ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico—South Dakota sophomore
Marleen Mülla placed third in the women's pole vault to lead three Coyote vaulters at the NCAA Championships Friday evening inside the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Mülla, hailing from Rakvere, Estonia, cleared 14-7 ¼ (4.45m) to finish on the podium in third place at the national meet. Mülla had the fewest misses of the competition with just one miss leading up to her exit bar, but it came at her final height while Arkansas' Amanda Fassold and Oklahoma's Olivia Lueking cleared it on first attempts. All three athletes missed three tries at 14-9 (4.50m). Mülla was clean through the first five bars of the competition. She garners first team All-America honors with the performance.
Fourth-year junior
Gen Hirata, a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia, joined Mülla on the All-America first team. She had a clutch third-attempt make at 14-3 ¼ (4.35m) to secure eighth place in the competition. Hirata secures first-team honors for the first time after a pair of second-team accolades in 2021.
Third-year sophomore
Cassidy Mooneyhan, a product of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, placed 14th in her first appearance at an NCAA Championship meet. She cleared 13-5 ¼ on a first attempt make to secure second team All-America honors.
This marks the highest career finish at the national meet for all three athletes. Mülla's third-place finish is the highest by a Coyote woman in any event since Emily Grove in 2014 (pole vault).
South Dakota has seven points in the women's team competition headed into Saturday. Sophomore
Danii Anglin is slated to compete in the women's high jump at 2 p.m. (Central) tomorrow.
Gallery: (3-12-2023) T&F at NCAA Championships
