Clarksville, TN – There is little question that Austin Peay State University (APSU) senior pole vaulter Savannah Amato is arguably the best at her event in school history.
But this week she could cement that into the best all-time in Ohio Valley Conference history as well, as she looks for an unprecedented sixth gold medal in seven tries (indoor and outdoor) at this week’s OVC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Amato, a native of Delaware, OH, enters the OVC Championships as the current two-time defending indoor pole vault champion and looks primed to three-peat in the event after posted her season’s best performance last weekend at Southeast Missouri, winning with a height of 4.10 meters, which is the top height in the conference this season and ties her for the 43rd best in the nation and keeps her hopes alive of making the NCAA Indoor Championship Meet qualifying mark.
A win this week would also break a three-way tie with former Eastern Illinois pole vaulter Mary Wood and former APSU great Carrie Bruggraf for the most wins in the event (indoor and outdoor combined) all-time, as the trio all have five overall wins each.
Amato also has a final chance at setting the OVC record height at the OVC Indoor Championships, with the current record height being at 4.27m, by Eastern Illinois’ Jade Riebold back in 2013.
Amato already has the OVC outdoor record height of 4.05m posted last spring.
While Amato must be the heavy odds-on favorite to win this week, she by no means is a lock, with fellow senior and teammate Dascha Hix (Ft. Campbell, KY) having finished ahead of Amato this season in a couple of meets – including winning the Marshall University Thundering Herd Invitational just over three weeks ago with a height of 4.00m.
Hix is also the only other athlete in the OVC to win this event at the OVC Championships over the last three years — other than Amato — taking the indoor gold medal her freshman year.
The OVC Indoor Track & Field Championship will be held Feb. 20th-21st in Birmingham, AL, at the Birmingham CrossPlex – which marks the first time the OVC Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held at a neutral site instead of an on-campus site.
The women’s pole vault event, and a chance for history for not only Amato but for the OVC as well, is scheduled to begin on February 21st, 2019 at 1:30pm.