Hamilton Soars 7-4 1/4 in the High Jump

Fayetteville, Ark. ? Following an impressive first day on Friday, the Nebraska track and field team returned to the Randal Tyson Track Center on Saturday for day two of the Tyson Invitational, hosted by the University of Arkansas. With the momentum of Nicholas Gordon’s long jump of 25-8 on Friday, which ranks No. 3 in Division I, the Big Red posted two NCAA automatic-qualifying marks and two provisional-qualifying marks on day two, including Paul Hamilton’s high jump of 7-4 1/4, which ranks No. 2 in Division I.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Hamilton got in the groove early, succeeding on his first or second attempt on all seven bars he cleared. After passing at 6-6, Hamilton cleared 6-7 1/2 on his first attempt and then 6-9 on his second attempt. The Sidney, Neb., native then posted a first attempt clearance at 6-10 1/4, followed by a second-attempt make at 7-0 1/4. With six jumpers left in the field at 7-1 3/4, Hamilton cleared on his first attempt, moving him along with four other jumpers to the 7-3 bar. With a new personal-best on the line, Hamilton cleared on his second attempt, leaving him and former Nebraska national champion Dusty Jonas as the only jumpers left in the field. Next the bar went up to 7-4 1/4, the NCAA automatic-qualifying standard. After a miss on his first attempt, Hamilton flew to new heights with a clearance at 7-4 1/4, moving him to No. 2 in Division I and No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference. Hamilton and Jonas then took the bar to 7-5 1/4, but each was unable to clear and Jonas won the event as he cleared 7-4 1/4 on fewer misses.

 

“Paul (Hamilton) is executing a lot better than he has in the past,” Head Coach and Jumps Coach Gary Pepin said. “Paul has some really good things going for him. I am real excited to see what he has ahead of him.”

 

After qualifying in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters for the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Lara Crofford made a strong bid for her first indoor championship trip with a runner-up and NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 16:41.31 in the championship division of the women’s 5,000 meters. The Newville, Pa., native stayed in the pack for the first 18 laps, before pulling away with Indiana’s Wendi Robinson to make it a two-runner race over the final 1,400 meters. Crofford saved her best for the end, running splits of 37.93, 37.26 and 36.60 over the final three laps, her top-three splits of the race. Crofford’s time was a personal best (oversized best: 16:28.08), ranking her No. 11 in Division I and No. 3 in the Big 12 this season.

 

In one of the most competitive events of the Tyson Invitational, Leandra McGruder recorded a personal-best and NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 42-2 in the championship division of the women’s triple jump. McGruder cleared the mark on her final attempt of the day, placing her seventh overall and fifth among collegiate jumpers, with the top-nine jumpers all posting NCAA provisional-qualifying marks. The jump moves McGruder from No. 9 in the Big 12 to No. 4.

 

For the fourth time this season, sophomore Natalie Willer vaulted past the NCAA automatic-qualifying mark of 13-9 1/4 in the women’s pole vault. Willer cleared 13-11 1/4 on the day to finish runner-up to Arkansas’ Katie Striping, who tied the Arkansas school record with a vault of 14-3 1/4. After clearing 13-11 1/4, Willer passed at the 14-1 1/4 height to attempt the 14-3 1/4 bar, but failed to clear.

 

The women’s distance-medley relay team of Natalja Callahan, Erica Hamik, Ashley Miller and Jessica Furlan made a valiant push for the NCAA provisional-qualifying standard of 11:37.00, but fell short by just 7.43 seconds. After Callahan ran the first 1,200 meters in 3:31.85 seconds, Hamik followed with a 400-meter time of 59.06. Hamik then passed the baton to Miller, who ran the 800 in 2:13.69 seconds, before handling off to Furlan for the final 1,600 meters. Furlan received the baton trailing Arkansas’ Christine Kalmer, and stayed behind her until the final 300 meters. With one and a half laps to go, Furlan pulled away to finish with a split of 4:52.84 and an overall time of 1:37.43, exactly 10 seconds ahead of second-place Arkansas.

 

Senior Jen Pancoast went after an NCAA provisional-qualifying time in the women’s 3,000-meter run, but fell short of the 9:34.00 standard by 15.90 seconds with a time of 9:49.90. Pancoast’s time was good enough for fourth in the championship division of the event.

 

After taking three weeks off from triple jump, true freshman Tara Korshoj returned in dramatic fashion with her first collegiate win in the college division of the women’s triple jump. Korshoj jumped a lifetime best of 41-3, the first time indoors or outdoors the Omaha, Neb., native has cleared 40 feet in the event. The jump was six inches farther than her previous best of 39-9, and a foot and one-quarter inch farther than second-place jumper Capri Knox of Alabama, who jumped 40-2 3/4.

 

In the throws, Eric Petersen and Jade Hodson posted personal bests on their way to top-10 finishes. Petersen improved his PR in the weight throw by just over two feet with a fourth-place toss of 58-8, bettering his previous best of 56-5. Hodson saw improvement of over a foot in the shot put with an eight-place put of 46-4 3/4, bettering her previous best of 45-1 1/2.

 

Senior Joslyn Dalton (17:24.00) and junior Ari Goldstein (17:34.88) finished second and third, respectively, in the collegiate division of the women’s 5000-meter run. Dalton’s time was a personal best, just over five seconds faster than her previous best of 17:29.35. On the men’s side, Todd Gulizia (15:07.99) and Anthony Oberle (15:13.04) finished third and fourth, respectively.

 

The Huskers will now return to Lincoln for the Nebraska Tune-Up at the Devaney Center Indoor Track on Friday, Feb. 20. The meet is a one-day meet, scheduled to start 12:30 p.m. with the running of the women’s distance-medley relay, the field events are set to start at 2 p.m. with the men’s weight throw and women’s long jump. Live results and more information on the meet can be found at Huskers.com.