Senior pole vaulter Cameron Overstreet had been working toward the record-setting feat since her sophomore year.
And on Saturday, she finally accomplished it. But she didn't even know it.
Overstreet broke the school record in the women’s pole vault this weekend, clearing 4.24 meters at the Kent Taylor Invite meet in Chapel Hill.
Overstreet said she did not want to know what height she was jumping to clear throughout the weekend, and when she landed, she looked over at Assistant Coach Josh Langley, who exclaimed: “We did it!”
Overstreet reacted obviously by saying, “Did what?”
“I was trying not to put too much pressure on it, my last home meet, you know,” she said. “Honestly, when I went into the meet, all I wanted to do was have fun, and my motto was to just enjoy my gift; to enjoy the opportunity I’ve had to jump at Carolina and my physical athletic gift.
"Being able to do it at home with all of our meet officials, my family, my teammates and my coaches — it was the best situation I could have ever asked for to do it.”
Langley, who coaches multis, pole vault and javelin, said he could not be more proud of Overstreet for breaking the three-year-old record by half an inch. Langley has been coaching Overstreet since she arrived at UNC.
“It’s always been about getting Cameron to do less. By that I mean she’s the type that she feels like if she’s not doing anything, she’s getting worse," Langley said. "It’s never been about me motivating her; it’s never been about getting her to do more. In a lot of ways, less is more, and it’s just been me trying to preach that to her. I think she’s finally beginning to understand that in a lot of ways that’s true.”
