KC Lightfoot topped 6.00m on the second day of the Texas Tech Shootout in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday (13), to become the first US collegiate athlete to join the six-metre club.
Lightfoot, 21, who had improved to 5.95m on 30 January, sailed clear on his third attempt to become just the 13th man to top the still formidable barrier indoors and the 25th to do so in any conditions. Lightfoot then retired after three tries at 6.02m.
"There's really nothing more to say than it was magical, for sure." Lightfoot said. "I've worked my whole life for that bar, and to finally get it takes a huge relief off my shoulders.
"There's still some more in the tank, though," he added. "I'm just not sure for what height, anymore. I guess the American record is the next big goal."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
6 METERS‼️‼️‼️ <a href="https://t.co/UKNYktS5RS">pic.twitter.com/UKNYktS5RS</a>
&mdash; Baylor Track &amp; Field (@BaylorTrack) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaylorTrack/status/1360692902830239744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<h2>Hauttekeete breaks world indoor U20 heptathlon record</h2>
 Jente Hauttekeete of Belgium tallied 6062 points* to win a combined event competition in Frankfurt on Sunday (14), to become the first U20 athlete to crack the 6000-point barrier in the U20 heptathlon indoors.
Hauttekeete, 18, who finished second in the decathlon at the European Youth Olympic Festival in 2019, opened the competition with a 7.07 performance in the 60m to equal his personal best. He then followed up with a 7.33m leap in the long jump, a 15.64m effort in the shot put before capping the first day with a 2.10m clearance in the high jump - all personal bests - for a 3476 first day score.
Hauttekeete opened the second day with an 8.06 run in the 60m hurdles before scaling 4.70m in the pole vault, 20cm higher than he'd ever jumped before, according to <a href="https://www.lesoir.be/355112/article/2021-02-14/athletisme-le-belge-jente-hauttekeete-18-ans-bat-le-record-du-monde-u20">Le Soir</a>. He sealed the win and the record with a 2:46.71 run in the 1000m to break the previous record of 5984 points set by Spaniard Eusebio Caceres in 2010.
[<a href="https://ergebnisse.leichtathletik.de/Competitions/MultiResultList/236902/4220">Results</a>]
*pending the usual ratification procedure
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<h2>Teare clocks 3:50.39 mile in Fayetteville</h2>
 University of Oregon student Cooper Teare made a huge breakthrough on the first day of the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville on Friday (12), smashing his outright mile PB with 3:50.39 to move into the world indoor all-time top 10.
There were huge PBs across the board as his teammates Cole Hocker (3:50.55) and Charlie Hunter (3:53.49) finished second and third.
In an all-Oregon line-up, Angus Folmi and Reed Brown set the early pace, going through 600m just inside 1:26 and 1000m in 2:24.3. Teare, Hocker and Hunter maintained that tempo for the final two laps with 21-year-old Teare kicking to victory in a collegiate record of 3:50.39. His time ranks him seventh on the world indoor all-time list, just behind fellow US athletes Bernard Lagat and Johnny Gregorek, but ahead of Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz.
Hocker, aged just 19, crossed the line in 3:50.55 &ndash; the fastest indoor mile ever recorded by a teenager and good enough for eighth on the world indoor all-time list. Hunter&rsquo;s 3:53.49, meanwhile, took a second off his own Australian indoor record, set just two weeks prior on the same track.
The en-route 1500m splits of 3:35.46, 3:35.63 and 3:36.94 respectively were also outright PBs for all three men.
Isaac Grimes produced another world-leading mark in Fayetteville. The 23-year-old long jumper went out to 8.04m in round two then improved to a lifetime best of 8.27m in round five. He went even farther in the final round, sailing out to 8.33m. He now ranks just outside the US indoor all-time top 10. JuVaughn Harrison was second with 8.09m.
