Wisconsin Badgers
NCAA Preliminary Round
Prelims performance vaults Soceka to NCAA final
May 27, 2010 | Women's Track & Field
May 27, 2010
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AUSTIN, Texas -- Senior Jenny Soceka, fresh off her Big Ten title in the pole vault, became the first member of the Wisconsin women's track and field team to earn a trip to the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Soceka survived a pole vault competition that included 48 competitors and lasted more than four hours Thursday at the NCAA preliminary round in Austin, Texas, and advanced to the national final as one of the top 12 finishers in the competition.
Soceka cleared 13 feet, 9 1/4 inches on her third and final attempt at the height to place eighth Thursday. She was clean through the three bars that preceded the final height, with first-attempt clearances at 13-1 1/2, 13-5 1/4 and 13-7 1/4.
The performance sets up a return to the national championship meet for Soceka, who earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She redshirted the 2009 season.
Junior Egle Staisiunaite is on to the quarterfinals of the women's 400-meter hurdles after her first-round performance Thursday.
Staisiunaite grabbed the third and final automatic qualifying spot in her section by claiming third in the heat, running a time of 1:00.19. She was the only qualifier that failed to crack the 1-minute mark, but she is just two weeks removed from running a 58.59 to claim fourth at the Big Ten championships.
She will race in the quarterfinals Friday looking to finish among the top 12 that will earn a spot in the national semifinal at the NCAA outdoor championships in Eugene, Ore., in June.
Sophomore Jenna Severson, in her first NCAA competition, finished 34th overall with a time of 1:01.30 and did not advance out of the first round.
Redshirt freshman Caitlin Comfort made her NCAA debut with a 29th-place showing in the quarterfinals of the 10,000 meters. Comfort navigated a field of 48 runners that all competed on the track simultaneously to finish in 36:03.22.
Also Thursday, senior Amanda Donath wrapped up her career by running a 2:20.92 in the 800 meters first round.
The NCAA preliminary round continues Friday with a full slate of events for the Badgers, beginning with the discus at noon.
