Corn Kernels, May 19 -- No. 1 in the World Edition

At the Big XII Track & Field Championships at Potts Field in Boulder, it was an impressive showing for the Huskers, who led both the Men’s and Women’s standings late into Sunday.  However, Texas A&M’s Women and Colorado’s Men swarmed the top 10s of the late individual races to pull ahead by large margins and never look back.  The Husker Women finished 2nd, while the men came in 4th.

There were plenty of highlights for the Huskers, though.  Senior Dusty Jonas achieved the world’s top high jump for the season at 7’ 8-3/4" (2.36m).  Jonas beat the next nearest jump by nearly 6 inches, set the Big XII meet and Potts Field records, and propelled himself to a top world ranking in the process.  Two Husker freshmen, Paul Hamilton and Brandon Sheppard, also placed in the top 10 for the Men’s High Jump and will continue on to Regionals.

Senior Kim Shubert won the women’s high jump as well, posting a jump of 5’ 10-3/4" (1.79m).  In the meantime, Freshman Megan Wheatley dominated the Heptathlon, winning four of the seven events and finishing no lower than 3rd, for a total of 5643 points, a Potts Field record and the 4th-highest total for a Husker Heptathloner ever.  Fellow Husker Chantae McMillan won two of the events Wheatley didn’t to place second overall, and 4 Huskers placed in the top 6 of the Heptathlon.

On Friday, Husker Senior Kayla Wilkinson won her 3rd Big XII javelin title, setting a new Big XII Championships record and breaking her own school record with a throw of 182’-10" (55.73m), more than 21’ farther than second place.

The Huskers have Memorial Day weekend off before hosting the NCAA Regional the following weekend.

With the spring sports season winding down, Corn Kernels will soon be winding down as well.  Next week, I’ll have a complete list of NCAA Qualifiers, and preview the Regional (which will be in Lincoln at Ed Weir Stadium).  I’ll continue to cover the Huskers so long as they keep going, all the way to the Olympics if need be; however, expect Corn Kernels to go on hiatus until the fall once the season is over.

Also next week after the Baseball tournament, I’ll have the final Big XII Composite Standings.  For a quick preview, it looks like Nebraska will be 3rd unless Oklahoma finds a way to win the Baseball tournament, and Texas A&M will be first unless Texas wins the baseball title.  (It’s been a good year for the Aggies – they have won regular season or postseason titles in 7 of the 21 Big XII seasons).