Johansson Crushes NCAA Championship Meet Record for Gold

Axelina Johansson became the women’s shot put national champion after setting a meet record with her throw of 19.92m (65-4 ¼). Johansson completed her career with the Big Red with a total of eight All-America honors and fourth total national title. 

After winning the Big Ten conference title in May, Johansson set a personal best and meet record of 19.97m (65-6 ¼), good for the second-furthest mark in NCAA history. 

Following Johansson on the podium was Mine de Klerk, who notched a fifth-place finish with her throw of 17.86m (58-7 ¼), also claiming first-team All-America honors. With second-team All-America, Donna Douglas threw a 16.94m (55-7) for 15th. Freshman Jolina Lange finished in 17th with a throw of 16.29m (53-5 ½) for honorable mention All-America. 

In the women’s javelin event, Jana Lowka earned second-team All-America honors with a ninth-place throw of 54.02m (177-3). 

The second day of competition for the Big Red began with the 4x100m quartet earning honorable mention All-America honors. The team of Elo Blessing Okpah, Rajer Gurode, Victoria Aransiola and Timeke-Jade Coetzee completed the circle with a time of 45.03.

Kelsie Belquist grabbed a qualifying time of 55.94 in the 400mH, where she will compete in the finals on Saturday at 7:27 p.m. (CT). 

The women’s 4x400m relay team (Sakena Massiah, Abrielle Artley, Aransiola and Belquist) fell just short of a qualifying spot in the preliminary round, running 3:30.34 to earn a tenth-place finish.

The Husker men lead the men’s team scores with 28 points to finish the second day in first, while the women sit in third with 14 points. 

Nebraska will resume action featuring Aleksandr Gerasimov competing in the high jump on Friday at 5:30 p.m. (CT). The third day of the NCAA Championships can be streamed on ESPN2.