FAYETTEVILLE -- It took the collegiate record holder to beat Arkansas' Andrew Irwin in the pole vault Saturday at the Tyson Invitational.
Akron junior Shawn Barber cleared 19 feet, 4 1/4 inches on his second attempt to beat his collegiate record of 19-3 1/2 set last week.
Irwin, a senior from Mount Ida, took second and cleared 18-10 1/4 to break his Arkansas school record.
Seven of the nation's top 11 vaulters competed at the Tyson Invitational.
"That pole vault field was just out of this world," said Arkansas assistant coach Doug Case, who coaches vaulters and sprinters. "I've coached for 20 years, and that might be the best top end depth I've seen in the pole vault.
"This basically was all the guys for the national meet. We wanted that kind of competition, and we got it."
Irwin cleared 18-2 1/2 on his third attempt to stay alive in the competition, then cleared 18-6 1/2 and 18-10 1/4 on his first attempts before missing three attempts at 19-0 1/4.
His previous Arkansas record of 18-8 1/2 was his winning mark at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships.
"To go higher than I have in two years feels good," Irwin said. "I was hurt all of last year, so to come out here this year and be jumping as well as I am, it's a blessing.
"It was a good day all in all. I'll take away the good things and come back for the next meet."
Irwin, a two-time national champion and four-time All-American, took fourth at last year's NCAA Indoor meet but was slowed after undergoing groin surgery in November 2013.
"That surgery last year really hampered him, but he's looking great now," Case said.
Irwin said he's able to run full speed now, but he had a red welt on his right side Saturday after being hit by a pole and the remnants of black left eye from taking a hit to the face in practice two weeks ago.
"Pole vaulting is a dangerous sport, and if you don't know what you're doing, it's real dangerous," Case said. "Fortunately, Andrew knows what he's doing."
Irwin used a new pole on his first two attempts at 19-0 1/4. He said the pole twisted to the left on his first try, when he got good height, but couldn't make a try to get over the bar.
On Irwin's second attempt, the pole slipped out of his hands as he was preparing to plant and smacked him in the ribs as he stopped before trying to plant.
The third attempt Irwin went back to an old pole, but didn't get off a jump and somersaulted onto the landing pad.
"I should have planted it and had a real good attempt at it, but at the last second I just kind of chickened out to be honest," Irwin said. "I didn't want to take any chances."
Case said Irwin's experience helped him avoid a serious injury when the pole hit him when it slipped out of hands.
"The normal guy would get crushed on something like that," Case said. "Andrew has done this enough that he knows how to protect himself."
After Irwin's final miss, he stayed in the pole vault area to cheer on Barber, then congratulated him on the record and victory.
"Shawn's obviously figured some stuff out and learned how to jump high," Irwin said. "Now I'm just trying to play catch-up and and see if I can figure out my own learning curve."
Saturday marked the third meet this season where Irwin has attempted to clear 19 feet or higher.
"Andrew gets enough attempts at 19, he's going to make it," Case said. "I feel like he's right on the verge of real good things happening."
Sports on 02/15/2015