Sandi Morris cleared 16 feet, 5 inches in the pole vault Friday night at the Van Damme Memorial Meet in Brussels to break her own American record by three inches and cap her outdoor season.
This summer's Olympic silver medalist and former Arkansas NCAA champion cleared 16-5 on her second attempt with a crowd of 40,000 at King Baudouin Stadium cheering her on.
Morris, who lives and trains in Fayetteville with Arkansas assistant Bryan Compton, said he was afraid the bar wouldn't stay up after she made slight contact.
"I brushed it and I hit the mat and I just thought it was going to fall," Morris said according to The Associated Press. "Then the crowd went wild and I looked up and it was still there."
Morris, 24, missed three attempts at 16-7 1/2, which would have broken the world record of 16-7 held by Russian Yelena Isibayeva.
"It's a good thing I didn't break the world record tonight since I have next year to go for it," Morris said. "If you automatically achieve all your goals right off the bat, what will you have to go for?
"It gives me a lot of motivation for next season."
Morris set the American record of 16-2 during a meet in Houston June 24. She began Friday's competition by clearing 14-10 and added clearances of 15-0 1/4, 15-2 3/4, 15-5, 15-9 3/4 and 16-0 before going 16-5.