[3] The following year she won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) pole vault title and came third at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

[5] The 2004 season proved to be her breakthrough year as she was runner-up to Stacy Dragila at the USA Indoor Championships and then placed fourth at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships, vaulting a personal best mark of 4.60 m.[6] She achieved the same mark outdoors to take second at the Prefontaine Classic and was runner-up to Dragila at the 2004 Olympic Trials, securing her first Olympic berth.

One of three Americans in the women's pole vault at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics (along with Dragila and Tracy O'Hara), she finished second in the qualifying but could not repeat her form in the final round, ending up in eleventh place.

She also made appearances on the 2006 IAAF Golden League circuit[3] Her progress stagnated in 2007 as she failed to clear higher than 4.50 m. Still, she took third place at the USA Outdoors and competed at the 2007 World Championships, where she achieved her season's best of 4.50 m in qualifying.

[5] She set her sights on making the team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and had podium finishes at the Reebok Grand Prix and the Adidas Track Classic.

[3] However, she came fourth at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, being beaten by the less-established April Steiner Bennett and Erica Bartolina.

Officials approached her about a possible move to compete for Israel and she agreed, seeing it as a better chance to participate at the 2012 London Olympics given the strong competition for a place in the United States.

She did, however, manage to win her second national title and make her Olympic debut for Israel at the 2012 London Games, competing in qualifying only.