The United States pole vault olympic team is a very difficult one to make. There were only three positions available and four to five guys with legitimate chances of getting one.
With favorites like Sam Kendricks, Chris Nielsen, KC Lightfoot, there would be very little room for error for the rest of the field.
It was in fact one of the three favorites in Lightfoot who wasn't on his game in the preliminary round. Lightfoot was unable to clear the required height to advance to the finals.
For Tomball Memorial grad Jacob Wooten, who is the 2015 UIL 5A state champion, that was just the opening he needed. However, the former Texas A&M and Mac Vault Academy vaulter didn't even need much of an opening.
Wooten found a great rhythm in the competition; perhaps the best of his career. He jumped a career high 5.87m/19-3 feet. That was the same bar as Nielsen, earning Wooten the third place finish for his berth on the US Olympic team heading to Paris next month.
Sam Kendricks won the US Olympic Trials pole vault competition with his 5.92.
