Selig Wins Heptathlon at Cal Multi-Events

BERKELEY, Calif. ? Nebraska junior Ashley Selig, fresh off winning her first women’s pentathlon national title at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships two weeks ago, claimed the women’s heptathlon championship at the outdoor season-opening California Multi-Event Meet Thursday. Her score of 5,474 points defeated second-place Mackenzine Winkler of Portland State by more than 300 points.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The Lincoln, Neb., native wrapped up the two-day event by posting the top performance in two of the final day’s three events. Her outdoor-personal-best mark of 19-9 ? in the long jump placed first in the event, as did her 800-meter run time of 2:16.13. The lone event Selig failed to win on the day was the javelin, which she threw a respectable distance of 115-9.

 

Selig held the lead following day one action on Wednesday. While unable to claim an individual event win, she did post a career-best time of 25.32 in the 200-meter dash to help build a small lead. The 2004 bronze-medal winner in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships also recorded marks of 14.37 in the 100-meter hurdles, 5-4 ? in the high jump and 35-10 in the shot put.

 

Junior Sara Jane Baker also had a successful heptathlon, finishing third with 5,055 points. Baker rallied to claim bronze following a fifth-place standing after Wednesday’s competition. Another Nebraska junior, Casie Witte, finished sixth with a career-best 4,805 points, breaking her previous high score of 4,732.

 

Redshirt freshman Kim Shubert participated in Group B of the heptathlon competition, earning sixth place with a score of 4,143.

 

Several other Huskers open their indoor seasons this weekend at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., and the UNK Invite in Kearney, Neb. The Stanford Invite begins today and continues through Saturday, while the UNK Invite will be held Saturday only.