Abolins Wins Second NCAA Championship

SACRAMENTO, Calif.?Nebraska junior Arturs Abolins completed his goal of an indoor-outdoor sweep of the NCAA men’s long jump championships Thursday with his second career national title during day two of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at SacramentoState’s Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.

 

Abolins recorded an outdoor personal-best leap of 26-3 on his fifth of six jumps to overtake Texas A&M’s Fabrice Lapierre during the event finals. Lapierre followed jumps of 26-2 1/4 on his fifth attempt and 25-9 on his final opportunity, but neither were enough to overtake NU’s 2006 NCAA indoor champion. Despite fouling on his final attempt, Abolins became the first Husker men’s athlete to win the event at the national outdoor meet, while he added only the second long jump title overall in school history. He also became the 10th athlete to sweep the men's indoor and outdoor titles in the same season.

 

“I just felt that I couldn’t finish with (his previous mark of 25-9 1/2), so I had to step it up,” Abolins said. “I was pretty close to being right on the (takeoff) board, and I was just moving faster down the runway.

 

“Two weeks ago I was really, really tired, but from my sprinting results I could see that I was in good shape. Technically, I haven’t been as good outdoors as I was indoors, but I guess I managed to get it right when it counted.”

 

The personal best on his fifth jump nearly equaled the dramatic value of his NCAA indoor performance, when he also leaped over Lapierre on the competition’s next-to-last attempt with his indoor career long of 26-7 1/4. Abolins new outdoor mark ranks third all-time in the NU outdoor long jump record book.

 

“It was a very tough competition for him,” Head Coach Gary Pepin said. “He was not in an ideal jumping (order) with a few others after him. You could see on his last two jumps that he stepped it up a notch. He just seemed faster and stronger down the runway.

 

“We haven’t had many athletes step up like Arturs has this year,” Pepin added. “He has certainly put himself in an elite class. He’s a special jumper.”

                                                              

In other action, senior Kayte Tranel put together an outstanding performance in the women’s 10,000-meter run that earned her 13th place among very stiff competition. Tranel, who entered the meet with the 24th-best performance among all entries this season, clocked in at 34:22.26. She approached the personal-best mark of 34:10.94 that earned her spot at the NCAA meet. The race ended a special senior season for the Hampton, Neb., native that included her first NCAA All-America honor during the cross country season.

 

Four other Huskers also competed Thursday in preliminary action, including senior Becky Breisch, who breezed through the qualifying round of the women’s shot put to reach Saturday’s final. Breisch registered a mark of 55-11 ? to finish third overall among the competition’s two flights. Only North Carolina’s Laura Gerraughty (59-5 ?) and Texas’ Michelle Carter (57-10 ?) posted better marks than the nine-time Husker All-American. The finals will be held Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.

 

Both of Nebraska’s entries in the women’s pole vault fell only one bar short of earning berths in Saturday’s final, as senior Jenna Blubaugh and sophomore Jenny Green tied with three others for 17th place with a height of 13-1 ?. Green nearly cleared 13-5 ? on her second attempt, as the bar just skipped off the standards. Blubaugh concluded her Husker career with her best season at NU, claiming two Big 12 silver-medal finishes and her first NCAA bid.

 

Senior Mark Harrison was unable to advance out of the first round of the men’s 400-meter hurdles Thursday in his final career race in a Husker uniform. Harrison notched the day’s 17th-fastest time of 51.01, just barely missing out on the 16th and final semifinal spot by 0.16 seconds. Texas’ Hamza Deyaf earned the final qualification (50.85). Harrison entered the meet rated 15th overall with his season-best mark of 50.46.

 

The NCAA Outdoor Championships continue Friday, as eight Husker vie for top NCAA honors. Thanks to Abolins win, the NU men's team is currently tied for third place in the team race with 10 points behind only first-place Arkansas and Wisconsin (14). The women's team has not recorded a team point, but no Husker has yet competed in an event final.

Current Team Scores
Men
1. Arkansas 14
-  Wisconsin 14
3. Nebraska 10
-  Arizona 10
5. Providence 8
-  Tennessee 8
-  Texas A&M 8

Women
1. Arizona State 15
2. Auburn 14
3. Duke 10
4. Georgia 8
5. Stanford 6
-  Oklahoma State 6