To clear fifteen feet is a huge feat for a female pole vaulter -- but Baylor's Annie Rhodes has actually been focused on a different number, 14-9 (4.50m), for the past calendar year. That's the mark she couldn't make in 2016, the one that she needed to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

She made that mark and more yesterday in Lawrence, Kansas, at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship, as she cleared a final height of 15-1.5 (4.61m) to win her third conference title, break the Big 12 record and tie for the No. 5 performer in NCAA history.

May 13 also happened to be Rhodes' 22nd birthday.

"I was just ecstatic when I cleared 14-9," she said after the competition on Saturday night. "I missed that mark last year and that was the qualifier for Olympic Trials. So to go and clear 15-1, I think everybody heard me scream. I was just on fire when I cleared that bar."

The NCAA's current No. 1 pole vaulter is Baylor's Annie Rhodes. She clears 15-1.5 [4.61m]. pic.twitter.com/bZHNQjpMMY

— Baylor Track & Field (@BaylorTrack) May 14, 2017

The mark also ranks her No. 1 in the NCAA this season, ahead of 2016 Olympian and defending NCAA outdoor champion Lexi Weeks of Arkansas. Only one other woman has cleared 15 feet this spring: Emily Grove of South Dakota, whose best mark is 15-1 (4.60m).

Rhodes, whose best mark before this weekend was 14-7.25 (4.45m), says she hasn't changed anything in her training from last year.

"[I think the progress has come from] continuing to build on previous years," she said. "Every year, I've gotten a little faster, a little stronger, my technique got a little bit sharper and I've just [gotten more] confidence. Pole vault is such a mind game, your mind is your biggest enemy. To have confidence behind you can take you feet above your PR."

The senior was runner-up at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships and 11th in Eugene last year. Her big day has adjusted her sights to gold this June at NCAAs.

"I got second at indoor nationals, so I'm going for that gold medal!"