Phipps Soars to Triple Jump Title

Lawrence, Kan. - Cloudy skies welcomed the Nebraska track and field team to Memorial Stadium on Friday morning for the third day of the 2011 Kansas Relays. After sweeping the combined event titles on Friday, the Huskers added another win on Friday with Chris Phipps' victory in the men's triple jump.

Phipps opened with a wind-aided leap of 52-2 ¾ (+3.2 m/s) and the mark held up as no other jumper cleared more than 51-2 ¼. The women's triple jumpers then competed into a fierce wind, but came away with two top-five finishes in a field of 32 jumpers. Tara Korshoj finished third overall and had the second best collegiate jump with a leap of 41-7 ¼ into a -2.5 m/s wind. Fellow Husker Mara Griva took fourth with a season-best non-wind-aided jump of 40-11 ½ into a -2.6 m/s wind.

The Huskers then posted the top-three collegiate marks in the women's high jump, but were unable to come away with the event title as former Husker Epley Bullock took the crown with a leap of 5-10 ¾. Senior Audrey Svane took second with a clearance of 5-7, while Jillanna Scanlan and Lorena Menghia finished third and fourth, respectively, with jumps of 5-5.

Amanda Latsch started the day for NU by coming through with a season-best throw of 50-3 ¼ in the women's shot put, but it was only good enough for second place as she trailed Kearston Peoples' throw of 51-8 ½. Annie Jackson also finished in the top five with a throw of 48-6. Tyler Hitchler later added a third-place finish on the men's side with a personal-best toss of 57-2, which improved on his previous best of 56-4 ¾.

Austin Braman ended the Huskers' night in the field events with a top-10 finish in the javelin. After missing the entire 2010 season due to injury, Braman has been working on returning to his 2008 form that earned him a trip to the NCAA Championships. He took sixth on Friday with a season-best throw of 216-0, just over eight feet shy of his personal best of 224-1.

In event finals on the track, Jarren Heng and Trevor Vidlak combined for a pair of top-five finishes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Heng took fourth in 9:28.60 and Vidlak was fifth with a personal best of 9:32.72.

With three days now in the books the Huskers will return to Memorial Stadium for the final day of the Kansas Relays on Saturday. The men's long jumpers will open the day for NU at 10 a.m. Live results can be found on Huskers.com.

Huskers Advancing to Saturday Finals

Men's 400 Meters
Kurt Pauly (48.57)

Women's 4x100
Karyn LaCour, Mara Weekes, Alyssa Vierregger, Arna Erega (47.09)

Men's 4x100
Sheppard, Ervin, Gordon, Thompson (41.43)

Women's 4x400
Vierregger, Grooters, Dougherty, Weekes (3:43.96)

Men's 4x400
Dailey, Ukaoma, Blackwood, Lund (3:13.31)

Women's 100 Hurdles
Arna Erega (14.11)
Karyn LaCour (14.25)
Chantae McMillan (14.86)

Women's 400 Hurdles
Ellie Grooters (1:01.82)

Men's 400 Hurdles
Adam Dailey (52.71)
Eric Lund">Eric Lund (52.83)
Jodi-Rae Blackwood (52.25)