April 3, 2004

Track Second at Hays

Semin, Spanel Double Winners

            Kearney, NE – The Nebraska-Kearney track team won 18 events (11 women, seven men) to place second at the Alex Francis Invite Saturday in Hays, Kans.

            The Loper men scored 238 points to place behind host Fort Hays State (333) while the UNK women (264) also came in behind the Tigers (336.50).

            On the women's side, UNK went one through three in the discus, one and two in the shot put and was first and third in the hammer. Central City sophomore Shauna Birchard had a role in all three events as she won the shot (44-7.50) and was third in both the hammer (151-1) and discus (127-8).

            Also in the throws, Bellevue sophomore Carli Seeba won the discus (136-9) and was runner up in the shot (40-7.50) while Butte junior Amber Tiefenthaler was champ in the hammer (172-0).

            Culbertson freshman Sara Wagner won the long jump (17-9) with Crawford freshman Kelsey Johnson second (16-6) and Broken Bow freshman Jami Pomplun third (16-1.75). In the triple jump, Bellwood junior Katie Semin took home the gold with a leap of 35-9.50 with Johnson finishing second (34-2.50). 

            Semin led a strong performance on the track as she won the 400 (56.35) with Lexington junior Andrea Andersen third (1:00.95). UNK went one-two in the 1,500 meter run, thanks to Auburn sophomore Sara Whitehead (5:09.14) and Lincoln junior Andrea Herndon (5:12.08).

            Other winners on the track were Hildreth senior Kathryn Alt in the 800 (2:18.74), Springfield junior Denise Kolar in the 400 hurdles (1:05.18), Wyoming junior Laura Emmerich in the 3,000 steeplechase (12:15.58) and the 4 x 400 relay team (3:59.46).

            Grand Island senior Clark Spanel was a double winner for the Loper men. He was first in the 200 meter dash (22.34) and took home the gold in the long jump (22-1).

            UNK dominated the throws, having seven of the top eight finishers in the shot put, six of the top nine in the discus and five of the top six in the hammer.

            Winning here were Kansas senior Nate Wheat in the shot (55-8.50) and Grand Island senior Scott Jorgensen in the discus (164-4). Kansas sophomore Kellen Jacobs was second in the hammer (163-11) to lead UNK.

            Also winning for the blue and gold were Lexington senior John Laux in the triple jump (45-4.50), Bertrand junior Mike Ford in the pole vault (15-0) and Kearney sophomore Drew Tonniges in the 3,000 meter steeplechase (9:48.99).

            Finally, Brady sophomore Craig O'Dell was runner up in the 400 hurdles (56.27) and third in the 110 hurdles (15.24). 

            UNK is at the Division II Challenge next weekend in Emporia, Kans.