Tina Šutej improves national record in Diamond League Final

EUGENE, Oregon – Arkansas alums Tina Šutej and Sandi Morris finished second and third in the pole vault at the Diamond League Final, collecting $12,000 and $7,000 in prize money, respectively, during the 2023 Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field on Saturday afternoon.

Katie Moon, the 2021 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Champion (2022, 2023), claimed her first Diamond League Final title with a meet record in winning a jump-off with Šutej after the top four vaulters all missed at 15-11.25 (4.86).

Moon collected a prize amount of $30,000 with the victory when she made it over 15-11.25 in the jump-off. The previous Prefontaine Classic meet record of 15-11 (4.85) was set in 2018 by Jennifer Suhr.

Šutej improved her Slovenia outdoor national record by a centimeter with a 15-9.25 (4.81) clearance, then missed three times at 15-11.25 (4.86) and once more in a jump-off with Moon. The indoor national record Šutej holds is 15-9.75 (4.82).

“It was a really good competition for me,” stated Šutej. “Even my jump at 4.86 was really good and I’m kind of sad I didn’t get that last height, because that was the height that won the Diamond League Final. I want to jump high, that’s my main goal, to keep improving.

“I’m happy that I ended the season on a high note. It’s going to be easier to start training for the next season.”

An issue with shipping poles from Europe to Eugene had Šutej debating whether to even compete in the Prefontaine Classic. A call to her college coach, Arkansas women’s assistant Bryan Compton, produced a remedy as Razorback poles were sent to Hayward Field.

“Last week I didn’t even know if I was going to come here because I couldn’t travel with poles,” noted Šutej. “I contacted Coach Compton to see if he knows what to do. He sent the University of Arkansas poles here, so I jumped on those poles, which is pretty sweet. I’m really grateful for him.”

Šutej entered the competition at the opening height of 14-5.5 (4.41), clearing that bar and the next of 14-11.5 (4.56) on first attempts. Moon and Šutej needed two attempts to get over 15-5.5 (4.71) while Morris navigated that bar on one attempt after entering at 14-11.5 (4.56).

The 15-9.25 height was cleared on first attempts by Šutej and Moon while Morris and Finland’s Wilma Murto each missed and opted to pass to the next height.

“I’m not happy with the result today,” said Morris. “What I’m happy with is I feel physically healthy, I feel strong. At the end of the season that is very important especially leading into an Olympic year next year.

“I’ll take my result with a grain of salt, because I know I’m ready for bigger bars. But at the same time, I jumped 4.71 today and that was a good mark for how the season was going this year. Recently, I jumped 15-9 (4.80) to win at Zurich, so I was hoping for higher today.”

On her second and final attempt at 15-11.25, Morris ran out of time and wasn’t able to make an attempt, finishing in third place.

“Today I felt very confident,” stated Morris. “At the end there I ended up in a goofy situation where I went to the biggest pole I’ve been on basically in my entire life. On the runway for my third attempt the wind wasn’t quite right, my grip didn’t feel quite right, and the clock was ticking down.

“This is the first time I’ve ever run out of time. I just wasn’t ready. I was so upset with myself because that third attempt was just weird at 4.86. I’ll pick right back up at this spot next year and go from there.”