Record Vaulted

Issue date: 3/3/11 Section: Sports

Mick Viken, a red-shirt freshman pole vaulter, vaulted 17-feet 9-inches, a personal best, to win the men's pole vault during the OVC championship meet Saturday in the fieldhouse of Lantz Arena. (Jordan Boner | The Daily Eastern News)

Red-shirt freshman Mick Viken broke Eastern's and the Ohio Valley Conference record for pole vault at the OVC championship meet this weekend. 

Viken jumped a career best 17-feet, 1.5-inches. He said it felt like a really good jump from the start. 

"It was a nice jump in the progression," Viken said. "Through my practices and other meets, I felt like I could jump that or even higher." 

When Viken broke Eastern's pole vault record, he also broke his assistant coach Kyle Ellis' record. Ellis set Eastern's previous pole vault record in 2007 with a jump of 17-feet, 1-inch.

Viken said his coach made a few comments jokingly about Viken breaking his record, but overall Ellis was just as excited to see the record broken as Viken was. 

"He was ecstatic for me. This weekend we are hoping to jump a handful higher and qualify for the NCAA (meet)," Viken said. 

For his performance this indoor track season, Viken was named the OVC Freshman Athlete of the Year. His teammate Zye Boey was named the OVC Athlete of the Year, while qualifying for the NCAA meet in the 200-meter dash. 

These two athletes helped the Panthers win their third consecutive Ohio Valley Conference indoor track title. 

"(Winning the OVC) was really exciting," Viken said. "We were so dominant in just about every event, it was just really exciting to be a part of it." 

Viken hopes to jump more than 17-feet, 5-inches in his next meet to qualify for the NCAA championships. However, he is excited for the outdoor season and said he feels he should be successful. 

"The way I have been progressing this year and hopefully I get outdoor meets with good weather," Viken said. "I'm really far from being where I want to be, but I feel like I can jump high 17's come outdoor season." 

Viken said there is a big difference from pole vaulting inside to pole vaulting outside. Inside the weather is perfect and outside the wind can considerably hurt or help a jump. 

"If I can get a nice day with a decent tail wind, the sky is the limit," Viken said. 

Rob Mortell can be reached at 581-7944 or rdmortell@eiu.edu