(Photo courtesy of Dillon Emo `15)
St. Peter, Minn. – With three competitions in the month of May, Allyson Voss (Sr., Wausau, Wis.) notched her second MIAC title in pole vault and made a third consecutive appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. For her efforts, Voss has been named the Gustavus May Female Student-Athlete of the Month.
To begin the month, Voss finished in a tie for fourth place at the Meet of the UnSaintly in St. Paul on Saturday, May 4th. The senior cleared the bar at a height of 11-feet, seven-inches and was the highest finisher of any Division III competitor in the pole vault.
The following weekend, Voss aimed to defend her title as conference champion in the pole vault and did so in record-setting fashion. Ally recorded a season-best height of 12-feet, 5.5-inches on her way to setting the MIAC Championships meet record in pole vault. With her second consecutive conference title came her fourth straight All-Conference honor after finishing third in 2010 and second in 2011. Voss becomes the first pole vaulter in the Gustavus women’s track and field program’s history to earn All-Conference accolades all four years.
Ally continued on to compete in her third consecutive NCAA Championships in La Crosse, Wis. on Thursday, May 3rd. Unfortunately, Voss was unable to record a height after being ranked eighth in the field prior to the competition. Nonetheless, Voss remains the only Gustavus pole vaulter to earn outdoor All-America honors after finishing seventh at the 2012 NCAA Championships.
In addition to her accomplishments on the track, Voss was also awarded a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Such scholarships were given to 29 male and 29 female winter sports student-athletes who excelled both academically and athletically, were in their final year of eligibility, and plan to pursue graduate study. Ally will now travel to Spain to teach English for a school year before returning to the States and take on the role of a bilingual education Teach for America Corp member in Houston.