CHESTER, Pa.—Junior pole vaulter Thomas Conboy (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) cleared the bar at a height of 4.75 meters at the Widener Invitational on Saturday and moved into the BIG EAST lead for the season to date.  He came in first out of 18 competitors at the meet and matched his lifetime best mark.  Freshman Jim Keys (Herndon, Va.) was the runner-up to Conboy with a height of 4.60 meters. 
 
Conboy had a breakthrough performance during the past indoor season when he cleared a height of 4.75 meters for the first time.  He matched the mark at the BIG EAST Championships, where he placed second and garnered All-BIG EAST recognition for the third time in his career.  Saturday's performance marked the first time that Conboy had cleared 4.75 meters outdoors.  The veteran member of the Villanova roster ranks seventh on the Wildcats all-time performance list in the pole vault and is fifth on the program's outdoor list. 
 
In Saturday's meet, Conboy and Keys both came into the competition when the bar moved to 4.45 meters.  Conboy made it over on his first try at that height and on his second attempt at 4.60 meters.  He and Keys were the lone athletes in the field of 18 competitors to clear the bar at 4.60 meters.  Conboy went on to record a successful attempt on his first approach at 4.75 meters, before eventually being eliminated with three misses at 4.90 meters.