Rudy Ready
3/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
The best news for Montana State's sophomore pole vaulter Ellie Rudy entering this weekend's NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships is that she won't see anything she hasn't seen before.
Rudy enters the meet -- she jumps at the University of Arkansas' indoor facility at 4 pm MST on Saturday -- as the third-ranked vaulter in the nation, which gives the Woodland Park, Colo., native a feeling of confidence. "The leader is only at about 14-1, which is only an inch above me," Rudy said. "So I know I'm right there.
She said most of her preparation leading to Saturday's women's pole vault championship has been mental. "It's been more preparing mentally," she said, "because I feel like I can win. I feel like I can jump the heights it will take to win. Last year I just wanted to try to finish higher than my ranking."
Rudy said the experience garnered in finishing 11th at last year's NCAA Indoor Championships applies to this year's quest for a national championship. "I think it's really important," she said. "The track is the same size but the building is so much smaller than ours and it gets really loud in there. When the fans start yelling, it gets really loud. (This year) I know to move a step back because I'll be so pumped up."
Rudy is looking to become MSU's first indoor All-America since Shannon Agee Jones in 2002.
Rudy enters the meet -- she jumps at the University of Arkansas' indoor facility at 4 pm MST on Saturday -- as the third-ranked vaulter in the nation, which gives the Woodland Park, Colo., native a feeling of confidence. "The leader is only at about 14-1, which is only an inch above me," Rudy said. "So I know I'm right there.
She said most of her preparation leading to Saturday's women's pole vault championship has been mental. "It's been more preparing mentally," she said, "because I feel like I can win. I feel like I can jump the heights it will take to win. Last year I just wanted to try to finish higher than my ranking."
Rudy said the experience garnered in finishing 11th at last year's NCAA Indoor Championships applies to this year's quest for a national championship. "I think it's really important," she said. "The track is the same size but the building is so much smaller than ours and it gets really loud in there. When the fans start yelling, it gets really loud. (This year) I know to move a step back because I'll be so pumped up."
Rudy is looking to become MSU's first indoor All-America since Shannon Agee Jones in 2002.
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