Division 3

[Sebes]

Yeah, D3 has a lot of good vaulters. I was a D1 vaulter and there were probably dozens of D3 guys who could jump higher than me (PR 4.78m). You're going to need to jump really high to be among the best. Just focus on how high you can jump and let everybody else worry about themselves.

[pistolpete6994]

I vaulted for 4 years in D III and I found a lot of varience in the competition. I was never a great vaulter, 13' 6" at my best, and I was competitive at a lot of meets. Hell I won a couple, but then again I got my butt kicked a lot too. I've seen 10' place in a conference meet, and 15' 4" win the same meet.
My feelings, D III has the same caliber jumpers as D I, just a lot fewer of them. D III pretty much anyone can compete, sometimes you'll place, sometimes you won't make the opening height. When it comes down to it, isn't it really just you against the bar anyway?

[SKOT]

As a current D3 athlete, I will disagree with your statement of D3 athletes being at the same calibar as D1 athletes. If you look at the top 5 returning athletes in each division, D1 looks superior to D2 and D3. I wa rather amazed at how close D2 and D3 were though.
D1 Women

6 Jodi Unger JR Arkansas 4.24m ME 05-13
9 Brysun Stately FR USC 4.15m W 05-14
10 Jackie Nguyen JR UCLA 4.15m W 04-29
13 Sarah Landau SO Miami-Ohio 4.13m ME 04-22
14 Rachel Greff SO Rice 4.12m MW 05-12

D2 Women

1 Angie Aguilar Jr Abilene Chrstn 13-00.25
2 Jennifer Hensel Fr Minn St-Moorhead 12-11.50
4 Rachel Duthler Jr Grand Valley St 12-08.00
5 Katelin Rains Fr Minn St- Mankato 12-06.00
7 Bria Magnuson Jr Winona St 12-05.50

D3 Women

Megan Rossi Jr North Central College 4.00m (13-1 1/2)
Stephanie Barnes Jr Wisconsin Eau Claire 3.94m (12-11)
Meghan Voiland Jr Augustana (Illinois) 3.90m (12-9 1/2)
Jen VanderMeer Jr Hope College 3.80m (12-5 1/2)
Kelly Rehn Jr Wisconsin Oshkosh 3.78m (12-4 3/4)

D1 Men

1 Thomas Skipper JR Oregon 5.79m W 03-18
4 Jimmie Heath SO McNeese St. 5.50m ME 04-08
7 Brad Gebauer JR Michigan St. 5.42m ME 04-22
8 Scott Martin JR Oklahoma 5.40m MW 04-22
9 Andre Poljanec SO N. Iowa 5.40m MW 04-23

D2 Men

3 Anthony Weber Jr Southern Ill-Edw 16-09.25
5 Lucas Handley Jr Missouri-Rolla 16-07.25
7 Russell Ellis So MO Southern 16-06.75
10 Vinnie Wuertz So Pittsburg St 16-06.00
11 Bryant Wilson Fr Grand Valley St 16-04.75

D3 Men

Matt Novak Jr Wisconsin La Crosse 5.30m (17-4 1/2)
Zach Johnson Jr Wisconsin Oshkosh 5.05m (16-6 3/4)
Kevin Clark So Elizabethtown College 5.05m (16-6 3/4)
Peter Sprecher So Monmouth College (Il) 5.00m (16-4 3/4)
Alex Tapplin Jr Wisconsin La Crosse 5.00m (16-4 3/4)

All info from TrackShark and RaceberryJam