Wisconsin Badgers
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Soceka's title lifts Badgers to third-place finish
May 16, 2010 | Women's Track & Field
May 16, 2010
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The road had a few more dips than she'd anticipated, but Jenny Soceka completed her path to the top of the Big Ten Conference on Sunday.
Soceka took her spot atop the podium on the final day of the 2010 Big Ten Outdoor Championships after winning her first conference title in the pole vault.
The performance verified Soceka's place atop the conference standings in the event, as she cleared 13 feet, 5 1/4 inches to easily out-pace runner-up Kelsie Ahbe of Indiana and third-place finisher Alicia Rue of Minnesota, who both cleared at 13-1 1/2.
It also led the way for the Badgers' outstanding final day in the field events, as Wisconsin racked up 101.5 points to claim a third-place team finish.
The performance, which trailed only champion Penn State's total of 133.5 and runner-up Minnesota's 123 points, marked the Badgers' best Big Ten finish since taking third in 2000.
“We did a great job of maximizing our points in the events where we had an opportunity to score,” UW head coach Jim Stintzi said. “Our strengths are in the field events, and our athletes really responded with the performances we were looking for.”
The pole vault championship came two years after Soceka earned runner-up honors in the event in 2008. She redshirted the 2009 season to continue her development in the event but struggled down the stretch of this year's indoor season, ultimately failing to clear a bar at the Big Ten indoor championships.
“I think I had a different mindset going into outdoor,” Soceka said. “The indoor season I focused so much on competing in the pole vault and was chasing marks, which doesn’t really help you vault higher.
“Outdoors, I just realized that this is it for me and I had a great opportunity that I wanted to take advantage of,” she added. “The pole vault is such a strange event, where anyone can win on a certain day. Today was my day.”
She bounced back in a big way outdoors and came up big for the Badgers this weekend. In addition to her pole vault title -- just the second in UW history, joining Tara Clack's 2003 crown -- she also posted a fourth-place finish in the heptathlon on Saturday.
“The heptathlon taught me a lot this year,” she said. “It’s so important to score anything you can for the team, and I felt awesome because I scored.”
The Badgers also scored big in the triple jump with senior Chavon Robinson taking runner-up honors, sophomore Jordan Helgren finishing third and senior LaQuita Brazil grabbing a fifth-place finish.
Robinson leapt 41 feet, 10 3/4 inches on her final attempt to hold down second place, while Helgren's penultimate jump was her best at 41-6 1/2. Brazil boasted a lifetime-best leap of 40-9 3/4 to take fifth, with the performance also moving her up to No. 8 on the Badgers’ all-time list in the event.
In the high jump, sophomore Monika Jakutyte tied for third at 5-9 3/4, while senior Megan Seidl took fifth with same clearance on the criteria of misses.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the field events since bringing Nate Davis and Dave Astrauskas aboard as assistant coaches,” Stinzi said. “Coach Davis’ group came through with great performances all weekend in the jumps and multi-events, and the way Coach Astrauskas has developed our throws program is a big reason why we were able to jump into third place today.”
On the track, junior Egle Staisiunaite picked up points for the Badgers with a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 13.85.
Staisiunaite recorded a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles as well, crossing the line a personal-best time of 58.59 in the process. Her time puts her No. 4 all-time on Wisconsin’s outdoor performance list.
Also racing in the event, sophomore Jenna Severson eclipsed the 1-minute mark for the second time in as many days, clocking a personal-best time of 59.84 to finish seventh. Severson’s performance is the eighth-best all-time for the Badgers.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Staisiunaite, freshman Jameice DeCoster, redshirt freshman Brittney Harper, and senior Alexis Beecham put up a scoring performance by finishing seventh in 46.68 seconds.
“I’ve been really pleased with the progress we’re making,” Stintzi said. “We’ve made big strides over the course of the indoor and outdoor seasons, and I really like where we’re headed as a team.”
