MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Redshirt senior Madelin Gardner of the West Virginia University track and field team is set to compete at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, on Saturday, March 9, in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
Gardner will compete in the women's pole vault, which is slated to begin at 5 p.m. ET, at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The event will be streamed live at ESPN3.com, and fans also can follow along with the championship's live results, presented by NCAA.com.
 
A re-air of the championships will take place on ESPN2, at 10 p.m., on Sunday, March 10, and again Monday, March 11, at 10 p.m., on ESPNU.
 
"Maddy has been brilliant all season," WVU coach Sean Cleary said. "At the NCAA Championships, it's about who brings their very best that determines who goes home achieving the unthinkable. Maddy has prepared well and should go out and perform as she knows she is capable of. If she does that, she will return home very happy."
 
Gardner, a native of Williamstown, West Virginia, arrives at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a season-best jump of 4.38 meters (14 feet, 4.5 inches) from the Penn State Tune-Up, on Feb. 16, in University Park, Pennsylvania. The mark, which broke her own indoor school record, is tops for the Big 12 this indoor season and tied for No. 9 nationally.
 
In all, the two-time All-American has jumped 4.30 meters or better five times this season. She also has recorded five wins, including three that went for facility-record marks.
 
Saturday marks Gardner's third career appearance at the NCAA Championships. Last season, she placed ninth (4.31 meters – 14 feet, 1.75 inches) in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Championships, in College Station, Texas, to earn All-America Second Team honors. Later in the year, she reached the podium at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, in Eugene, Oregon, placing eighth (4.30 meters – 14 feet, 1.25 inches) and earning All-America First Team accolades.
 
Additionally, Gardner becomes the Mountaineers' first back-to-back NCAA Indoor Championships qualifier since Keri Bland, Jessica O'Connell and Chelsea Carrier in 2010-11.
 
Last time out, Gardner tied for fourth place in the pole vault at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Championship, on Feb. 22, in Lubbock, Texas. She earned a mark of 4.13 meters (13 feet, 6.5 inches). With the performance, Gardner matched her best finish at a conference meet (indoor or outdoor) in her career. She also placed fourth at the 2018 Big 12 Outdoor Championship, in Waco, Texas.
 
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