Breisch Wins USA Discus Title; Phipps Finishes Third in Long Jump

Des Moines, Iowa ? The 2010 USA Track and Field Championships came to a close on Sunday at Drake Stadium with eight Huskers competing on the blue oval. The Nebraska track and field team continued to be represented well, as ex-Husker Becky Breisch won another national championship in the women's discus while Chris Phipps, Paul Hamilton and Dusty Jonas each placed in the top-six of their resprective events.

 

Breisch, an All-American who competed for Nebraska from 2002 through 2006, won her third national discus title with a throw of 207 feet, 10 inches. A Michigan native and 2010 Drake Relays champion, Breisch now trains in Chula Vista, Calif.

 

Phipps finished third in the men’s long jump with a personal best of 26-7 3/4. The two-time All-America long jumper cleared the mark on his third attempt and matched it again exactly on his fourth attempt. The jump broke his previous best of 26-3 1/2, which he cleared at the 2010 NCAA West Regional. Phipps was the only collegiate jumper to place in the top-10, as Florida’s Christian Taylor was the next highest collegiate finisher at 12th. Nebraska true freshman Bobby Carter was also in the field, as he finished 17th with a jump of 22-0 3/4.

 

A native of Patterson, N.J., Phipps has thrived in his first two years at Nebraska under Jumps Coach Gary Pepin. His mark on Sunday is the third-best performance all-time at NU outdoors and knocked fellow teammate Nicholas Gordon (26-7 1/4) to fourth on the list. Robert Thomas holds the school record with a leap of 26-9 in 1993.

In the men’s high jump, Jonas and Hamilton competed with 17 other jumpers. A three-time Big 12 champion and two-time All-American, Hamilton posted the highest finish of the two, as he took fourth with a personal-best tying leap of 7-3 3/4. Hamilton cleared the height on his second attempt, after taking three tries at the previous height of 7-2 1/2.

 

Jonas, who won the 2008 indoor national title in the high jump and now competes for Nike, came out on fire with back-to-back first-attempt makes at 7-0 1/2 and 7-2 1/2. The eight-time All-American then was unable to conquer the 7-3 3/4 bar and tied for sixth. Nike’s Jesse Williams took the meet title with a jump of 7-5.

 

After posting the seventh-best time during the 110-meter hurdle preliminaries on Saturday, Kirkland Thornton was poised to make a run at the finals, but was unable to escape the semifinals. A former three-time All-America hurdler for the Huskers, Thornton finished the meet in 11th-place with a time of 13.55 in the semis.

 

In the shot put, Luke Pinkelman represented the Huskers throws program with a 13th-place finish. Even though he redshirted the 2010 season, Pinkelman was able to post a qualifying mark as an unattached athlete to earn a spot at the national meet. Pinkelman transferred to Nebraska from Iowa State prior to the 2010 season and was forced to redshirt due to conference transfer rules.

 

Phipps and Hamilton will now turn their attention towards the NACAC U-23 Championships in Miramar, Fla. The two Huskers will compete for Team USA on July 9-11 against teams from 32 IAAF member nations in North America, Central America and the Caribbean Athletic Association.