Willer Raises Pole Vault Record

College Station, Texas - For the third week in a row the Husker record book was rewritten, as senior Natalie Willer broke her own school record of 14-3 ¼ in the pole vault with a clearance at 14-3 ½.

Willer was in a class all her own on Saturday with no other vaulter in the field clearing higher than 13-1 ½. The Elkhorn, Neb., native cleared her first three bars of the competition on her first attempts, including 13-1 ½, 13-6 ¼ and 13-11. After failing to break her 2009 record at three previous meets this season, Willer conquered the bar on her second attempt to improve on her own school record. Willer ended the meet with three tries at 14-5 ½, but was unable to succeed.

True freshman Mara Griva captured her fourth meet title of the season in the women's long jump with a leap of 20-6 ½. Ranked as the No. 4 long jumper in the nation entering the weekend, Griva posted the winning jump on her fourth attempt of the competition. Griva then came back later in the meet even stronger with a personal-best jump of 42-8 ¼ to win the triple jump. Her previous best of 42-2 ranked her 14th in the country and she will now move into the nation top 10.

The Husker shot putters put on a quite a show, as the four men's throwers totaled 25 points, including a winning toss of 63-8 ¼ from Luke Pinkelman. Freshman Chad Wright was right behind his teammate with a personal-best toss of 59-2 ¼, while Tyler Hitchler placed fourth (58-4) and Taylor Shapland came in seventh (55-11 ¼). Amanda Latsch and Annie Jackson tossed a pair of personal bests in the women's shot with throws of 52-6 ½ and 50-10, respectively, to finish fifth and seventh.

In the men's jumps, freshman Seth Wiedel made his Husker debut with a second-place and personal-best jump of 24-11 ¼ in the long jump. Senior Brandon Sheppard then jumped a season best of 6-11 ½ in high jump to take third.

Tommy Brinn dropped his previous best of 1:50.54 in the 800 meters with a second-place time of 1:49.20. The Huskers' success in the middle distance races continued in the 1,000 meters, as Erica Hamik was one of two runners to break the previous facility record of 2:56.43, set last season by Miami's Janet Price. However, Hamik's time of 2:53.87 would only be good enough for second place as Baylor's Leigh Ann Ganzar took top honors with a time of 2:50.27. The freshman duo of Ellie Grooters and Ellen Dougherty also combined to score 12 points in the 600 yards with a second- and fifth-place finish. Grooters came in with a time of 1:23.18, while Dougherty clocked a personal best of 1:24.35.

In the long distance races, Martina Barinova shaved nearly six seconds off her previous best of 9:41.08 in the 3,000 meters with a winning time of 9:35.81. The women's DMR of Jessica Furlan, Dougherty, Blaire Dinsdale and Ashley Miller took first with a time of 11:39.85, while the men's team of Brinn, Adam Dailey, Blaise Rewaka and Trevor Vidlak took second with a time of 10:02.82.

In the women's weight throw, Samantha Musil led three Huskers in the top eight with a personal-best toss of 57-7 ½, which shattered her previous best of 56-11 ¾ by nearly eight inches. Carter Wasem and Matt Giesslemann added a pair of top-five finishes on the men's side with throws of 59-7 ½ and 57-10 ¼, respectively.

The Huskers will be back in Lincoln next Friday for their final regular season home meet of the season when they host the Nebraska Tune-Up. The women's DMR will open the meet at 12:30 p.m., while the women's weight throw and long jump will be the first field events at 2 p.m. Check Huskers.com for more information.