Mary Saxer (born June 21, 1987) is an Americantrack and field athlete who competes in thepole vault. She holds a personal record of 4.71 m (15 ft5+1⁄4 in) for the event, set in 2014.
Saxer excelled in her youth, breaking theNorth, Central American and Caribbean junior record for the event with 4.32 m (14 ft 2 in) in 2005 as a high school student. She did not improve on this mark while competing collegiately for theUniversity of Notre Dame, although she did win threeBig East Conference titles and was third at the 2009NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship. She finally bettered her mark at the2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where she was third in her first national podium finish.
She was the 2012 national runner-up indoors and represented her country at the2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Saxer won the 2014USA Indoor title and made her second international appearance at the2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Born inBuffalo, New York to Ann and Don Saxer, she grew up inLancaster, New York and attendedLancaster High School. Saxer was involved ingymnastics from a young age but gave up the sport around the age of twelve. She remained interested in sports, however, and became interested intrack and field athletics,[1] firstsprint and thenlong jumping. She was a four-time state schools champion in the long jump. However, it was in thepole vault that she truly excelled in her youth.Rick Suhr, a New York-based vaulting coach, spotted Saxer at a long jump training camp in summer 2003 and encouraged her to try out the new event.[2]
Working with Suhr and her high school coach, Kevin Carriero, Saxer swiftly established herself among the best young vaulters in the world. (Women's pole vault was still in an early stage as it only became anOlympic event in 2000.) In her first year of competition in 2004 she placed runner-up at the indoor high schools championships with a clearance of 3.79 m (12 ft 5 in). The following year she cleared four metres for the first time and won at theNational Scholastic Indoor Championships. A height of 4.32 m (14 ft 2 in) at theNike Indoor Nationals brought her acontinental junior record (under-20) and made her the first American high school athlete to clear fourteen feet.[2] She competed against fully fledged professionals at theMillrose Games soon after and managed sixth place.[3] She was named 2005 National High School Indoor Athlete of the Year and also managed to gain twoletters for the high schoolfield hockey team at the same time.[4] Her high school success came at the same time as her coach, Carriero, was undergoing treatment for cancer – a condition that went into remission in Saxer's last year for the school team.[5]
Saxer gained anathletic scholarship to attend theUniversity of Notre Dame in 2005 and chose to study marketing in theMendoza College of Business. By February the following year she had already broken the school record with a vault of 4.05 m (13 ft3+1⁄4 in). She was runner-up at theBig East Conference indoor championship and also managed ninth in the long jump. Outdoors she won at theMt. SAC Relays and placed fourth in the Big East pole vault.[4] Her performances stagnated in the 2007 season, as she failed to get over the four-meter mark that year. She repeated as the Big East runner-up indoors, but was out of the top three at the outdoor Big East meet.[6] She had similar placings in the vault and long jump at the 2008 Big East Indoors, coming ninth and tenth in the events, including a long jump lifetime best indoors of 5.73 m (18 ft9+1⁄2 in). She won at the Mt. SAC Relays for a second time and claimed her first conference title at the Big East outdoor championship, where she was also in the top ten in long jump. Her best mark that year in the vault was 4.06 m (13 ft3+3⁄4 in).[4] Her best college performances came in the 2009 season. She began with a Big East indoor win with a height of 4.20 m (13 ft9+1⁄4 in) and then placed ninth at theNCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship. She defended her Big East outdoor title with a vault of 4.20 m (13 ft9+1⁄4 in) before setting an outright best of 4.30 m (14 ft1+1⁄4 in) to place third at theNCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship. She also entered the2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, but did not record a valid mark.[6]
After graduating from Notre Dame in 2009, she began to compete nationally, training under her coach Danny Wilkerson.[2] She reached her first national podium at the2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, vaulting a personal record of 4.50 m (14 ft 9 in). She competed abroad for the first time in 2011. She improved her indoor best to 4.40 m (14 ft 5 in) atPole Vault Stars inDonetsk and was in the top three at both theColorful Daegu Championships Meeting andShanghai Diamond League meets. Later that year she also won at theSpitzen Leichtathletik Luzern and was second at theMeeting Sport Solidarieta. Her best performances came on American soil, however, as she set an indoor record of 4.50 m (14 ft 9 in) inDes Moines, Iowa and 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in) inSeattle. She was sixth at the USA indoor championship and placed fifth at theUSA Outdoors.[6]
A runner-up finish at the 2012 USA indoors with a personal record of 4.62 m (15 ft1+3⁄4 in) brought her a place at the2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships, her first international selection.[7] At that competition she cleared the opening height of 4.30 m (14 ft1+1⁄4 in) but got no further.[8] Saxer missed the opportunity to compete at the2012 London Olympics when she finished fourth on count-back at the2012 United States Olympic Trials behindLacy Janson.[7] She struggled on the international circuit that year, failing to record a height at two meets in Brazil and coming out of the top six at the Shanghai,Doha andBirmingham Diamond League events.[6]
She was more consistent in 2013, starting with a number of top three finishes indoors at theBoston Indoor Games,Pedro's Cup, Millrose Games, and then a height of 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in) to place third at the 2013 USA Indoor Championships. In the outdoor season she equalled her best to take second at the Shanghai Diamond League and cleared a new best of 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) inChula Vista. At the2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships she was again out of the medals, finishing in the fourth for the second year running. She competed on the European track circuit for the rest of the year, with a meeting record at theKBC Night of Athletics and a second place at thePalio Citta della Quercia meet being the highlights.[6]
Saxer won her first national title in the pole vault at the beginning of 2014, defeatingJenn Suhr (the wife and student of her former coach Rick Suhr) and improving her best to 4.71 m (15 ft5+1⁄4 in) in the process.[9] At the2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships[10] missed at 4.45 m (14 ft 7 in) and2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships[11] missed at 4.40 m (14 ft 5 in). Saxer cleared 4.65 m (15 ft 3 in) at2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships to place 5th.[12] Saxer made the final clearing 4.40 m (14 ft 5 in) in2016 United States Olympic Trials (track and field), but nh in the final.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | World Indoor Championships | Istanbul, Turkey | 14th | Pole vault | 4.55 m |
| 2014 | World Indoor Championships | Sopot, Poland | 8th | Pole vault | 4.55 m |
