Culver-Stockton pole vaulter wins NAIA national title

Culver-Stockton College freshman Stefanos Koufidis became the first

Wildcat to win a national title when he claimed the pole vault

competition at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships at East

Tennessee State University's Memorial Center in Johnson City Saturday

afternoon.

The top-ranked vaulter in the NAIA throughout the season, Koufidis

lived up to the hype with a school-best vault of 17 feet, 4 1/2 inches

to win the meet against 26 other competitors.

Koufidis and three other competitors all cleared 16 feet, 4 3/4

inches. The bar was raised to 16 feet, 11 inches and Koufidis was the

only one to make that height, ending the competition. He then asked

for the bar to be raised to the winning height where he set the school

record.

Koufidis joins Zach Rosenberger as Wildcats to earn NAIA All-America

honors in the pole vault. Rosenberger earned All-America honors in

2009 by finishing third with a vault of 16 feet, 3 inches.

Koufidis wasn't the only member of the track team participating on Saturday.

Sophomore Janet Plonka competed in the women's high jump and finished

in 14th place with a jump of five feet, three inches.

On Friday, C-SC's Courtney Spann placed 11th in the women's

3,000-meter race walk, while Blair Wyman competed in the women's

200-meter dash but failed to qualify for the finals.