[2] At the New York Athletic Club games in Madison Square Garden on February 18, 1929, he vaulted 14 feet (4.26 m), becoming only the second man (after Carr) to clear that height indoors; he took three attempts at 14 ft 1+1⁄2 in (4.30 m), which would have been a new world record, but failed.
[3][8] Later that winter, Sturdy won ahead of decathlete Barney Berlinger at both the IC4A and national (AAU) indoor championships; his IC4A winning mark, 13 ft 7+3⁄4 in (4.15 m), broke Carr's meeting record from the previous year.
[9][10] Sturdy remained in good shape outdoors, again winning both the AAU and IC4A titles; in the IC4A meet he shared first place with Edmonds and USC's Jack Williams, as all three cleared at 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m) and there was no jump-off.
[11] He won the AAU championship outright, clearing 13 ft 9+1⁄4 in to improve the meeting record set at the previous year's Olympic Trials by a quarter-inch.
After a jump-off, third place (and the final Olympic qualifying spot) went to UCLA's George Jefferson, and Sturdy was again left out of the team.