Chris Roy finished tied for seventh in the pole vault in the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday evening, making him the first All-American for the Cajuns since 2004.

The Breaux Bridge native cleared a height of 17-06.50 feet.

The last Cajun to be an All-American was Lawrence Willis in the triple jump in 2004. Roy is only a junior and holds the school record in the pole vault.

The junior out of Breaux Bridge, La., has continued to improve his specialty over the years, eventually breaking the school record with a jump of 17-07.25 feet in the Sun Belt Conference Meet in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Feb. 27.

For Roy is was his second win in as many weeks, taking home first place at the LSU Twilight Meet on Feb. 20. He finished the season with four first-place finishes and one second place finish in the opening weekend of the indoor season.

At the Hilton Memorial Invite on Jan. 16 Roy scored a second place finish in the pole vault with a jump of 5.10m (16 feet, 8.75 inches). He followed that up with a first-place finish at the Arkansas State Invitational with a height of 5.07 meters (16-07.50).

Roy once again led the way for the Cajuns at the Houston Invitational, finishing first in the pole vault with a height of 5.32 meters.

Roy provisionally qualified for nationals at the beginning of February.

Roy attended Breaux Bridge High School and was a four-year letter winner in track and field. He helped lead the Tigers to a district and state championship and earned All-State honors in 2007.

–Ragin’Cajuns–