BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Southeastern Louisiana sophomore Brittany Pfantz finished 13th in the women's pole vault, narrowly missing a spot in next month's NCAA Championships, on the opening day of the NCAA Outdoor East Preliminary Round Thursday at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the Indiana University campus.

Pfantz, a native of DeRidder, cleared 12 feet, 7.5 inches (3.85 meters) and just missed qualifying for the national meet, scheduled for June 8-11 in Des Moines, Iowa. The top 12 finishers on Thursday advanced to the NCAA Championships.

“Brittany had a great day and was very close to at least advancing to a jump off,” Southeastern head coach Sean Brady commented. “The weather conditions were not conducive to big performance today, but Brittany accounted herself very well.”

After severe storms ripped through the Bloomington area on Wednesday night, temperatures struggled to get out of the 50's on Thursday. The lower temperatures combined with steady rain and high winds were a stark contrast to the 90-degree temperatures and dry conditions Southeastern has been working in recently.

“The weather conditions were a great equalizer on this first day,” Brady commented. “We saw some of the premier performers in the nation fall short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships simply because they weren't prepared to deal with the cold, rain and wind.”

Those adverse conditions affected Southeastern's second competitor of the day. Senior Michael Rheams finished with a score of 21-2.75 feet (6.47 meters) in the long jump.

“Michael didn't have his best day,” Brady commented. “He fouled on his first two attempts and was just trying to post a score on the last one. Now that he's adjusted to the conditions we expect him to have a better day in his best event (the triple jump) on Friday.”

Rheams will be one of four Southeastern student-athletes in action on Friday. Sophomore Chelsey Steele will open the day's action for the Lady Lions at 12 p.m. in the javelin. At 1 p.m., junior Michelle Ogashi competes in the women's triple jump. Both Rheams and senior Kovey Simmons (pole vault) will see action at 6 p.m. Live results will be available at www.iuhoosiers.com.