Following one-year break, event returns with Zips standouts Barber, Ludwig and Bryan all scheduled to compete, along with reigning Canadian champion Theodore

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Eight male athletes and four female competitors are scheduled to participate in the seventh Akron Pole Vault Convention, hosted at 3 p.m. EST Saturday by the University of Akron at Stile Athletics Field House.

The event, which began in 2013, returns this season after not being held last year.

Leading the male entries is Shawn Barber, a 2015 World champion, 2016 Olympic finalist and three-time NCAA winner at Akron. Barber, the Canadian record holder, will be competing against reigning Canadian national champion Deryk Thedore, among others.

Also scheduled to vault are former collegiate champions Matthew Ludwig, the 2017 NCAA outdoor champion at Akron, along with 2009 indoor and outdoor winner Jason Colwick, who competed at Rice.

Fellow Americans Devin King, an All-American at Southeastern Louisiana, along with Jacob Wooten, last year’s third-place finisher for Texas A&M at the Division 1 Indoor Championships are expected to compete, in addition to Akron standouts Matt Keim and Cole Wigal.

Akron senior Lucy Bryan, the fifth-place finisher at the Division 1 Outdoor Championships in June, headlines the female entries.

The British standout will be joined by Canadians Erika Fielder and Meghan Lim, along with Akron redshirt junior Abby Helminiak.