ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan University pole vault program continued to raise the bar this season, one year after Brynn King's historic 2023-24 campaign.

King, who became the first student-athlete from Roberts to win an NCAA championship last March, will be joined by two vault teammates at the NCAA Division II Championships this week in Indianapolis.

Sophomore Sarah Ferguson, who transferred to Roberts from the University of Washington, had qualified in the women's competition and freshman Austin Melvin will represent the men's squad.

Roberts had 15 vaulters compete this season, many of whom set personal records. The Roberts women are ranked second among Division II pole vault squads, while the men are 11^th.

Having three student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships is another indication of how much the program has grown since three-time Olympian Jenn Suhr and her husband, Rick, came on board as assistant coaches in 2023.

"Brynn has done what she has done and she is top level," Jenn Suhr, who is a 2004 Roberts graduate and the 2012 Olympic champion, said. "But, we have a lot of kids coming up through and we are building them into pole vaulters."

"It's a culture," added Andrew Dorr, Roberts' Director of Cross Country & Track and Field. "When you go to vault practice, they are all there. Even on a day when some of them aren't vaulting, they are there hanging out and helping out."

King, who set the NCAA Division II indoor record of 4.65 meters (15-feet, 3-inches) while winning the 2024 competition in Pittsburg, Kansas, leads all qualifiers this season at 4.6m (15-1).

Ferguson, the East Coast Conference champion, ranks eighth among qualifiers with a season-best of 4.15m (13-7). The women's competition is set to begin at 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 13.

Melvin, whose best vault in high school was 14-7, has taken flight as a Redhawk. The ECC champion broke a 19-year-old school record by clearing  5.06m (16-7 1/4) at the Brockport Welcome Back Rust Buster on Jan. 1

He surpassed that with an effort of 5.09 meters (16-8 1/4) at the Brockport Multi and Invitational on Feb. 7, meaning he has improved his personal record by more than two feet in less than nine months.

Melvin ranks 14^th among competitors in the men's field. The men's competition begins at 2:35 p.m. on Saturday, March 15.