Selig, Green Add Big 12 Titles for NU Women

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln?Nebraska leads the women’s team race with 74 points, while the Husker men (27) currently rank third following day two of the Big 12 Outdoor Championships at NU’s Ed Weir Stadium. Senior Ashley Selig and junior Jenny Green gave the Husker women a huge boost Saturday by claiming their fourth career conference titles.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Selig made her final career home appearance memorable, as she proved to be the class of the women’s heptathlon competition with a winning score of 5,726, nearly 400 points ahead of senior teammate Casie Witte. The two Lincoln products led a contingent of four Huskers who earned All-Big 12 honors, as junior Kim Shubert placed fourth (5,126) and freshman Erin Hannon finished eighth (4,719). Each Husker with the exception of Selig totaled personal-best scores.

 

Selig broke the Ed Weir Stadium heptathlon record in her first career attempt at her home facility, while she also became the first Husker ever with a pair of conference crowns in the women’s heptathlon to her name. She registered individual event marks of 19-4 in the long jump and 112-4 in the javelin before running an 800-meter time of 2:13.15 in front of a standing ovation down the final straightaway from the home fans in attendance.

 

“Being at home was a little extra motivation for me,” Selig said following her performance. “The heat really got me today, but I just tried to finish strong and have a good time. I feel like I was able to do that.

 

“I take a lot of pride in being a Husker and I wanted to finish (her home career) strong,” Selig said. “Also, I know that my scores need to improve to be where I want to be at nationals. I wanted to at least score 5,700, which is what I was able to do today.”

 

Green put a stop to her season-long frustration in the women’s pole vault, as she led a Husker sweep of the top two positions with a winning clearance of 13-5 ?. She previously had failed to reach a bar higher than 12-9 ? this season. Sophomore teammate Brysun Stately, who owns the nation’s top mark this season, placed runner-up at 13-5 ?.

 

“This has been one of the toughest years, mentally, that I’ve ever experienced vaulting,” Green said. “I’ve been struggling to break the 13-foot barrier all year so I’m glad I could do it when it counted. It’s good to be back where I belong.”

 

A Grand Island, Neb., native, Green once again proved to be clutch in her specialty event, as she became the first women’s athlete in Big 12 history to earn a second career outdoor championship. With the addition of her two indoor titles, she now owns four conference crowns overall. No other athlete in Big 12 history has registered as many as three victories.

 

 “I woke up this morning and I knew it was going to be a good day,” Green said. “I had the same feeling two years ago indoors, when I won. And it was the exact same thing this year.”

 

Adding All-Big 12 honors for the Husker women were freshman Chantae McMillan (20-3 ?w), freshman Leandra McGruder (19-11) and sophomore Zarinah Suluki-Drakes (19-9 ?), the fourth-, sixth- and eighth-place finishers in the women’s long jump; freshman Epley Bullock (5-11 ?), freshman Erin Hannon (5-8 ?) and Witte (5-8 ?), who placed third, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the high jump; and junior Tamara Solari (179-8), who finished seventh in the hammer throw.

 

The men’s Big 12 team race is shaping up to be one of the closest in the 11-year history of the Big 12 Conference, as at least four squads have a legitimate shot at capturing top honors on Sunday. NU received a huge boost from senior Lee Martin and sophomore Skyler Reising, who placed second and fourth, respectively, in the men’s decathlon.

 

Martin put together a tremendous final-day effort to finish with a score of 7,322, which should give him a shot at reaching his first career NCAA Championships next month. Following a first day featuring three individual event bests, the Waverly, Neb., native added two more individual bests to push his score into second place after starting the day in ninth. He concluded the competition by winning the 1,500-meter run by more than five seconds.

 

“It was a lot of fun,” Martin said. “I was sitting in ninth yesterday so I really had to battle back today. There’s kind of a saying amongst decathletes - ?The first day is for athletes and the second day is for decathletes.’”

 

Reising compiled a personal-best 7,244 points, which also should give him a good shot at reaching the NCAA Championships.

 

Senior Daniel Roper picked up the Husker men after some disappointing developments in the long jump, as he smashed his previous career best with a leap of 25-7 ? to finish second. Defending NCAA champion Arturs Abolins and junior Dusty Jonas, who entered the day ranked second among the field’s entries, each were unable to reach the event’s final jumps.

 

Roper was merely a centimeter behind event champion Barrett Saunders (Kansas), but he will still have another shot at a conference title Sunday in the men’s triple jump final.

 

Senior Issar Yazhbin (203-8) and junior Bryan Bell (personal-best 190-6) added team points for the Husker men in the hammer throw by placing fifth and seventh, respectively. Bell’s throw marked his first career NCAA regional qualification.

 

On the track, the NU men qualified very well during preliminary rounds. In all, nine Huskers earned the right to compete in Sunday’s final. Three of Sunday’s events will feature multiple Huskers.

 

Leading the pack was junior Peter van der Westhuizen, who won his 1,500-meter prelim heat in 3:52.50. Freshman Lukas Hulett posted the fifth-fastest time in NU history for the 400-meter dash with his clocking of 46.01, which ranked third among the field. Fellow freshmen Dax Danns and Scott Wims will compete in the 100-meter dash finals after posting respective times of 10.39 and 10.41, while Wims also reached the 200-meter dash final (20.67).

 

Both Ross brothers, freshman Tyrell (13.96) and senior Aaron (14.13), qualified for the 110-meter hurdles final, and freshman Tim Grier (51.78) and junior Andrew Pearson (51.90) did likewise in the 400-meter hurdles.

 

For the Husker women, four athletes will compete in Sunday track finals, including senior Sheryl Morgan, who recorded the day’s fastest time of 57.40 in the 400-meter hurdles. The time is tied for seventh nationally among all marks entering the weekend.

 

Sophomore Natalja Zarcenko (4:26.81) and Kim Pancoast (4:28.51) added qualifications in the 1,500-meter run, as did freshman Nikita Eades (13.88) in the 100-meter hurdles.

 

The Big 12 Outdoor Championships conclude Sunday. Field events begin the day at Noon, while running event finals are scheduled to start on 1:30 p.m.

 

Women's Team Scores
1. Nebraska, 74
2. Texas Tech, 41
3. Kansas, 27
4. Oklahoma, 23
5 (tie). Kansas State, 22
5 (tie). Missouri, 22
7. Texas, 21
8. Iowa State, 16
9 (tie). Oklahoma State, 11
9 (tie). Colorado, 5

 

Men's Team Scores
1. Kansas, 37
2. Texas, 28
3. Nebraska, 27
4. Missouri, 25
5. Oklahoma, 18
6 (tie). Iowa State, 16
6 (tie). Texas Tech, 16
8 (tie). Colorado, 9
8 (tie). Kansas State, 9
10. Texas A&M, 6
11. Oklahoma State, 4