Akron Athletics

Honors
Collegiate Indoor Pole Vault Record Holder
Sullivan Award Finalist
2015 Bowerman Award Finalist
2015 NCAA Outdoor Pole Vault Champion
2014 and 2015 NCAA Indoor Pole Vault Champion
2015 Pan American Games Gold Medalist
Canadian Indoor and Outdoor Pole Vault Record Holder
Pam American Junior Pole Vault Champion (2013)
Canadian Pole Vault Champion (2013)
2015 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Regional Field Athlete of the Year
2015 Track and Field News Male Collegiate Athlete of the Year
6x USTFCCCA All-American: First Team (2015 Indoor/Outdoor, 2014 Indoor/Outdoor, 2013 Indoor/Outdoor)
6x MAC Champion (2015 Outdoor, 2015 Indoor, 2014 Indoor, 2014 Outdoor, 2013 Indoor, 2013 Outdoor)
6x MAC First-Team All-Conference selection (2015 Outdoor, 2015 Indoor, 2014 Indoor, 2014 Outdoor, 2013 Indoor, 2013 Outdoor)
2015 Outstanding Field Performer at Mid-American Conference Indoor Track Championship
National High School Pole Vault Record Holder
Named the James Horrigan Akron Male Athlete of the Year (2014, 2015)

as a Junior (2015): Outdoor...Captured his first-ever NCAA Outdoor title on June 10, at the NCAA Track and Field Championship in Eugene, Ore., surpassing 18-4.50 (5.50m) to win his school-record third overall NCAA championship...named semifinalist for Bowerman Award...selected as USTFCCCA Great Lakes Regional Field Athlete of the Year...posted a then world-leading outdoor mark in 2015 en route to setting a new school-, meet and Canadian National record eclipsing 19-4.25 (5.90m) to win the pole vault invitational at the Texas Relays on March 28, in Austin, Texas...cleared 17-6.50 (5.35m) to win Mt. Sac Relays on April 17...shared top honors with Sam Kendricks at the Drake Relays jumping 19-1 (5.82m), the mark surpassed the Drake Relays' record jump of 19-0.75 set by Jeff Hartwig in 2007 and in the process snapped world record holder and 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Renaud Lavillenie's streak of 13 straight wins in the pole vault dating back to last year...finished third in the Drake Relays Street Vault going past 17-6.50 (5.35m)...posted a then world-leading outdoor mark in 2015 en route to setting a new school-, meet and Canadian National record eclipsing 19-4.75 (5.91m) to win the pole vault invitational at the Longhorn Invitational on May 2...captured third consecutive Mid-American Conference pole vault title surpassing a meet record of 18-6.50 (5.65m) on May 16...shared top honors at the NCAA East Preliminary Round surpassing 17-2.75 (5.25m) to earn a berth at the NCAA Championship...eclipsed 18-3.25 (5.57m) to win pole vault at Notheast Ohio Quad on April 3...twice named MAC Athlete of the week...Indoor...won all nine competitions he entered...successfully defended his 2014 NCAA Indoor title with a winning jump of 19-4.75 (5.91m) at the NCAA Championship in Fayetteville, Ark....his winning clearance on his final attempt broke not only his own collegiate record but also set a new NCAA Championship meet standard besting Jacob Davis' record of 19-2.25 (5.85m) set in 1999...his efforts propelled him to become the first two-time NCAA champion in Akron Track and Field history and a five-time All-American...cleared 19-0 in seven meets...established a new collegiate indoor pole vault record jumping 19-3.5 (5.88m) at the Akron Invitational on Feb. 7 to surpass the previous all-time collegiate indoor pole vault record of 19-2.25 (5.85m) set by Jacob Davis of Texas on March 6, 1999 in Indianapolis, Ind...the mark also shattered Barber's Stile Athletics Field House record set at the Akron Pole Vault Convention on Jan. 10, as well as his own Canadian National record (19-3)...he then broke the mark again going 19-4.25 (5.90m) to win the title at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 14...established a new Mid-American Conference meet record surpassing 19-0.25 (5.80m) to win the MAC Indoor title...three-time USTFCCCA Division I National Male Athlete of the Week...named as the MAC Athlete of the Week for field events on four occasions this season.
 
