University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Matt Audibert 1996 - Track and Field
The top high jumper in school history and a 2008 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, Matt Audibert was the first and is the only Catamount to jump seven feet or higher. A four-year letterwinner on the indoor and outdoor track teams, he was a six-time America East high jump champion, winning both the indoor and outdoor titles from 1994 to 1996.
No other America East high jumper has won three conference titles and just two others have successfully cleared the seven-foot plateau. A native of Johnson, Vt., he came to UVM from Lamoille Union High School where he had set the Vermont state high school high jump record. As a freshman, he set a new school indoor record of 6-11 to finish second at the 1993 New England Indoor Championships just missing the magical 7-foot mark. That season he also finished second at the America East indoor meet. Outdoors that year he came in fifth at the conference meet.
In 1994 he began his run at the conference indoor and outdoor championships capturing both titles for the first time. At the 1994 America East Outdoor Championship, Audibert cleared the bar at 6-10 to win the title and broke the school record that stood for 20 years. He also jumped 6-10 at the New England Championship to place sixth. His junior year he finally cleared the 7-foot barrier on February 11, 1995 at an indoor meet at New Hampshire establishing a new Vermont record. Twice he barely missed clearing 7-2 that day in what former head track coach Ed Kusiak called "one of the most electrifying and inspiring performances I have ever seen."
Audibert also was the first in America East history to clear 7-feet and his jump also set a UNH facility record. He went on to win the conference indoor championship and equaled his school outdoor mark of 6-10 to win his second America East outdoor title. He went on to place fifth at the IC4A Championship and second at the Penn Relays.
In his senior season he was unbeaten in several indoor and outdoor meets while capturing his third straight conference championships, inside and outside. Audibert also came in third in the indoor New England's and won the outdoor New England Championship. He finished second again at the Penn Relays and in his last collegiate meet, he came in fifth at the IC4As.
