Sometimes huge gains happen when you least expect them.
So Sondre Guttormsen, a recent graduate of Davis Senior High School (CA) and a native of Norway, must have felt a huge rush of emotion after successfully clearing 5.60 meters (18-4.5) in the pole vault at the Folksam Grand Prix on Wednesday in Sweden, finishing third in the competition behind Georgiy Gorokhov and Mondo Duplantis.
The mark set a new National Junior Record for his country and surpassed the former mark of 18-2.5 which he set in April at the Arcadia Invitational.
It also gave Guttormsen a new 2-inch PR before he heads off to UCLA in the fall.
"He jumped 18-2.5 in Germany in late June and has been able to jump more from long runs in practice," Sondre's father and coach, Atle Guttormsen, said.
"No (big) changes," he added. "Just training and working on being more consistent."
While Guttormsen had cleared 18-feet just once over his senior season, he performed well up to expectations throughout his campaign at Davis and won a California Interscholastic Federation title with a mark of 17-10. He also earned a title at the Texas Relays in March.
Guttormsen had cleared marks of 17-9, 17-10, 17-10 and 18-2.5 across the spring season.
Perhaps he was slightly motivated after finishing sixth at the U20 Championships with a less than stellar clearance of 5.40 meters.
On Wednesday, however, that breakthrough came on his final attempt.
After breezing through clearances at 5.30 meters (17-4.5) and 5.45 (17-10.5), he passed at 5.55 (18-2.5) and went straight for 5.60.
Duplantis won the event with a final mark of 5.80 meters (19-0.25).
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