RENO, NEV. -- Derek Miles, a University of South Dakota graduate and former standout on the Coyotes' track and field team, has won the Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nev., for the second straight year.

Miles went 5.80m (19-0 1/4) to win the meet on Jan. 20, 2003, defeating the American record holder Jeff Hartwig and the 2001 World Indoor silver medallist Tye Harvey. Hartwig and Harvey both went 5.70m (18-11).

In the International Association of Athletics Federations newsletter, Miles talked about his accomplishment. "They are hard acts to follow," said Miles of Hartwig and Harvey. "I am like the squirrel trying to scramble for what I can. It's motivating and you learn something every time that you go to a meet with these guys," he said.

For the past year and half, Miles has trained in Jonesboro, Ark. at the Earl Bell Training Center, with Harvey and Hartwig, under the guidance of former world record holder Earl Bell.

According to the newsletter, Miles hopes to use the performance at Reno, Nev., to vault him to a spot on the U.S. Team for the World Championships this summer in Paris, France.

Last February 16, 2002, Miles recorded his personal best, going 19-1 1/4 (5.82m) at the John Dalton Memorial Track and Field Meet held at the DakotaDome. The vault, which established a DakotaDome record, was the second-best indoor mark in the world at that point in the season. It broke Miles' own Dome mark of 18-4 1/2 set in 1999. Miles won the NCC pole vault title in 1996 and finished fifth at the 1996 NCAA Division II indoor meet. He was third at the 1994 NCAA Division II outdoor nationals. He was an alternate on the U.S Olympic Team in 2000.