as a Sophomore (2014): Indoor... captured the NCAA Championship in the pole vault to become the first male individual national champion in Zips history ... jumped a Canadian overall record of 18-10.25 to defeat 2013 NCAA Outdoor Champ Sam Kendricks of Ole Miss in a heads-up dual ... won his third straight MAC Championship, jumping a meet-record height of 18-02.50 at the league meet (Feb. 28) at Kent State ... cleared the 18-foot barrier in each of his first five competitions and in six meets overall ... soared over a height of 18-06.75 at the Akron Invitational (Feb. 8) to break the all-time Canadian Indoor standard that was held by Doug Wood (18-06.50, 1992) ... it was the No. 1 jump in the country at the time and rewrote the Stile Athletics Field House facility record ... set meet and facility records at the Penn State National (Jan. 31) with a winning jump of 18-03.25, which was more than a foot better than any other competitor on the day ... Outdoor... NCAA runner-up at the Outdoor Championships (June 11) after jumping 18-06.25 ... was defeated by Kendricks, who jumped 18-08.25 in a rematch of the NCAA Indoor Championship dual ... won his fourth MAC Championship in the pole vault in as many league meets ... jumped 17-01.50 to win the event ... grabbed one of the top 12 spots at the NCAA East Preliminary Round to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second straight season ... finished runner-up at the Texas Longhorn Invitational (May 3) while matching a season-best jump of 18-04.50 ... it was the top vault in the MAC and ranked No. 5 in the nation entering the NCAA Outdoor Championships ... initially cleared that height as the top collegiate finisher at the Mt. SAC Relays (Apr. 19).
 
as a Freshman (2013): Indoor... USTFCCCA All-America First Team honoree ... Bowerman Award Watch List Honorable Mention ... placed fifth at the NCAA Championships (March 8) with a jump of 18.00.50 ... was the nation's No. 1-ranked pole vaulter for the majority of the indoor season ... entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 2-seed ... MAC Pole Vault Champion ... broke the school's all-time indoor record in his first collegiate meet with a clearance of 18-04.50 at the EMU Triangular (Jan. 11) ... set the Stile Athletics Field House facility record (18-02.75) the following weekend at the Kent Duals (Jan. 18) ... bettered his mark at the Akron Invitational (Feb. 2) with a winning clearance of 18-03.75 ... named Athlete of the Meet at the Virginia Tech Elite (Feb. 9) ... won event titles in six of seven meets leading into the NCAA Championships ... Outdoor... Became the Canadian national pole vault record holder with a school-record setting clearance of 18-08.75 at the Texas Relays (March 29) ... brought home the bronze medal at the NCAA Championships with a jump of 18-04.50 to earn his second All-America First Team honor ... Summer... won the Canadian pole vault championship with a jump of 17-08.50 at the Canadian Track & Field Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick (June 22) ... the winning jump earned him a spot on the Canadian national team that competed at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia (Aug. 11) ... placed 16th in his group with a jump of 17-08.50 ... captured gold at the Pan American Junior World Championships (Aug. 25) in Medellin, Colombia with a jump of 17-06.50.
 
at Kingwood Park HS: National high school pole vault record holder ... shattered the 13-year old previous standard of 17-01.00 by jumping a winning mark of 18-03.50 (5.57m) at the AAU Junior Olympics in Houston, Texas, in August of 2012 ... named the No. 2 high school track & field athlete of the year by Track & Field News ... finished third at the World Junior Track and Field Championships in Barcelona, Spain, in July of 2012 with a jump of 18-02.50 as a member of the Canadian national team ... cleared 17-06.50 at the Texas A&M Indoor Classic in January of 2012, surpassing his previous personal record by a foot and earned a No. 2 ranking all-time on the indoor list ... jumped 17-08.00, which was the top mark in the nation and 11th-best all-time, in March of 2012 beforing racking up a number of major titles, including the Texas Relays (17-06.50), Texas 4A state meet (16-00.00), Great Southwest (17-05.50) and the New Balance Nationals Outdoor (16-04.00).
 
Personal: Parents are George and Ann Barber ... George pole vaulted for the Canadian National Team and collegiately at UTEP ... born May 27, 1994.