Niedermeyer takes 7th at USA championships

Former Conant High School pole vaulter Darren Niedermeyer tied for seventh place at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships over the weekend in Eugene, Ore.

Niedermeyer, representing the Jump High Athletic Club, cleared 17 feet, 6½ inches. Derek Miles of Nike cleared 18-6¾ to win the event.

Niedermeyer, a Schaumburg native and two-time Big Ten champion pole vaulter at the University of Wisconsin, had hoped to break his personal best of 18 feet, 7¼ inches and qualify for the World Championships with a top three finish.

Finishing just behind Miles, the meet winner, were Jeremy Scott of Nike (18-4½) and Nick Mossberg (18-2), who was competing unattached.