Phil Anastasia: A debut that broke a record

The wind was behind Rachel Laurent, and so was the crowd.

The freshman from Louisiana State was hoping her first visit to the Penn Relays would be something special. The weather and her own rapidly expanding cheering section made certain of it.

"It's pretty awesome to come here for the first time and end up with my name in the record book," Laurent said yesterday after setting a meet record in winning the women's college pole vault with a 13-foot, 101/2-inch effort at Franklin Field. Amy Linnen of Kansas set the previous mark of 13-10 in 2005.

Laurent had help. For one thing, the consistent breeze nudged her down the runway. For another, the folks in the stands in front of the pole-vault competition caught on pretty quickly that the 2008 USA Junior champion was making her mark at the collegiate level.

Penn Relays crowds are like that. They always rally behind an athlete on the verge of making history, providing as much lift as that tail wind.

That's what happened with Laurent. What began as a slight buzz from a small band of LSU supporters and pole-vault aficionados grew to a mounting surge of excitement as Laurent took aim at the meet record.

"They definitely helped me over that last bar," Laurent said. "Most of the time when you are jumping, you don't really sense the crowd. But they were definitely getting into it."

Laurent, who attended Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, La., won the USA Junior championships last spring and finished fourth in the junior world championships in Poland. She was one of those "Faces in the Crowd" in Sports Illustrated magazine after pole-vaulting 14-0, the second-best jump ever by a U.S. high school girl.

She won six state titles in high school. She won indoor and outdoor national high school championship events.

She's been around.

Still, the slight, 5-foot-6 athlete was overwhelmed by the atmosphere on the first full day of the 115th running of the world's oldest track and field carnival.

"I had heard about this meet, and I almost came here in high school, but the schedule never worked out," Laurent said. "But when I got here, and I saw it, and I saw the crowd, I was in awe.

"Everybody said it was going to be a big meet. But I couldn't believe it when I saw what it was really like."

LSU assistant coach Todd Lane said the setting and the competition brought out the best in Laurent, who finished nearly a foot ahead of the runner-up.

"She's that kind of athlete," Lane said. "It was a great atmosphere for her. She had some trouble early, and she fixed things.

"She's very good now, and she has a lot of room to grow. She's got a lot more bars in her."

LSU has been bringing fleet sprinters to this meet for years, but the Tigers also have been making their mark in the field events.

Last year, LSU's Katelyn Rodrigue won the women's pole vault, Rabun Fox won the men's hammer, and Chad Radgowski won the men's javelin.

Now the Tigers have the record holder in the women's pole vault. She's all of 19, too.

"How cool is that?" Lane said.

Contact staff writer Phil Anastasia at 856-779-3223 or panastasia@phillynews.com.