Gordon, Wheatley and Willer Win Big 12 Titles

College Station, Texas ? After the first day of the two-day Big 12 Indoor Championships, the Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams both sit in first place. The women’s team scored 56 points on the first day, leading Texas Tech (35) and Kansas State (28). The men’s squad put up 42.5 points, nearly doubling second-place Iowa State’s total of 24 points and third-place Texas’ score of 22 points. With 11 events going final at the McFerrin Athletic Center, the Huskers produced three Big 12 champions, won 17 other medals and saw Natalie Willer (pole vault) and Nicholas Gordon (long jump) set meet records.

 

The Husker pentathlon trio of Megan Wheatley, Chantae McMillan and Rachel Butler got the women’s team on the board in a big way early, finishing 1-2-4, respectively, to put 23 points on the board for the Big Red. All three Huskers broke Kaela Rorvig’s (Missouri) facility record of 3,757 points.

 

Wheatley jumped out to an early lead following the 60-meter hurdles, running a personal-best time of 8.66. The trio then went to the high jump pit where Butler and McMillan tied for the top spot, as each tied their PR with a clearance of 5-7, while Wheatley finished tied for third with personal-best tying jump of 5-5 3/4. Following two events, the Huskers held the top-three spots, with Wheatley still in front, followed by McMillan and Butler.

 

Wheatley then brought the conference title home in the 800, topping her previous best of 2:18.46 by over two seconds with a time of 2:16.29 to finish second, scoring 875 points. Butler came in next in fifth place with a personal best of 2:24.65, followed by McMillan in eighth with a time of 2:27.90.

 

“Today was uncharted territory for me, to be here and be feeling healthy,” Wheatley said. “In the past, I have had a lot of foot problems and not been able to compete at my full potential. I feel really lucky that my body is healing well and that I’m able to go to nationals.”

 

Wheatley ended with a personal-best score of 4,211 points, bumping her up to No. 2 on the Division I performance list and cementing her as the No. 3 performer all-time at Nebraska indoors. The title was the second Big 12 title of Wheatley’s career and the first pentathlon title for the Husker women since Ashley Selig won back-to-back titles in 2005-06. Wheatley previously won the 2008 outdoor heptathlon title, the fourth straight heptathlon win for the Husker women. McMillan also punched her ticket to the national meet with a personal-best and NCAA automatic-qualifying score of 4,061, ranking her sixth in Division I. Butler provisionally qualified for the indoor championships with a personal-best score of 3,858, topping her previous best of 3,751 and ranking her No. 18 in Division I.

 

Sophomore Natalie Willer followed with a Big 12 championship of her own in the pole vault, breaking the conference meet record of 13-9 1/4 with a vault of 13-10. Willer passed at the first three heights, she then entered at 12-1 1/2 and cleared on her first attempt. Willer went on to pass at the next two heights, 12-3 1/2 and 12-5 1/2, before coming back in at the 12-7 1/2 bar, where she cleared on her second attempt. She then cleared 13-1 1/2, leaving her as the only competitor left in the field. The Elkhorn, Neb., native took the bar up to 13-7 1/4 and 13-10, clearing both bars on her second attempts. Willer then went after the No. 2 spot in Division I with attempts at 14-3 1/2, but was unable to clear. Following runner-up finishes both indoor and outdoor in 2008, the conference title is the first of Willer’s career.

 

“This feels awesome,” Willer said. “I have been working all season for this. I knew I was in a position to win this. I came in, executed, and got the jumps.”

 

Willer was not alone in the pole vault, as she was joined by fellow sophomore Rachel Birtles and redshirt freshman Cami Jiskra. Birtles tied for second with Amanda Alley of Texas Tech with a vault of 12-7 1/2, while Jiskra earned the first Big 12 medal of her career with a vault of 12-1 1/2, tying her for sixth with two other vaulters. The three Huskers combined to score 19 points, increasing the Huskers point total to 42 through two events.

 

Sophomore Nicholas Gordon ended the day one on a high note for the Husker men with his first Big 12 title, leading three Huskers in the top four to add 21 points to the men’s total. Gordon was in a world all his own through the entire event, jumping no less than 25 feet on every jump, with his worst jump (25-0 1/2) good enough for eighth place. The Kingston, Jamaica, native ended the second flight in dominant form, clearing a then personal best of 25-11 1/2, which would have won the meet, but Gordon saved even more for the finals. After starting the final round with a jump of 25-0 1/2, Gordon responded with a personal-best jump of 26-1 1/2, breaking fellow Husker Chris Wright’s meet record of 26-0, while securing the second-best jump in Division I this season. Gordon’s win cements the Huskers long jumpers as the most dominant program in the Big 12 era, as it’s the men’s seventh title in the conference’s 13-year history.

