Caleb Pouliot’s win in the pole vault was the highlight of the final day of competition for The Master’s University at the 2023 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Track & Field Outdoor National Championships at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind.

Pouliot cleared his final attempt at 5.10 meters (16′ 9″) immediately after Tom Paris from Keiser University failed on his third attempt. The win is Pouliot’s second NAIA national championship of 2023 after winning the Indoor Pole Vault title in early March.

Amazingly, Pouliot was sick his first few days in Indiana and could not participate in any pre-meet preparations.

“I took this time to read a lot while I stayed in bed,” Pouliot said. “During this time I was able to memorize 1 John 2:5 — ‘But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God is perfected. By this we know we abide in him.’ I chose this verse because during the competition I wanted to repeat scripture in my mind. This helped calm me down and keep me focused on what really matters.”

When competition day arrived, he felt well enough to get in some warm-ups, but waited until later in the competition to get his first attempt in. The strategy worked.

“After winning, I remember thinking that I don’t deserve this title,” he said. “But we have a good God and he deserves all the glory. I am very thankful for all the sacrifices that were made this year to help me achieve this goal.”

Two TMU runners competed in the men’s 5k, with Daniel Rush earning an All-American spot finishing seventh with a 14:43.98. Davis Bogess, the 10k champion Wednesday who suffered an injury during the 5k prelim Thursday, gutted out a ninth-place finish (14:58.36).

Ellen Palmgren grabbed the final All-American spot in the women’s 800, finishing eighth in a time of 2:11.71.

Hannah Fredericks fell back to 10th after running with the leaders early in the women’s 5k. Fredericks, who finished third in the 10k Wednesday to earn another All-American accolade, finished the 5000m in 17:37.75.

In the men’s shot put, Josh Williamson finished ninth with a throw of 16.08m (52′ 9″). He finished one place outside of All-American.

As a team, The Master’s men’s squad finished 12th out of the 78 teams competing. The women’s team finished 17th.

For more information visit TMU Sports.