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Senior Cameron Overstreet sets school record in women's pole vault

Tory Kemp, a junior majoring in EXSS, represented Carolina in the Women's High Jump at the Kent Taylor Invitational on Saturday.
Tory Kemp, a junior majoring in EXSS, represented Carolina in the Women's High Jump at the Kent Taylor Invitational on Saturday.

Senior pole vaulter Cameron Overstreet had been working toward the record-setting feat since her sophomore year.

And on Saturday, she finally accomplished it. But she didn't even know it.

Overstreet broke the school record in the women’s pole vault this weekend, clearing 4.24 meters at the Kent Taylor Invite meet in Chapel Hill.

Overstreet said she did not want to know what height she was jumping to clear throughout the weekend, and when she landed, she looked over at Assistant Coach Josh Langley, who exclaimed: “We did it!”

Overstreet reacted obviously by saying, “Did what?”

“I was trying not to put too much pressure on it, my last home meet, you know,” she said. “Honestly, when I went into the meet, all I wanted to do was have fun, and my motto was to just enjoy my gift; to enjoy the opportunity I’ve had to jump at Carolina and my physical athletic gift. 

"Being able to do it at home with all of our meet officials, my family, my teammates and my coaches — it was the best situation I could have ever asked for to do it.”

Langley, who coaches multis, pole vault and javelin, said he could not be more proud of Overstreet for breaking the three-year-old record by half an inch. Langley has been coaching Overstreet since she arrived at UNC.

“It’s always been about getting Cameron to do less. By that I mean she’s the type that she feels like if she’s not doing anything, she’s getting worse," Langley said. "It’s never been about me motivating her; it’s never been about getting her to do more. In a lot of ways, less is more, and it’s just been me trying to preach that to her. I think she’s finally beginning to understand that in a lot of ways that’s true.”

Junior Houston Summers, who throws the javelin and was elected student body president for the 2015-16 year, admires Overstreet’s work ethic and said her performance inspired him and the rest of the team.

“Even though I’m not a vaulter, we have the same coach," Summers said. "Seeing her and Coach (Langley) interact, have good days and bad days and still come out strong and break the school record, that’s been really encouraging for the entire team.”

Some other Tar Heels achieved notable things this weekend, as well. Junior Avana Story worked her way up UNC’s record rankings in the weight throw. Her throw of 18.76 meters puts her second to former Olympian Laura Gerraughty.

On the men’s side, AJ Hicks won both the weight throw and the shot put, with distances of 21.34 meters and 16.85 meters. 

Paul Haley competed well in the 60-meter hurdles and the long jump. He achieved a season-best in the hurdles with a time of 8.24 seconds and jumped 6.96 meters for second in the long jump.

Despite all of the impressive performances, Overstreet's performance stood out the most.

She said she has a newfound motivation now that she's finally accomplished her longtime goal, and she believes she will only build on her success.

"I feel really confident that I can do what I want to do in the future,” Overstreet said. “And I just hope to have my teammates behind me, having them push me and be out there right with me, because it’d be such a cool way to end my senior year.”

sports@dailytarheel.com

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