Elsewhere in Fayetteville, Bryce Deadmon sped to an indoor 400m PB of 45.22, the third-fastest time in the world this year, to win comfortably from Champion Allison (45.99).
The sprint hurdles finals were swift, too, with teenager Grace Stark winning the women&rsquo;s race in 7.96 from Pan-American Games silver medallist Chanel Brissett (7.98), while former world U20 record-holder Trey Cunningham ran 7.55 to win the men&rsquo;s event.
Fast 400s were the highlight of the first day of the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson on Friday (12). 20-year-old Randolph Ross won the fastest heat in a PB of 45.21, finishing just ahead of Jacory Patterson (45.24) and Trevor Stewart (45.55). Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Dwight St Hillaire took the second heat in 45.64 with 400m hurdles specialist Kyron McMaster placing second in 45.92.
Jamaica&rsquo;s 2015 world champion Danielle Williams won the 60m hurdles in 7.87, while Tavarius Wright was the men&rsquo;s 60m flat winner in 6.57.
At the Texas Tech Shootout in Lubbock, world U20 silver medallist Twanisha Terry trimmed her 60m PB to 7.13, while Brendon Stewart won the men&rsquo;s short sprint in 6.58. Teenager Bailey Lear set an outright PB of 51.94 to win the women&rsquo;s 400m.
Over in Europe, Germany&rsquo;s Rebekka Haase produced a pair of swift times over 200m. The 28-year-old ran 22.96 in the heats and 22.83 in the final &ndash; a time that no European sprinter other than herself has bettered in the past seven years.
Corinna Schwab was second in both races, clocking 23.07 and 23.00. 
<h2>Gill extends winning streak</h2>
 New Zealand&rsquo;s Jacko Gill continued his run of good form at the Porritt Classic in Hamilton, notching up his fourth successive victory over 2017 world champion Tom Walsh.
In what turned out to be a near exact copy of the results from their last encounter one week prior in Christchurch, Gill emerged the winner in an equal PB of 21.52m while Walsh was second with 21.45m &ndash; just one centimetre shy of his mark from last week.
Both men were extremely consistent, producing 10 throws beyond 21 metres between them. Walsh had the upper hand in the first round, 21.39m to 21.32m, but Gill responded with 21.52m in round two. Walsh came close in rounds two (21.45m), three (21.33m) and four (21.41m) but couldn&rsquo;t catch his younger rival.
There was another exciting domestic duel in the women&rsquo;s hammer as Lauren Bruce took on Julia Ratcliffe, her predecessor as Oceanian record-holder. Bruce opened with 68.66m but Ratcliffe responded in the second round with 71.39m, equalling the second-best throw of her career. It only lasted a matter of minutes as the leading mark, though, as Bruce threw 71.75m at the end of that round.
Ratcliffe didn&rsquo;t improve but landed two more throws beyond 70 metres. Bruce, meanwhile, saved her best for the final throw of the day, sending her hammer out to 73.22m &ndash; just 25 centimetres shy of her Oceania record. Since their first ever clash &ndash; which came exactly five years ago at the 2016 edition of the Porritt Classic &ndash; it&rsquo;s the first time Bruce has defeated Ratcliffe.
Elsewhere in Hamilton, Portia Bing dominated the 400m hurdles to win in 55.99, while Valerie Adams threw a season&rsquo;s best of 18.68m to win the shot put from world U20 champion Maddison-Lee Wesche (17.43m). 
<h2>Clay&rsquo;s momentum continues</h2>
 One week after setting a PB in Brisbane, Australia&rsquo;s Liz Clay chopped another chunk off her lifetime best to win the 100m hurdles at the Australia Capital Territory (ACT) Championships in Canberra on Saturday (13).
The 25-year-old sped to victory in 12.72, moving up to second on the Oceanian all-time list behind 2012 Olympic champion Sally Pearson. Former heptathlon specialist Celeste Mucci was second in 12.98, her first sub-13-second clocking.
Elsewhere in Canberra, Brooke Stratton won the long jump with 6.72m, Rohan Browning took the men&rsquo;s 100m in 10.23 and world javelin champion Kelsey-Lee Barber opened her season with 55.93m.

