Local Standout Van Meter Transfers to Tulane
Aug 17, 2011 | Track & Field
Aug. 17, 2011
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane track and field program received a boost to their squad when New Orleans native and Louisiana state pole vault record holder Merritt Van Meter transferred to the Uptown campus. The Metairie Park Country Day School product spent the 2010-11 academic year at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and competed during the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Indoors, Van Meter cleared 4.05-meters (13-3 ½ feet) at the ACC Indoor Championships to finish third in the competition. During the outdoor campaign, her top mark came at the ACC Outdoor Championships where she cleared 3.96-meters (12-11 ¾ feet) and placed fourth overall in the event. She is also among the nation's top-five returning sophomores in the pole vault entering the 2012 season.
Her pole vault career took off while she was a member of the Cajuns track and field squad, helping Country Day to a fourth place finish at the Louisiana Class 1A State Championships. At the meet, Van Meter won the pole vault competition with a 4.17-meter (13-8 ¼ feet) clearance, to go along with second place showings in the long jump and 200-meter dash. She accounted for 26 of the teams 45 points at the 2010 LHSAA 1A State Championships.
Van Meter was named the Gatorade/ESPN RISE Louisiana Track and Field Athlete of the Year after posting the nation's top pole vault mark for a high school competitor. At the time, her 4.17-meter mark set the LHSAA state record - a record that covered all classifications -and was the nation's best clearance in the event. She was also awarded the Allstate Sugar Bowl Athlete of the Month after her performance at the state championships. She was selected as the Metro Field Performer of the Year by the Times-Picayune in 2010.
