Sandi Morris, an NCAA champion for the University of Arkansas who lives and trains in Fayetteville, cleared 16 feet, 1 inch to finish second in the pole vault in the World Outdoor Championships on Sunday on Doha, Qatar.
Anzheilka Sidorova, a Russian who is competing unattached because of her country’s international ban from athletics, cleared 16-3 on her third and final attempt to win the gold medal and edge Morris.
Morris, the American record-holder at 16-3, cleared her season-best height after undergoing ankle and toe surgeries in the last year.
“It’s been a really hard year for me,” Morris told media in Doha on Sunday.