Willer Breaks NU Pole Vault Record

Lincoln ? Sophomore pole vaulter Natalie Willer thrilled 2,094 fans at the Devaney Center Indoor Track with a school-record vault of 13-9 3/4. After passing on the first four heights of the event, Willer entered at the 11-5 3/4 bar. Following a miss on her first attempt, Willer bounced back to clear on her second attempt before tearing through the 11-11 3/4, 12-5 1/2 and 12-11 1/2 bars. After a miss on her first attempt at 13-5 1/4, the Elkhorn, Neb., native cleared on her second attempt, setting up a chance to break Jenny Green’s 2004 school-record of 13-9 1/4 and move the new record to 13-9 3/4.

 

With the entire crowd behind her, Willer grazed the bar on her first attempt, but the bar stayed on the standard, breaking the NU school record and securing a spot at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships with an NCAA automatic-qualifying vault.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

“All that was going through my mind was, this is it, just go for it,” Willer said. “I knew I couldn’t get too excited, I just had to treat it like any other mark.”

 

With Willer leading the way, the Huskers started the 2009 season on a high note at the two-day Holiday Inn Invitational as it had five other athletes post NCAA provisional-qualifying marks. The Huskers won 10 events on Saturday to bring its two-day total to 16 wins, including wins in seven of the eight field events on Saturday.

 

On the men’s side, sophomore Lehann Fourie started Saturday off on the right foot for the Big Red, even though he was running with one of his shoes falling off.

 

“I hit the first hurdle with my heel and it (my heel) slipped out of my shoe,” Fourie said. “My shoe was still on, so I just tried to compensate for it. I couldn’t really get any traction on that leg.”

 

Fourie, who ended the 2008 season one spot shy of a trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships, battled through his equipment difficulties to finish third overall with a time of 7.89, trailing professional sprinter Dexter Faulk (7.71) of Nike and Malcolm Anderson (7.87) of Barton County. After a runner-up finish in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2008 Big 12 Indoor Championships and a trip to the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 110-meter hurdles, Fourie has high admirations for this season.

 

“This year I want to run well below 7.80 (in the 60-meter hurdles),” Fourie said. “I want to secure my spot at the NCAA (indoor) meet early in the season. I don’t want to wait until the last meet of the year to make sure I get in.”

 

Last season 16 athletes were invited to the NCAA Indoor Championship in Fayetteville, Ark. The NCAA provisional-qualifying time in the 60 hurdles is 7.91, while the automatic-qualifying time is 7.70.

 

Reigning Big 12 indoor high jump champion Epley Bullock started her 2009 high jumping season with a NCAA provisional-qualifying jump of 5-10. Bullock passed on the first two heights of the event (5-1 and 5-3), before jumping clean through the 5-5, 5-7 and 5-8 3/4 bars. Following the clearance at 5-8 3/4, Bullock was the the only jumper left at the 5-10 bar. Following misses on her first two attempts, Bullock inched over the bar behind a rhythmic clap from the crowd. The Allen, Texas, native raised the bar up to 6-1 1/4, which would have been a new personal best and an NCAA automatic qualifying mark, but she was unable to clear.

 

“Coach (Gary) Pepin wanted to raise the bar up to 6-1 1/4 so that I can gain confidence in jumping that high,” Bullock said. “If I can start hitting 5-10 on my first attempt on a constant basis, I’ll be real happy with myself.”

 

Following a sixth-place finish at the 2008 Holiday Inn Invitational, senior co-captain Kacie Sharp added three -feet-two-inches to her indoor personal best to earn victory in the shot put with a toss of 51-0. Sharp’s mark provisionally qualifiers her for the NCAA indoor championships. Her mark was over a foot and a half farther than the provisional standard of 49-10 1/2.

 

Leandra McGruder finished off the Husker women’s sweep of the field events on Saturday with a win in the triple jump. A two-year team captain and four-time All-Big 12 performer, McGruder took top honors with a leap of 40-6. She jumped 13 inches farther than second-place competitor Jasmine Simmons of Barton County.

 

Sophomore Paul Hamilton was on pace for back-to-back Holiday Inn Invitational high jump titles, but had to settle for runner-up honors behind NU school-record holder and 2008 Olympian Dusty Jonas. Hamilton bowed out after posting an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 7-1 1/2. Hamilton went after the 7-3 1/4 bar, but was unable to clear. Jonas cleared 7-3 1/4 on his first attempt and then raised the bar to 7-5 3/4, but missed on all three attempts.

 

Sophomore Nicholas Gordon won the men’s triple jump and improved on his personal best with an NCAA provisional-qualifying leap of 50-7 1/4. Gordon hopes to be a double-threat for the Huskers this season in the long and triple jumps, after earning All-Big 12 honors last season with a third-place finish at the indoor conference meet. True freshman Chris Phipps finished runner-up to Gordon with a leap of 49-9.

 

After winning the 200 meters at the 2008 Holiday Inn Invitational, NCAA All-American Dan Christensen took home the 400-meter title on Saturday. Christensen, who was running in the ninth and final heat of the 400, dropped his personal-best in the event by two-hundredths of a second to 48.01.

 

Following a runner-up finish in the 800 meters on Friday night, freshman Blaire Dinsdale posted her first collegiate win with a victory in the 600-yard run (1:26.16). Dinsdale, who was running in the seventh and final heat, trailed fellow freshman teammate Suzanne Higgins with about 200 meters to go before Dinsdale made her final move at the 100-meter mark. Higgins finished runner-up in the heat and overall with a time of 1:26.80.

 

With a fourth-place finish at the 2008 Holiday Inn Invitational, Seth Burney captured the meet crown with a vault of 16-0 3/4. Burney was followed by teammates Nate Polacek (15-7), who was competing unattached, Erik Sutterfield (15-1) and Robbie Babcock (15-1).

 

After a win in the weight throw on Friday night, senior Keith Lloyd returned on Saturday to capture the shot put with a toss of 57-3 3/4. Lloyd posted the win on his final toss, defeating Tobey Dane of Nebraska-Kearney, who had just thrown 55-8 1/4.

 

In other highlights from the meet, Pinar Saka from the University of Nebraska-Omaha set the Turkish national record in the women’s 400-meter dash with her first-place time of 53.36. A five-time NCAA Division II All-American, Saka’s time currently ranks No. 1 among Division II times entering the weekend.

 

The Huskers will now prepare for next weekend’s Big 12 vs. Mountain West Conference Challenge, which will be hosted at the Devaney Center Indoor Track. The scored meet will match the Big 12 squad of Nebraska, Kansas State and Missouri against the Mountain West team of Colorado State, Air Force and Wyoming. Each school will be allowed to enter a maximum of two athletes in each event, totaling six athletes for each conference team. Live results will be available at Huskers.com

 

Following the Conference Challenge, Nebraska Wesleyan University will host the NWU Invitational at the Devaney Center Indoor Track.