NCAA Championships: Men Sixth In 4x400 Relay, Jansen Takes Seventh In Shot Put

Saturday, June 9

Sacramento, Calif.

12:00 PM

University of Northern Iowa

NCAA Outdoor Championships

NCAA Championships: Men Sixth In 4x400 Relay, Jansen Takes Seventh In Shot Put

6/9/2007 8:00:00 AM | Track and Field

By: UNI Athletics Communications

June 9, 2007

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The University of Northern Iowa track and field team picked up its sixth all-America honor of the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Saturday, as junior Rachel Jansen earned a seventh-place finish in the women's shot put and the Panthers took sixth in the men's 4x400 meter relay in front of 10,165 fans on the meet's final day.

Jansen (Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Valley) earned all-America honors in the shot put for the third time in her career by placing seventh in Saturday's finals. The junior recorded a best toss of 54 feet, 7 1/4 inches on her second attempt before fouling on her final four tries.

Jansen entered the meet ranked fourth with a season-best and school-record throw of 56-8 1/4 and came into the finals off the sixth-best throw in Thursday's preliminary round, a toss of 53-9 3/4.

Jansen, who also earned all-America honors with a fourth-place showing at the NCAA indoor meet in March and was the Missouri Valley Conference champion in the shot both indoors and outdoors, finished behind winner Jessica Pressley of Arizona State, who recorded a throw of 59-0 3/4.

"I'm extremely proud of Rachel's accomplishments this year," said UNI head coach and director of running programs Chris Bucknam. "The NCAA Championships is one of the toughest meets in the world and, to score points and have all-Americans, I'm very proud of her and the men's and women's teams."

The 4x400 team entered the finals coming off a school record-setting run in Thursday's preliminaries, when the squad ran a 3:04.13. They responded with another outstanding effort in the finals, taking sixth place in 3:04.78, the third-fastest time in school history.

Freshman Cory Goos (West Liberty, Iowa/West Liberty) led off for the Panthers with a 46.44-second turn around the Hornet Stadium oval despite tightness in his hamstring that slowed him down the final straight, and sophomore Ryan Grenko (Iowa City, Iowa/City) followed with a 46.12-second split to keep UNI in the hunt.

"We were in good position considering everything that happened," Bucknam said. "These meets are like boxing matches, and our kids held their own."

Tyler Mulder (Orange City, Iowa/Unity Christian) took the baton and ran a third leg in 46.52 to keep the Panthers with the pack before handing off to sophomore Terrence Reid (Davenport, Iowa/Central). Reid proceeded to anchor UNI's effort with a 45.36-second lap that brought the Panthers from eighth place with 400 meters left to sixth place at the finish line.

"The 4x400 is indicative of this whole year and this meet," Bucknam said. "It's rough and tumble and our guys were still able to score points."

Reid's anchor split would have been fast enough to take third place in the open 400 meters run earlier in the day.

"We've got a young squad and we've got a lot of kids back on the men's and women's sides," said Bucknam, referring to the fact that all six of UNI's all-Americans return next season. "The future is bright looking ahead at 2008."

The three team points earned by the 4x400 relay squad bumped UNI's team total to seven points, the second most ever scored by a Panther squad at an outdoor championship meet, trailing only the 15 points tallied in 1997. The men concluded competition with a 39th-place finish.

"Any time you finish that high and score points like that, you have to be proud of our team," Bucknam said. "Looking back at their accomplishments all year long, it was arguably the best season we've ever had."