University of Oregon student Cooper Teare made a huge breakthrough on the first day of the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville on Friday (12), smashing his outright mile PB with 3:50.39 to move into the world indoor all-time top 10.

Lightfoot joins six-metre club, Teare clocks 3:50.39 mile in Fayetteville

KC Lightfoot tops 6.00m in Lubbock, Hauttekeete breaks indoor U20 heptathlon record

Athing Mu kicked off her collegiate career with the second fastest indoor U20 800m performance of all-time at the Ted Nelson Invitational in College Station, Texas, on Saturday (16).
In a largely solo effort, Mu, 18, clocked a 2:01.07 personal best in her 2021 debut, coming up just 0.04 shy of the world U20 indoor record Ethiopian Meskerem Legesse set in 2004. Her performance was also an early-season world lead.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Pronounced Uh-thing Mo She did her thing 😏 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GigEm?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GigEm</a> 💻 <a href="https://t.co/axwuQVYE39">https://t.co/axwuQVYE39</a> ⏱️ <a href="https://t.co/RFPrVcNTa1">https://t.co/RFPrVcNTa1</a> <a href="https://t.co/QgFgf7X5IW">pic.twitter.com/QgFgf7X5IW</a>
&mdash; Texas A&amp;M Track &amp; Field/Cross Country (@aggietfxc) <a href="https://twitter.com/aggietfxc/status/1350590749138628608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Elsewhere, Bryce Deadmon sped to a 45.68 victory in the 400m, another world lead.
Tyra Gittens, who also competes for Texas A&amp;M, won the long with a 6.62m leap to break the national indoor record for Trinidad &amp; Tobago. The 22-year-old, who also hold the national record in the heptathlon, won the high jump with 1.83m.
<h2>Lightfoot tops 5.94m in Lubbock </h2>
KC Lightfoot topped an early-season world lead of 5.94m at the Corky Classic in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday (17) to break the US collegiate indoor record in the pole vault.
Making his 2021 debut, the 21-year-old sailed over the height on his first attempt before closing out the competition with three attempts at 6.00m. Lightfoot, a member of the US squad at the 2019 World Championships, entered the year with personal bests of 5.83m indoors and 5.82m outdoors.
"It was a good day overall," said Lightfoot, who added one centimetre to the NCAA indoor mark set by Chris Nilsen one year ago. "Some things fell into place and the collegiate record stayed up there. There are plenty of things to work on, and I believe a 6-metre bar will be coming sooner rather than later."
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
‼️ KC Lightfoot. Collegiate record holder. ‼️ 19-5.75 (5.94m) On to the next bar...<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SicEm?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SicEm</a> 🐻🥇 <a href="https://t.co/XgHzMu0kx9">pic.twitter.com/XgHzMu0kx9</a>
&mdash; Baylor Track &amp; Field (@BaylorTrack) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaylorTrack/status/1350577533746601984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The meet also witnessed a world lead in the men's 800m, courtesy of Takieddine Hedeilli who clocked 1:45.98. The 24-year-old Algerian clipped 2.52 from his previous best and also broke the national indoor record of 1:46.87 set by Reda Abdenouz in 1992.
Elsewhere, Courtney Lindsey turned in a double sprint victory, taking the 60m in 6.59 and 200m in 20.45, both lifetime bests for the 22-year-old.&nbsp;
Nigerian Ruth Usoro, also a student at Texas Tech, won the long jump/triple jump double (6.51m/ 14.28m) while Justin Hall won the men's long jump with a leap of 8.01m.
<h2>Browning scorches wind-assisted 9.96 </h2>
Rohan Browning sped to a wind-assisted 9.96 clocking over 100m at the Illawarra Track Challenge in Wollongong on Saturday (16), making him the second-fastest Australian over the distance in any conditions.
Browning, who turned 23 just two weeks ago, opened his afternoon by winning his 60m heat in a wind-assisted 6.62 (2.8m/s). Two hours later, he was back on track for the 100m and was unopposed as he flew to victory in 9.96, aided by a 3.3m/s following wind. Joshua Azzopardi was a distant second in 10.29.
National record-holder Patrick Johnson is the only Australian to have recorded a faster time over 100m. Back in 2003, Johnson recorded three sub-10-clockings, including a wind-assisted 9.88 (3.6m/s) and a wind-legal 9.93 (1.8m/s). 
