Travel with Alicia Rue to Pan Am Juniors

Gopher pole vault star Alicia Rue, who competes at the Pan American Junior Championships in São Paulo, Brazil this weekend, is blogging from the event for the GopherSports.com web-site.

In her first installment, Rue, who is part of the 64-member USA women's and men's team attending the event, describes her travel to the meet and her initial impressions of the country.

"Very few people speak English," she notes, "so communication and asking questions is really difficult. Most of the area [where the team is housed] is hotels and business buildings and some little shops, a lot like down town Minneapolis (but dirtier)."

Rue competes on Sunday. Fellow Minnesotan Elliott Heath competes in the 5000 meters at the meet tomorrow.

Update: Rue's second blog post to GopherSports.com is HERE.