Selig, Witte Compete in Texas Relays Heptathlon

Austin, Texas?The 80th running of the Texas Relays began Wednesday at Texas’ Mike A. Meyers Stadium with the opening session of the combined events leading off the meet. Seniors Ashley Selig and Casie Witte represented <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska in the women’s heptathlon, which featured the first four events of the seven-event competition.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Selig, who is making her first appearance in the heptathlon since finishing third at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, sits in sixth place following the opening day of action with 3,365, only 55 points off the pace of her personal best score of 5,775 she set in Sacramento. The women’s field is stacked with former NCAA qualifiers, including WashingtonState’s Diana Pickler, who leads the event (3,767) after finishing runner-up during the NCAA indoor pentathlon last month.

 

Selig set a personal best in the 200-meter dash to close the day with a wind-aided time of 24.90, while she earlier tied her outdoor best of 5-8 ? in the high jump. Selig also recorded marks of 36-4 in the shot put and 14.18 in the 100-meter hurdles. She appears in good shape to meet the NCAA’s automatic qualifying requirement of 5,500 points, while she also could still challenge her career-high total of 5,775.

 

Witte, who also is competing in her first heptathlon since the 2005 season, put together another solid day for the Huskers, as she is 16th and only 25 points off the pace she set during her lifetime-best competition at the 2005 Big 12 outdoor meet (5,138) with 3,035 points. Similar to Selig, Witte finished the day with an individual event best in the 200 with a wind-aided clocking of 26.12 after registering marks of 14.91 (wind aided) in the hurdles, 5-6 ? in the high jump and 33-11 ? in the shot put.

 

Both Huskers complete the heptathlon on Thursday with the first event, the long jump, scheduled to begin at Noon. Other NU athletes scheduled to compete on the second day include: junior Andrew Pearson and freshmen Tim Grier and Tyrell Ross in the men’s 400-meter hurdles; freshman Nikita Eades in the women’s 400 hurdles; senior Issar Yazhbin and junior Aaron Bozarth in the men’s hammer throw; and junior Tamara Solari in the women’s hammer throw.

 

Women’s Heptathlon (100H, HJ, SP, 200) (through 4 of 7 events):

6. Ashley Selig, 3,365 (14.18, 5-8 ?, 36-4, 24.80w)

16. Casie Witte, 3,035 (14.91w, 5-6 ?, 33-11 ?, 26.12w)