|
Husker
All-America Total Grows to Five
Des
Moines, Iowa – Cool temperatures and rain hit Drake Stadium for
the second straight day on Friday,
causing a delay that lasted nearly an hour late in the day. The Huskers
added their third, fourth and fifth
All-America honors of the meet with top-eight finishes from seniors
Paul Hamilton and Natalie Willer, as
well freshman Mara Griva. NU totaled five All-Americans at the meet as
it also produced two All-
Americans on Wednesday with a pair of top-eight finishes by Chad Wright
and Tyler Hitchler in the
men’s discus.
Willer opened the pole vault with a first-attempt make at 12-9 ½
and then took 13-1 ½, 13-4 ¼ and 13-9
¼ on her second tries. With six of the original 24 vaulters left
in the field, Willer got back in a groove and
conquered 14-1 ¼ on her first attempt. She was then unable to
keep the momentum going into the next
height as she failed to clear 14-3 ¼ on three tries, ending the
meet in fifth place. Willer ends her Husker
career as the NU indoor and outdoor record holder, a four-time Big 12
champion and a three-time All-
American.
Griva sat in seventh entering the finals of the triple jump with her
leap of 42-9 during the prelims, but
found more fuel in the tank down the stretch. The freshman cleared 43-9
¼ on her fourth attempt to
move into fourth and went even farther on her sixth attempt with a jump
of 44-8 ¼, but was unable to
move up in the charts, as Southern Miss’ Ganna Demydova took
third with a leap of 44-9. Griva had one
of the most successful freshman campaigns in recent history at Nebraska
with four Big 12 titles and one
All-America honor.
Tara Korshoj joined Griva in the top 15 with a 15th-place leap of 41-6.
Korshoj, a sophomore from
Omaha, was competing at the NCAA Championships for the first time in
her career.
Paul Hamilton added his third career All-America honor and second
straight outdoor accolade in the
high jump with a tie for seventh. Hamilton jumped clean through the
first three heights, including 6-8 ¾,
6-10 ¾ and 7-0 ¼, before he ran into the 7-1 ½
bar. The Husker senior, along with Virginia Tech’s Ronnie
Black and Penn’s Maalik Reynolds were all unable to clear and
split the seventh-place trophy.
|
