Falcons Cheerleader Barely Misses USA Olympic Team
Jay Adams
Atlanta Falcons
June 24, 2012
Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader Kat M. finished fifth in the women’s trials in pole vault for the US track & field team Sunday night, barely missing out on making the team for the London Olympics in August.
Kat, who has only been pole vaulting for a handful of years after being discovered at Clemson, said last week that she wasn’t expecting all that much out of her performance in Eugene, Ore., for the trials, but apparently surprised even herself by missing first place by just less than eight inches and the Olympics by less than five. The top three finishers move on to Team USA to compete in the Olympics.
Kat’s highest vault was 14-feet, 5-and-1/4 inches.
After preliminaries were canceled due to weather, Kat and her competitors for the team all made it to finals. She alluded to possibly hanging up her cleats if she didn’t make Team USA this year, but tweeted the following after her vault Sunday night:
“5th place. Not half bad for 3.5 years of experience. Thank you everyone for your support. Cant quit now, can I!? #soclose #london2012″
