GAINESVILLE, Fla. - When freshman pole vaulter Maddi Reed says she didn't hit her peak during a standout freshman campaign with the Midway indoor track and field team, her reasoning sounds a bit superstitious.

Reed exploded onto the scene this winter, qualifying for the NAIA Indoor National Championships in her first collegiate meet, before hitting the qualifying 'A' standard in her second. 

And heading into Thursday's national meet, her top height of the season is 3.76 meters, equaling the best mark of teammate Nevaeh Brown, a five-time All-American and two-time national pole vault runner up.

And yet, Reed says there's a confined element to indoor competition she feels impedes her at times, and she expects to be even stronger when outdoor season begins in March.

"There's just something about seeing the ceiling I don't like," she said. "I like when I look in the sky when I'm vaulting. I feel like I can go higher."

One of 14 vaulters to hit the 'A' standard (3.70) during the regular season, Reed seemingly has a very good chance to earn All-American honors, which are given to the top-eight performers in each event.

But without expressing it directly, she let it be known she has greater ambitions.

An adjustment for Reed going from high school to college has been measuring her performance in meters instead of feet, even stating "My No. 1 goal is to get to 13 feet."

When converted, that comes out to roughly 3.96 meters, which would have been a winning height 21 times in the 28 years pole vault has been an indoor national event, including last season, and Reed has her sights on getting there immediately.

"(Thirteen feet) is a big goal of mine and I really, really want to achieve that by the end of indoor."

Reed and Brown will both compete at noon Thursday.

SEE ALSO: Nevaeh Brown looks back at record-setting career as she prepares for final national meet

VANSCOY RIDES 'STRESS-FREE' APPROACH TO SURPRISE NATIONAL BERTH

The River States Conference Indoor Championships couldn't have started much worse for Emerson VanScoy.

Another key component in Midway's standout pole vault group, the sophomore got sick the day of competition and it showed in her performance, as she failed to clear a single bar.

Luckily, she had an opportunity to redeem herself the next day. Though spending nearly all her practice time on pole vault, VanScoy has had success in high jump, even earning a pair of wins in the event as a freshman.

So just hours after her day-one disappointment, VanScoy quickly looked ahead to high jump on day two, even giving herself a pep talk before going to sleep that night.

"It was hard to get over Friday with pole vault but I gave myself that time to be like 'It's part of the sport, it happens, you can't be 100 percent all of the time,'" she said. "I just did a lot of self-reflection, like 'How bad do you want this? What are you going to do?' Really making sure my mindset was in the right place."

The approach paid off in a big way. Not only did VanScoy leave as an RSC champion, her top jump of 1.65 meters was exactly what she needed to hit the national qualifying 'B' standard.

Even with her sense of urgency following her early struggles, VanScoy didn't feel much pressure once competition started, feeling she had nothing to lose in an event she usually only practices "when it's convenient."

"It's something that's stress-free for me," she said of high jump. "I know I'm not pouring all of my time into that. So when I get up there, it's going to be what it's going to be."

But after her breakthrough at the conference meet, she expects her intensity to boost significantly as she takes on the best jumpers in the nation.

"I know what my capabilities are now and I know that I can do bigger things than what I thought," she said. 

High jump preliminaries begin at 4 p.m. Friday.