opportunity for UNT track and field to have an individual event athlete compete at the national championships," director of track and field Carl Sheffield said. "It says a lot about the individual and what it takes to make it to this level. Michael has been no exception. His transfer from USC to a program that valued pole vaulting has paid off. Michael competing at the national championships says it is possible for other athletes at UNT to also reach this goal. We always talk about hard work and effort. I believe in Michael's case it was a focused effort that got him this far."
The Championships begin Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. CST with Gonzalez competing at 7:30 p.m. Men's pole vault will be broadcast on ESPN3 and live results will be available.
Gonzalez became the first North Texas pole vaulter to qualify for the NCAA Championships in 12 years with his Mean Green record height of 5.45 meters at the West Preliminaries May 26 and is the first overall Mean Green representative at the NCAA Finals since 2016.
"To represent UNT at the NCAA championships is an honor," Gonzalez said. "I'm incredibly grateful to the staff for giving me an opportunity to compete for UNT, to go this year without any injuries, and get the training and coaching that I needed to continue to make progress. Putting on that uniform and having that name out front gives me pride and makes me want to go out and perform to the best of my ability."
Gonzalez began the 2021 outdoor season at the TCU Invitational with a mark of 4.72 meters and continued to improve. He posted a height of 4.80 at the Texas Relays, followed by a 4.87 performance at the UT Arlington Invite and a mark of 5.00 at the North Texas Classic. After three straight meets of no heights and disappointment, Gonzalez came back strong at the C-USA Outdoor Championships to score a runner-up performance at 5.26 meters.
At prelims, Gonzalez confidently improved on each try with seven successful attempts and only three total miscues to achieve his personal best and school record height of 5.45 meters for a spot at the championships.
"It's an honor to be here, but it's something that has to be earned and deserved. I'm not just here because of luck or because of some fluke; my hard work and dedication has gotten me to this level, and I intend to compete for the championship. This goes down in history, and I'm not going down without a fight. I'm going to remember to stay grounded, live in the moment, remain humble, and attack each bar as if it was my last. At the end of the day if I do those things, I'll be able to leave knowing I did my best and hopefully the results reflect that," Gonzalez said.
"It's an awesome opportunity for UNT track and field to have an individual event athlete compete at the national championships," director of track and field Carl Sheffield said. "It says a lot about the individual and what it takes to make it to this level. Michael has been no exception. His transfer from USC to a program that valued pole vaulting has paid off. Michael competing at the national championships says it is possible for other athletes at UNT to also reach this goal. We always talk about hard work and effort. I believe in Michael's case it was a focused effort that got him this far."
Players Mentioned
Pole Vault
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