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 Little more than 90 minutes after his 100m triumph, Browning returned for the 60m final and sped to a 6.55 victory, this time wind-legal (0.1m/s), making him the fastest Oceanian athlete ever for the rarely-run outdoor 60m.
Elsewhere in Wollongong, 19-year-old Monique Quirk won the women&rsquo;s 60m in 7.28 (0.0m/s) and World Championships semifinalist Bendere Oboya was a comfortable winner of the 400m in 53.35.
<h2>Wanjiru and Muneria take top honours at Kenyan Prisons Cross Country </h2>
Rosemary Wanjiru and Charles Muneria produced dominant displays at the Kenya Prisons Inter-regional Cross Country Championships in Ruiru on Saturday (16).
Wanjiru, the fourth-place finisher over 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, covered the 10km course in 33:44 to win by 34 seconds from 2017 world cross-country bronze medallist Lilian Kasait Rengeruk.
Three-time Berlin Marathon winner Gladys Cherono was third (35:08), while Alice Aprot, the 2016 African champion over 10,000m and cross country, made a promising return after a 17-month break from competition to place fourth in 35:56. 
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Prisons Senior men's race underway... Charles Muneria leading with 2.5km in. Also competing Silas Kiplagat, Wilfred Kimitei etc.. (📸/ Courtesy) <a href="https://t.co/2bdy4C38yG">pic.twitter.com/2bdy4C38yG</a>
&mdash; Katami Michelle (@MichKatami) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichKatami/status/1350353689249259520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
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 Muneria, who represented Kenya in the 5000m at the Rio 2016 Olympics, was also a convincing winner. He broke away from the rest of the men&rsquo;s field to win in 30:01, finishing 42 seconds ahead of runner-up Boaz Kiprugut.
Wilfred Kimitei, the 2016 African 10,000m silver medallist, and Patrick Kipngeno were third and fourth in 30:45 and 30:55 respectively.
<h2>Steiner and Gardiner impress indoors</h2>
University of Kentucky student Abby Steiner hadn&rsquo;t raced since clocking an outright 200m PB of 22.57 in February 2020, making her the world indoor leader for that season.
The 21-year-old picked up where she left off, though, and sped to victory at the Rod McCravy Invitational in Lexington on Friday (15), running 22.83 for 200m. As the facility houses an oversized unbanked track, it won&rsquo;t count for record purposes but is nonetheless a promising start to the year. 
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
💨 <a href="https://twitter.com/abbysteiner1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@abbysteiner1</a> off and running in 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣. 22.83 season-opening 200m 😼 <a href="https://t.co/ziq5KE8jA6">pic.twitter.com/ziq5KE8jA6</a>
&mdash; UK Track &amp; Field (@KentuckyTrack) <a href="https://twitter.com/KentuckyTrack/status/1350269038916640768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
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 Over in Birmingham, Alabama, world 400m champion Steven Gardiner opened his 2021 campaign with a comfortable 300m victory in 32.70 &ndash; just 0.44 shy of his own Bahamian indoor record.
Three-time world 4x400m champion Jessica Beard won the women&rsquo;s 300m in 37.54. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6003749f9366f670ad55f67f.JPG" alt="" width="950" height="633" /> Renaud Lavillenie in action in Bordeaux (&copy; Jean-Pierre Durand)
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Former world pole vault record-holder Renaud Lavillenie also enjoyed a strong start to 2021. The 2012 Olympic champion won the Perche Elite Tour meeting in Bordeaux with a clearance of 5.92m.
He needed two attempts at 5.72m and at 5.82m, by which point he had the competition won as younger brother Valentin bowed out with a best of 5.72m. Lavillenie, now 34, then got over 5.92m on his second try before wrapping up his series with three misses at 6.00m.
The women's contest was decided on countback as Netherlands' Femke Plum, Belgium's Fanny Smets and Switzerland's Angelica Moser all cleared 4.51m. Plum, who cleared her first three heights on her first attempts, came out on top.

