All-America Pole Vaulter Willer Receives Dr. Barbara Hibner Memorial Scholarship

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Amidst the academic pressure of becoming a physician's assistant and the athletic strain of becoming an All-America pole vaulter, Nebraska Big 12 indoor champion and recent Dr. Barbara Hibner Memorial Scholarship recipient Natalie Willer needed to rediscoversomething about herself, and somehow, she found it in the oddest place this winter ... sledding down a snow-covered hill near her Lincoln home.

What a way to beat the daily monotony of soaring over some crazy bar more than 14 feet above your head. Yes, she's having joy and having fun in this, her senior season in the sun.

Willer is your self-made Nebraska All-America student-athlete story ... a relentless charge to become a third-team CoSIDA Academic All-American (2010) with super grades as a double major in biology and psychology. She is also a bona fide track and field All-American, thanks to her sixth-place finish in the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., and her third-place finish in the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in College Station, Texas.

In addition, Willer is the Nebraska school record-holder both indoors (14-4) and outdoors (14-4½ ); a three-time Big 12 champion and three-time conference runner-up; a two-time team captain (2010, 2011); a USA junior champion and record-holder; and a Pan Am junior champion and record-holder.

We could go on, but really, you get the point. Though she just turned 21 a couple of weeks ago, Willer is one of those constantly striving perfectionists who would enjoy winning a national pole vaulting title. But the minute she would win it, Willer admits she would think to herself: "I can do better", so right now, give the young woman some credit for listening to that little voice that told her how much fun sledding can be.

It certainly helps break up the constant grind in the classroom while, at the same time, you're competing in a dangerous sport that requires an aluminum pole to launch you skyward. "I'm just kind of a big kid at heart. I get excited about the littleist things," Willer said. "I think maturity, in some instances, is overrated, so right now, I'm just trying to enjoy life as it comes my way."

That approach may not seem like all that big a deal, but when you've geared almost every waking moment of your college life to succeed at the highest level both academically and athletically, simple fun becomes a psychological breakthrough that eases the pressure of one long-but-still-short incredible journey.

Sledding, Building a Snowman, Reading a Book All Work

"When you're in a place like Nebraska, where academics and athletics are equally important, you need something to take the pressure away," Willer said. "Sledding was great, but I would just as soon build a snowman or sit down and read a book that I don't need to read."

Willer, from Elkhorn, Neb., and Cami Jiskra, a junior from Lincoln, have been known to walk to a park two blocks from where they live and just hang out on any given, semi-decent day.  

"Anything that's kind of random and gives you space to take you away and provide a new perspective is good," Willer said. "We've known each other and competed against each other since we were 8 or 9 years old. We're both highly competitive, have the same kind of goals and do everything we can to eat, sleep and compete the right way. We don't talk much about track when we need to study. We leave track at the track."

Fortunately, the longtime friends and Husker teammates have an excellent relationship with Kris Grimes, Nebraska's combined events and pole vault coach who has an impressive record coaching both conference and NCAA champions.

"I think he's a great coach because he listens," Willer said of Grimes. "It's been a journey for a year-and-a-half, but it's starting to pay off. We had to fix some things that needed to be fixed. It hasn't been easy, but we're always communicating with each other about workouts. He's been great dealing with class schedule issues and strong personalities. The best thing about Kris is he brings me down to basics and reminds me constantly about my goals and what I can accomplish. We work well together as a team. We definitely have a good, solid coach-athlete relationship, but we also have a partnership because there is a lot of two-way communication -a real give-and-take kind of dialogue."

Big 12, NCAA Goal-Setting a Big Part of Her Success

There's no doubt that Grimes and Willer put considerable stock into setting goals. "There are a lot of goals I have my eyes on," Willer said. "I have a certain height I want to reach, but I'm not ready to share that right now. My goals have been to win the Big 12, finish in the top three in the NCAA and make opening height at the USA Championships and then keep training all the way up to the Olympic Trials next year."

While Willer is young for her class, she's made a habit of competing against older, more seasoned vaulters, and trying to stay on an accelerated track might have delayed some of her more aggressive goals.

"My advice to future student-athletes is to make sure you do set goals for yourself, but at the same time, have an open mind," Willer said. "You can't get too acclimated to goals because things can change, and you have to be flexible and work with what you have and where you are at any certain point in time."

Despite her age, Willer has broken her own school record four times outdoors and twice indoors. "This is my eighth semester, but I won't graduate until May 2012," she said. "Then I want to go to grad school and do that whole thing."

WIller would not trade her Husker relationships for anything. "Track and field is such an incredible experience at Nebraska," she said. "Really, we are just one big family, and I decided last year that my goal was to let the whole experience just soak in. We're an important part of an amazing athletic department, and I just want to do my part to make sure we leave the Big 12 as champions, indoors and outdoors."

Two weeks ago, the Huskers won the first-part of that double-barreled goal, surprising even their coaches with another conference indoor title. Willer and her teammates are hoping for a similar accomplishment at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in Norman, Okla., a win that would allow Nebraska Head Coach Gary Pepin to exit the Big 12 in at least a tie for the all-time number of league championships in any sport.

Dr. Hibner Scholarship May Be Her 'Shining Moment'

Meanwhile, Willer will try to enjoy her improving NCAA finishes and hopes to end her career by going from sixth to third to first. "I finally got some NCAA redemption last June," she said. "I wasn't at my best, but I finally had my All-American moment outdoors. Now that I got another one indoors, I want one more."

To be honest, as important as Big 12 titles and NCAA All-America honors are, Willer's "shining moment" just might be the night she was announced as the 2010 recipient of the Dr. Barbara Hibner Memorial Scholarship at the Nebraska Track and Field teams' annual banquet.

The award is presented to a Nebraska varsity women's student-athlete who has demonstrated a high level of athletic and academic achievement, community involvement, integrity and a passion for promoting women's athletics at Nebraska. There is only one annual Hibner Award winner among Nebraska's 13 sanctioned women's varsity sports.

"I didn't know I was getting the award until I looked at the program the night of the banquet," Willer said. "I'm glad my mom decided they were coming to the banquet. even though we didn't think I was getting any award. Little did we know that I would end up getting the big one."

Willer knew the late Dr. Hibner had been the Nebraska women's athletic director. "I'm kind of a nerd, so I went home and looked up everything about her, and all I can say is, she was a pretty amazing lady," Willer said. "It's incredibly humbling to receive an award in her honor, especially when you realize everything she's accomplished."

The three previous winners of the Dr. Hibner award were Stephanie Carter in women's gymnastics, Amanda Gates in volleyball and Kelsey Griffin in basketball. "How do I feel winning an award like that and having my name listed with them?" Willer said, repeating a question. "Pretty crazy and definitely a big leap from the 'Most Improved' award I received at the same banquet the year before. I am truly honored to be able to give back to the sport that has given so much to me."

Willer admits that she sees at least some irony in reaching department-wide heights when she finally decided to soak in the experience rather than worry about what she wasn't doing to make herself better.

Now she has answers to her own well-meaning question of what she needs to do next ... go sledding, build a snowman, read a book, take a walk in the park ...any random act that just might relieve the tension rather than add to it.

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