Willer Tops NCAA List with Record Vault

Seward, Neb. ? With the 2009 outdoor regular season wrapping up this weekend, the No. 6 men’s and No. 17 women’s Nebraska track and field teams made the short trip up highway 34 on Friday afternoon for the Concordia Twilight. Sophomore Natalie Willer once again highlighted a meet for the Huskers, breaking her own school and American Junior record in the pole vault with a national-leading jump of 14-4 1/2. Overall, the Huskers took full advantage of the local meet, as the men posted six regional-qualifying marks and the women another five.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Willer continued her assault on the record books, taking her NU and American Junior record of 14-3 1/2 up one inch to 14-4 1/2, while also topping the previous national-leading mark of 14-4 by Katie Stripling of Arkansas. The World Junior record is held by Silke Spiegelburg of Germany, who jumped 14-8 1/4 on August 25, 2005. Willer will now set her focus on the Big 12 Outdoor Championships next weekend in Lubbock, Texas, where she will look to improve on her second-place finish from last year and along the way sweep the 2009 indoor and outdoor titles after winning her first Big 12 title during in the indoor season in College Station, Texas.

 

The Husker men were also well represented in the vault, as Seth Burney took his previous personal best of 17-0 3/4 to new heights with a clearance of 17-9, tying him for eighth in the nation with Nick Mossberg of Arizona. The Beatrice, Neb., native was not the only men’s vaulter to have a great day on the runway as senior Zac Holoch broke his previous best of 16-7 1/4 with a vault of 16-8 3/4. The Huskers now own three of the top-five spots on the Big 12 performance list with Burney ranked No. 2, Nate Polacek (16-10) ranked No. 4 and Holoch tied for the No. 5 spot.

 

Sophomore Paul Hamilton then tied Kansas State’s Scott Sellers for the conference lead in the men’s high jump with a clearance at the 7-2 1/2 bar. A three-time NCAA qualifier, Hamilton topped his previous season best by two inches, moving him into a tie with three other jumpers for the fifth spot on the NCAA performance list. Hamilton finished runner-up at the meet to former Husker indoor national champion and 2008 Olympian Dusty Jonas, who cleared a facility record 7-4 1/4.

 

Trey Jordan continued his quest to make his first NCAA Championship meet with a Big 12 leading throw of 60-8 3/4 in the men’s shot put. A personal-best for Jordan, he moves into a tie for 12th on the NCAA list with Javier Villarreal of Northern Arizona. The throw marked the second time this season that Jordan has cleared 60 feet in the shot, after entering the year with a outdoor personal best of 55-4 3/4.

 

In other jumps action, LeRon Williams topped his previous best of 24-11 in the long jump with winning leap of 25-5 1/2. The jump moves Williams to No. 3 on the Big 12 list and to No. 12 on the NCAA list. The Huskers now own three of the top-four spots on the conference list, led by Nicholas Gordon’s conference-leading mark of 25-6 3/4, while Williams ranks third and Scott Jorgenson fourth (25-2 3/4).

 

Chris Nuttelman rounded out the jumps by posting his first regional-qualifying jump of the season in the triple jump with a leap of 49-3 3/4.

 

Arna Erega and Karyn LaCour each posted season-best times in the 100-meter hurdles, as Erega’s time of 13.76 topped LaCour’s time of 13.82. Erega, who had previous qualified for the regional meet, moves up on the NCAA list, while LaCour added her name to the list for the first time this season.

 

The Huskers will now have a short turnaround as they will head to Manhattan, Kan., tomorrow morning for the Ward Haylett Invitational. Scheduled to start at 11 a.m., the meet will take place at R.V. Christian Track. Live results are not expected to be available, so check Huskers.com in the evening for a full recap.