Huskers Win Seven Events at John Jacobs Invitational

Norman, Okla. ? Battling stiff competition and winds up to 25 miles per hour the Nebraska track and field team fought its way to seven event wins on the final day of the John Jacobs Invitational. The Huskers were part of a strong field that included Big 12 Conference foes Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas as well as TCU, Wyoming, Tulsa, Texas-Arlington, SMU, Oral Roberts, Manhattan and national power, Arkansas.

 

The Husker javelin throwers started out the day for the Big Red on right foot as freshman Austin Braman and senior Kayla Wilkinson each earned the top throws in their respective field.

 

On the men’s side Braman came into the meet ranked No. 4 in the Midwest Region and No. 14 in Division I. Braman lived up to expectation as he was the only thrower to reach the NCAA regional qualifying mark of 202-1 ? (61.60). His throw of 206-1 (62.82) bettered the Sooner’s Mitch Henry who finished in a distance second with a throw of 187-2 (57.04).

 

“It’s a bit nerve-racking competing at the collegiate level. All I can do is just keep doing my best,” said Braman. “My goal coming in this year was to finish in the top five at the regional meet so that I make it to nationals.”

 

Wilkinson entered the meet ranked No. 3 in Division I and easily won the women’s javelin for the second straight week. Wilkinson once again showed she has fully recovered from injury and will be a force to be reckoned with at the national meet in June. Wilkinson’s throw of 161-1 (49.09) easily beat out second-place finisher Carly Bloomfield, who was more then 14 feet behind Wilkinson at 136-3 (49.09).

 

Freshman Lehann Fourie continued to be a dominant force in the hurdles as he ran the fastest time in the 110-meter hurdles for the second consecutive week. Fourie (No. 3 in the Midwest Region) was the only hurdler in the field to run under 14 seconds as his time of 13.94 topped Sheldon Leith of Oklahoma who finished at 14.08. Sophomore Tyrell Ross finished in fourth at 14.12, bettering his regional-qualifying time by 1/100 of a second.

 

Sophomore Lukas Hulett, competing for the first time during the outdoor season, posted the only regional-qualifying time in the men’s 400 meters. The two-time 400-meter indoor All-American blew away the competition with a time of 46.78. The time ranks Hulett seventh in the Midwest Region. Hulett then came back and teamed up with Adam Dailey, Dan Christensen and Cylend Simmons to anchor the 4x400-meter relay team that regionally-qualified with the top collegiate and second overall time of 3:09.86.

 

The Husker swept the men’s and women’s high jump as two-time indoor All-American Epley Bullock led the Husker attack as she was the only jumper in the women’s field to clear the 5-8 ? (1.75) bar. Bullock’s teammates Audrey Svane and Erin Hannon finished the day clearing the 5-5 (1.65) bar to finish in fourth and fifth, respectively as Svane cleared on fewer misses. Freshman Paul Hamilton matched his season-best jump of 6-10 ? (2.10) to win the men’s division. He narrowly beat out Paul Gill of Oklahoma who also jumped 6-10 ?, but on more attempts. John Ottun and Brandon Sheppard both cleared 6-8 ? (2.05), with Ottun finishing third and Sheppard finishing fourth with more misses.

 

Trey Jordan earned another win for the Husker throwers as was untouchable in the men’s shot put with a throw of 53-10 ? (16.42). The next closest competitor was Shawn Teasley of Wyoming at 44-3 ? (13.50).

 

Both Dan Christensen and Scott Wims solidified spots in Lincoln for the Midwest Regional as both qualified in the 200-meter dash. Christensen finished in third with a new personal-best time of 21.18 while Wims finished right behind in fourth at 21.25.

 

The Huskers faired well in both the men’s and women’s long jump as Nicholas Gordon improved his NCAA Regional-qualifying mark by jumping 24-10 (7.57) to finish in second. Gordon’s jump improved his personal best by ? of an inch. LeRon Williams also punched his ticket for the Midwest Regional meet as his leap of 24-3 (7.39) was two inches more than the qualifying standard.

 

On the women’s side Chantae McMillan finished fifth with a jump of 20-0 ? (6.11). However, McMillan’s best jump could not be counted towards NCAA Regional qualifying due to the fact that the wind reading was at 4.8 m/s, the wind reading cannot be over 4.0 m/s to qualify. Luckily for McMillan, she had a previous jump of 19-10 ? (6.05) that will count for qualifying and lock up a spot for the regional meet.

 

The duo of Amanda Latsch and Kacie Sharp did not let a strong cross-wind hold them back in a competitive women’s discus field that had eight athletes post regional-qualifying throws. Both Latsch and Sharp posted new personal-best and NCAA Regional-qualifying marks. Latsch improved her personal best by an amazing 16-8 to finish in seventh with a toss of 156-6 (47.70). Sharp finished right behind her in eighth at 155-08 (47.44), improving her personal-best by 4-2.

 

In the invitational division of the pole vault Natalie Willer improved her NCAA Regional-qualifying mark by six inches to finish in second with a vault of 13-1 ? (4.00). With the vault Willer jumped up from No. 8 in the Midwest Region to No. 3. In the collegiate division of the pole vault Lindsey Maher and Zac Holoch both brought home runner-up finishes for the Cornhuskers with Holoch vaulting 15-7 (4.75) and Maher reaching the 11-1 ? (3.40) bar.

 

The Huskers will be back on the road next weekend as the team will split up and travel to Lawrence, Kan., for the Kansas Relays on April 17-19, and to Walnut, Calif., for the Mt. SAC Relays on April 17-20. Check Huskers.com later in the week for a full schedule and participant list for each meet.