All-American Wims Concludes Outstanding National Meet Effort

Sacramento, Calif. ? Freshman Scott Wims concluded a remarkable week of competition on Saturday with a seventh-place finish in the men’s 200-meter dash at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. With the finish, Wims became the only Husker freshman to earn All-America status at this season’s outdoor nationals.

 

“Scott had a great three days of competition,” Head Coach Gary Pepin said. “He came in as a young guy in this competition and proved that he can stick with some of the best guys in the country.”

 

Wims ran a time of 21.05 in the final race, after posting a personal-best mark of 20.61 to advance through the semifinal round on Thursday. The winning time in the 200-meters came from Walter Dix of FloridaState with a time of 20.32.

 

The 2007 Midwest Regional champion in the 200-meter dash, Wims represented Nebraska in more events at the outdoor nationals than any other Husker, competing in three events total. The freshman began day one of competition with a run into the semifinals in the 100-meter dash, but failed to qualify for the finals.

 

The following day, Wims set his personal record in the 200-meter dash and advanced to the event finals to open the day before jumping into the men’s 4x400 relay when freshman Lukas Hulett was unable to compete. Although the relay failed to make finals, Wims’ ran a solid leg and cemented his place as one of NU’s top sprinters this season.

 

This is the second All-America honor of the Fort Wayne, Ind., native’s debut year, after he helped the NU men’s 4x400 relay to an eighth-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. He ends the season as the third-fastest Husker in school history in the men’s 200-meter dash (20.61) and part of the school-record holding team in the 4x200-meter relay.

 

“Scott has had a tremendous season,” said assistant coach Matt Martin, who coaches the Nebraska sprinters. “He has gained a lot of confidence from this experience and he’ll use it in his future career.”

 

Senior Jeni Steiner also competed on Saturday in the women’s shot put finals, finishing 11th with a top toss of 50-4. The winning throw was 59-0 3/4  from Jessica Pressley of ArizonaState. Steiner missed out on All-America honors and will end her career at Nebraska with a personal best throw of 53-8 1/2, which ranks fifth all-time in the NU record books.

 

In four days of competition, Nebraska earned six individual All-America honors. The NU women finished among the top-25 teams ranked 18th overall with 12 points, and the men wrapped up their season in 53rd place with 4.5 points. This is the sixth consecutive season that the Husker women have finished their outdoor campaign ranked among the nation’s top-25.

 

Outdoor Championships ? Day Four
Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex ? Sacramento, Calif.

Men’s 200m Dash-Finals
7. Scott Wims, 21.06 AA

Women’s Shot Put-Finals
11. Jeni Steiner, 50-4

AA - All-American finish