Athing Mu missed world indoor U20 800m record by 0.04, KC Lightfoot topped an early-season world lead of 5.94m in Lubbock while Rohan Browning sped to a wind-assisted 9.96 clocking over 100m at the Illawarra Track Challenge in Wollongong, Australia.

Mu threatens world U20 indoor 800m record, Lightfoot tops 5.94m, Browning scorches wind-assisted 9.96 - weekend round-up

KC Lightfoot has emerged from a varied sporting background to become one of the best pole vaulters in the USA. He competed at last year&rsquo;s World Championships in Doha and started 2020 in superb form, setting PBs of 5.83m indoors and 5.82m outdoors.
Here the 21-year-old explains how three different pursuits played a key part in his athletic development. 
<h3>Dirt biking</h3>
Growing up in Lee&rsquo;s Summit, Missouri, Lightfoot was introduced to the sport of dirt biking through his father, who himself was a former 4.95m vaulter.
&ldquo;I got my first four-wheeler when I was three years old,&rdquo; recalls Lightfoot. &ldquo;I loved riding; I rode them in the back yard every day and did so for no other reason than it was fun.&rdquo;
At about the age of six or seven, Lightfoot graduated to riding dirt bikes before moving into the competitive side of the sport.
Competing most weekends, the Baylor University student admits he was no superstar racer but he enjoyed the experience and believes several aspects of the racing have aided his vaulting.
&ldquo;I really enjoyed that sense of exhilaration from racing, and the fact you need to be a little bit crazy,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;I guess that is similar to vaulting, particularly that no sense of fear. When you are out there vaulting, you&rsquo;re out there on your own hoping everything works out. It was a similar situation on the dirt bikes. It was possible a lot could go wrong, but it was also a lot of fun.&rdquo;
Each race involved multiple jumps and Lightfoot says this helped develop his spatial awareness skills, a critical component of vaulting.
&ldquo;The bike can be pretty heavy and if you are going to come up short on a jump, you have to quickly be able to recognise that, move your body and quickly manoeuvre the bike around to lessen the pain on landing,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;Spatial awareness is also hugely important in the pole vault because we have to figure out all the moving parts to the jump and adjust accordingly in order to get our body over the bar.&rdquo;
At the age of 13, Lightfoot quit the sport of dirt biking to focus on baseball. 
<h3>Baseball</h3>
For much of his schoolyears, Lightfoot was a passionate and enthusiastic baseball player. He performed to a good standard on a travelling summer team, boasting a batting average of .400 and his versatility saw him play a number of positions including short shop, outfield and catcher.
It may not seem as though there are many transferable skills from baseball to pole vault, but Lightfoot says his reflexes were unquestionably sharpened on the baseball diamond and this has helped his vaulting. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/5fd4944084720395ba78f0f4.png" alt="" width="960" height="500" />
 &ldquo;When batting, you need to make some quick decisions as you are swinging the bat,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;As the ball comes towards you, you have to act quickly. In a similar way when vaulting, you have to make quick decisions on the pole to make sure the jump works out.&rdquo;
Lightfoot, who now describes pole vault as his &ldquo;kryptonite&rdquo; for baseball, quit the sport at the age of 15 or 16 to focus on his rising athletics career. But even today he still enjoys baseball.
&ldquo;I like to play catch with my siblings or go to the batting cages and swing the bat,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;I would really like to play a game of baseball, and if someone invited me I would play.&rdquo; 
<h3>Cliff and bridge jumping</h3>
Another recreational pursuit the US vaulter enjoys is cliff and bridge jumping with friends.
He carries out the daring act at least a couple of times a year and has done so previously in the Ozarks, Arkansas and Utah.
&ldquo;I love to go out with friends and jump in the water and do some back flips, nothing too insane!&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The highest height I&rsquo;ve jumped off in a cliff in Arkansas at around 85ft.&rdquo;
Rather than learning specific skills for pole vaulting through cliff jumping, he reasons the recreational pursuit is &ldquo;more a reflection of my fearlessness and of wanting to embrace an adrenaline rush.&rdquo;
Steve Landells for World Athletics

How three different sports have helped KC Lightfoot become a top pole vaulter

How three different sports helped Lightfoot become a top pole vaulter

The 21-year-old explains how three different pursuits played a key part in his athletic development