 

“I feel great right now,” Gordon said. “I came into the meet wanting a win and came out a champion. I am looking forward to nationals and my goal is to jump 27 feet.”

 

Gordon’s electric performance fed his teammates, as Chris Phipps and LeRon Williams, who entered the meet ranked eighth and ninth in the conference, respectively, responded by finishing third and forth. Each cleared a personal best of 25-6 1/4, with Phipps beating out Williams with a better second jump. Prior to the meet neither had provisionally qualified for the indoor championship, but now each has nearly guaranteed a spot back in College Station in two weeks at the indoor championship as they are tied for the No. 8 spot in Division I.

 

On the men’s side of the pole vault, Seth Burney, Nate Polacek and Zac Holoch combined to score 12.5 points, with Burney making a strong run at a conference title with a personal-best vault of 17-10 1/2, but was unable to match Kansas’ Jordan Scott, who cleared 18-2 1/2. Including today, Burney has set personal bests at his last three meets. After tying his then best of 17-4 1/2 at the adidas Classic, Burney cleared 17-6 1/2 at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, 17-7 3/4 at the Nebraska Tune-Up and now 17-10 1/2. The Beatrice, Neb., native moves from No. 7 on the NCAA performance list to a tie for the No. 5 spot with Bob Low of BYU, while also moving to No. 3 all-time on the NU indoor performance list, trailing Eric Eshbach (18-3 3/4) and Ray Scotten (18-0 1/2).

 

Polacek and Holoch each cleared 16-4 3/4 to earn conference medals. Polacek, who cleared a personal best, tied for fifth with Kirk Cooper of Kansas on less misses, while Holoch finished eighth.

 

Sophomore Lara Crofford put eight points on the board for the women’s team with a runner-up performance in the 5,000 meters. For roughly the first 4,600 meters Crofford stayed back before turning up the pace to post a personal-best time of 16:28.84, cutting nearly 13 seconds off her previous best of 16:41.31. The time propels Crofford up the Division I list from No. 34 to No. 19.

 

In the weight throw, the men earned nine points and three conference medals. Senior Keith Lloyd led the way with a fifth-place toss of 60-4, followed by Eric Petersen’s sixth-place throw of 57-6 1/2 and Matt Giesselmann’s seventh-place throw of 56-9 1/2. It was the second medal of Lloyd’s career in the weight throw, while being the first medal overall for both Petersen and Giesselmann.

 

Jen Pancoast, Nikita Eades, Ashley Miller and Jessica Furlan teamed to finish seventh in the women’s distance-medley relay with a time of 11:38.89, adding two points to the women’s total.

 

In the men’s heptathlon, Skyler Reising (3,157), Bjorn Barrefors (3,156) and Pat Burke (3,004) are all in position to score tomorrow after ending today ranked 4-5-9, respectively, with Texas A&M’s Trinity Otto leading the way with 3,218 points. Barrefors started the day with a personal-best time of 7.13, while Burke set personal-bests in the long jump (22-6 1/4) and high jump (6-9). After competing in the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put and high jump today, the three will compete in the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run tomorrow.

 

The Huskers will return to the McFerrin Athletic Center tomorrow for day two of the Big 12 Indoor Championships with both team titles within reach. The meet is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. with the heptathlon 60-meter hurdles, both men’s and women’s high jumps and the women’s shot put. The first running event tomorrow is set to begin at 3:20 p.m. with the finals of the men’s 60-meter hurdles. Fans can watch a free live video stream of the meet via AggieAthletics.com, here, while live results will be available at Huskers.com

 

Huskers Advancing to Day Two Finals

Women’s 800-Meter Run

Blaire Dinsdale (2:10.55)
Women’s 1,000-Meter Run

Natalja Callahan (2:52.20)

Erica Hamik (2:52.30)

Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles
Arna Erega (8.53)

Men’s 400-Meter Dash
Lukas Hulett (46.95)

Men’s 600-Yard Run
Nick Makukutu (1:10.67)
Adam Dailey (1:10.65)

Men’s Mile
Kyle Custer (4:07.76)
Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles
Lehann Fourie (7.89)

Kirkland Thornton (7.89)