(Watertown) Watertown native Leslie Brost capped off her high school career in May by capturing her third straight pole vaulting title. But this past weekend, Brost one upped herself as she qualified for the United States Junior National Team that will compete at the World Junior Championships beginning next week.

Brost qualified for the World Junior Nationals by finishing second in the USA Junior Championships. Her jump of 13 feet, five and one quarter inches was a personal best. Despite setting a new personal high, Brost had no idea she had just qualified for the World championships.

Leslie Brost says, "It was kinda weird just you know I made the height and I was really excited that I pr'd. It didn't really dawn on me right away that I made the team and go to Poland."

Brost dominated the local scene during high school as she captured the last three state championships. She holds just about every high school record in the state. But jumping at national meets, where every competitor is just as good as Brost, if not better, was a real eye opener.
"It's different jumping in high school meets and then going to those meets and knowing you are not really anything special there. You are just another vaulter there. Everyone there is the best in their state or at their high school and so it's intimidating but it's fun to be jumping against girls that you know are just as good and better," Brost said.

Finishing in the top three in two of the most prestigious junior events in the country has given Brost a lot of confidence heading into the World Junior Championships.
Brost says, "It was kinda nice to go compete against those people and place well and kinda know that I can jump with them and you know compete at that level with those girls."

Even though brost appears to be at the top of her game right now, she knows she'll have to be even better in Poland if she wants to return home with a medal.
"It was nice to have a big weekend and two good meets. You know to finally jump mid-13, so it made me relax a little bit but I can't relax too much as I have to jump higher at worlds if I want to place, so I still got a lot of work to do," Brost said.

The Junior World Championships begin July 8th in Poland.