Willer and Pinkelman Punch NCAA Tickets

Lincoln - After capturing eight wins on Friday night, the Huskers won another 11 events on Saturday during the final day of the Holiday Inn Invitational. Natalie Willer and Luke Pinkelman highlighted the two-day meet with a pair NCAA automatic-qualifying performance for the Huskers.

A two-time Big 12 champion and the school-record holder both indoors and outdoors in the vault, Willer passed on the first six heights before entering at 12-11 ½. Willer cleared five straight bars on her first attempt, including 12-11 ½, 13-3 ½, 13-7 ¼, 13-11 ¼ and 14-1 ¼. The Elkhorn, Neb., native then tried to break her own NU record of 14-3 ¼ with three tries at 14-3 ½, but was unable to clear. Willer's vault ranks her second in the nation behind Tina Sutej of Arkansas, who cleared 14-5 ¼ on Jan. 7. Nate Polacek then swept the event for the Huskers with a winning clearance of 16-0 ¾ on the men's side.

Pinkelman also moved to No. 2 in the NCAA with a winning throw of 63-6 ¼ in the shot put. The throw marked the first time in Pinkelman's career that he had passed 60 feet indoors and shattered his previous best of 59-9. Saturday was also his first meet as a Husker as he was unable to compete last season after transferring from Iowa State. The Big 12 Conference now owns the top two throws in the country as Kansas' Mason Finley produced the top throw so far in 2011 with a toss of 67-11 ½.

The Huskers' 60-meter hurdlers opened the day by taking the top-two spots in both the men's and women's races. Seniors Karyn LaCour and Chantae McMillan started with times of 8.74 and 8.99, respectively, on the women's side before senior Eric Lund won the men's race in 8.06 and was followed by true freshman Miles Ukaoma (8.13).

Freshman Mara Weekes carried the NU sprinters on Saturday as she picked up the first two individual wins of her Huskers career in the 60 and 200 meters. The Bridgetown, Barbados, native first took the 60 with a time of 7.69 and followed with a 24.39 in the 200. She capped the day as the anchor leg of NU's winning 4x400-meter relay (3:52.36), which also included Alyssa Vierregger, Rachel Butler and Ellie Grooters.

After Chris Phipps won the long jump on Friday night, seniors Nicholas Gordon and Paul Hamilton completed the sweep of the jumps for Nebraska on Saturday with wins in the high and triple jumps. Hamilton was the only jumper in the high jump field to clear seven feet with a leap of 7-0 ¼, while Gordon posted his winning jump of 48-0 ¾ on his final attempt of the triple jump.

The men's 4x400 relay of Adam Dailey, Dale Ervin, Eric Lund and Ethan Baker ended the meet with a winning time of 3:16.57.

 The Huskers will be back at the Devaney Center next Saturday for the adidas Classic. Scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. start, it will be a scored meet between Nebraska, Houston, Wichita State, Air Force, Missouri and Alabama. The meet will also be part of Nebraska's "Pepsi Pack the House" promotion, which means general admission tickets and 24-ounce Pepsi products will be $1.