After breaking the program's indoor pole vault record at the Bacon Field House at Wesleyan University (above, left), Natasha Frisch headed down the hall to the Webster Family Natatorium, where she served as lap counter (above, right) for teammate Katie Roberts in the mile freestyle before competing in the 100 freestyle (swimming the second-fastest time on the team this year in her first try in that event) and swimming the second leg of the 400 freestyle relay.
MIDDLELTOWN, Conn. -- Practice makes perfect. In the case of
Natasha Frisch (Mendota Heights, MN), however, a lack of any real practice still made perfect when she broke the ten-year-old Eastern Connecticut State University indoor record in the pole vault during the Warriors' 2024-25 season-opener Saturday at the Wesleyan University Winter Invitational.
 Last year's Little East Conference
outdoor pole vault champion with a conference and program record of 12 feet, 1 1/2 inches, Frisch had never competed in indoor competition due to to role with the Eastern women's swim program.
 Until Saturday, that is.
 With the Eastern track and field team team competing at the Wesleyan Winter Invitational at the Freeman Athletic Center's Bacon Field House, and the swim team competing at the Connecticut Cup at Wesleyan's Webster Family Natatorium -- also at the Freeman Athletic Center -- Frisch spent the morning competing in indoor track for the first time in her high school and college career before heading down the hall to the pool in time to participate in the afternoon session of the Connecticut Cup.
While Frisch, does, in fact, hold the Eastern outdoor pole vault record, she had never competed indoors. Thus, she was unaware of the program's indoor record or who held it until it was suggested after her first-place jump of 11-1 1/3 Saturday morning that she might have, indeed, set a new standard. A quick check of the program's on-line records revealed that she had indeed broken by nearly four inches the previous record of 10-feet 10 inches set by Amy Huhn in winning the 2014 Little East championship at the University of Southern Maine.
With Frisch having spent this fall training intently with the swim team in both morning and afternoon sessions, she had managed to squeeze in just one brief pole vault practice (in frigid conditions) four days ago at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex. The lack of training, however, was not a deterrent Saturday, when she established the best jump thus far in the NCAA Mideast Region and fourth-best in New England (behind three MIT athletes) and equalled the 15-highest vault in Division III thus far. Saturday, she cleared the opening height of 10-2 with her first vault, cleared 10-8 on her second attempt and the record-setting 11-1 3/4 on her first try. Her three attempts at 11-7 3/4 -- which would have placed her in the national Top 10 -- failed.
Â
| EASTERN'S TOP 5 FINISHERS AT THE WESLEYAN INVITATIONAL |
