Oregon pole vaulter Cole Walsh was eliminated from semi-final contention at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships after failing to clear the 5.10 meter mark.

On his first attempt at 5-meters, Walsh was out of sync.

“My first jumps aren’t always the best,” Walsh said after the event. “I usually take a little bit longer to get the right pole, to get my run locked in. I would say the first jump kind of sets the tone.”

Walsh couldn’t get over the bar on his first two attempts, but easily cleared it on his third and final chance. He hoped that his successful third attempt would be a momentum shift.

“The 5-meter jump, when I cleared it, I blew thorough the pole I was on and I felt like everything was ready to go,” Walsh said.

“I felt like I was ready to go, and I wasn’t.”

Walsh never reclaimed the same feeling he had when he set a personal best of 5.35 meters at the USA Junior Championships earlier this month at Hayward Field. He missed on all three of his attempts at 5.10 meters.

“I never got a rhythm,” Walsh said. “I don’t feel like I was locked in the same way that I was at Junior Nationals.”

Walsh, who redshirted for the Ducks last year, is taking his performance at the World Junior Championships as a learning experience that he can utilize heading into next season.

“Every bad jump day has something that you can take out of it,” Walsh said. “I feel like I know what I need to improve on. I feel like this experience gave me a lot to improve on.”

Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @jhoyt42