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Jenny Green!

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 2:34 pm
by rainbowgirl28
Congrats Jenny! :) There is a nice picture if you click on the link.

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/dis ... 10b8a4328b

Freshman Green raises the bar

By ROB HEUER / DN Staff Writer
January 23, 2004


HUSKER TRACK & FIELD
Jenny Green wasn't concentrating on setting a school record.

In the first meet of her career, she was more worried about form than results.

Little did she know that when she soared over the bar at the 2004 Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nev., she had just set a new Nebraska school record by 5½ inches.

That distance is not just breaking a record in track and field -- it's a borderline explosion.

Talk about a pretty amazing "oops."

"I wasn't even trying to get (the mark). I was just trying to work on some technique," the 2003 Gatorade Nebraska Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year said. "Things just turned out good for me.

"I expected to do good because of my work with Coach (Rick) Attig. I am surprised with how high I have gone."

If Green decides to put a few more trial runs on the scoreboard, the Big 12 and NCAA record bookkeepers better start buying Wite-Out by the caseload.

They may be able to bring out the famous correction fluid this weekend when Green and the Huskers host the Holiday Inn Invitational at the Bob Devaney Sports Center track.

Green is no stranger to breaking records, though. Her high school career was defined by it.

As a freshman, Green set the Nebraska state high school pole-vault record. By the time she graduated from Grand Island Central Catholic, Green had raised the record bar -- literally -- by almost two feet to establish a new mark of 13-3.

By raising the mark two dozen inches, Green did the track and field equivalent of hitting a 700-foot home run or scoring eight touchdowns in a football game.

Green got her high-flying start as a seventh grader. A lifelong gymnast, Green decided it was time for a change. She looked for other ways to fuel her athletic fire.

Pole-vaulting caught her eye because it looked challenging. So she gave it a shot, going head-to-head with the boys on her team because the squad had no girls' pole-vaulting team.

In just three years, Green became the best female pole-vaulter in the state of Nebraska, winning the All-Class gold medal for pole vault in each of her four years competing in the Nebraska State Track Meet.

Green doesn't take all the credit for her illustrious high school career, though. She gives the credit to the coaching she received.

Along with talented high school coaches, Green attended Attig's summer camp all through high school, where the two developed a rapport that inevitably brought her to Nebraska.

Attig said he could tell Green was special because she worked hard to retain the things he taught her each summer.

"Sometimes when you get athletes at camps, when they come back the next year, you feel like they didn't learn a thing," Attig said. "It seemed like the next year when she came back that she was retaining things. A lot of that is (Green's) personal responsibility."

Attig said that although she turned a few heads by launching her assault on the Nebraska record book ahead of schedule, he said Green's technique still could improve.

"There are still some things technically that she needs to work on," Attig said. "She just needs to have enough competitions to trust what she's worked on. There are certain things that you do under pressure of competition that you tend to go back with what has worked for you in the past."

Green admitted her ultimate goal was reaching the Olympics.

Her record-setting mark is only 2¾ inches away from the provisional qualifying mark for the Olympic Trials.

Even though she's close to the mark as a true freshman, Green is targeting the 2008 Olympics to make her dream come true.

While Olympic gold may not be in her immediate future, Green may collect a national championship or two in the same manner she set the NU school record.

"My goals for this year are to reach the 14-foot barrier and to qualify for indoor and outdoor nationals," Green said. "After I leave here, I want to be a national champion in pole vault."

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 4:20 pm
by BritDawg118
Besides being an incredible vaulter, Jenny is such a sweet person! I know that she will go far and accomplish her goals!! It was great getting to watch her 13'9" jump in Reno. Her mom was balling! Congrats Jenny!!!

Britni Lawrence

COngrats to Jenny

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 5:56 pm
by Bruce Caldwell
Congrats to Jenny

COngrats to Rick Attig

Bruce

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2004 4:28 am
by KYLE ELLIS
I saw her jump this weekend at nu, pretty impressive she finished 2nd behind dutoit.

Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2004 4:06 pm
by Carolina Extreme
Congrat's Jenny! You are very deserving. Tell your mom thanks again for the picture of you and Chase.

We hope to see you in the 14' club soon!

Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 8:47 pm
by rainbowgirl28
This article also has an awesome picture

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u ... id=1090915

NU's Green right at home blazing pole vault trail

BY CRAIG SESKER


WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Her teammates hail from faraway places like Latvia, Jamaica and England.

Nebraska freshman Jenny Green is shooting to improve on her third-place finish at indoor nationals at next month's NCAA outdoor meet in Austin, Texas.

But even in a program loaded with international stars, the Nebraska track and field team still has plenty of room for some homegrown talent.

Jenny Green, a freshman from Grand Island, has made a lasting first impression with the Huskers. She already owns a pair of Big 12 titles in the pole vault and a third-place NCAA finish.

"I couldn't picture myself being anywhere else besides Nebraska," Green said. "I love it here. To compete in my home state, and with my parents being able to come to every meet, means a lot. It's been fun."

Green earned her second Big 12 gold medal last Saturday at the league's outdoor meet in Norman, Okla. She equaled the meet record with a height of 13 feet, 51/4 inches.

Green earlier won the indoor conference title before placing third in the NCAA indoor meet with a best of 13-71/4.

"Coming in as a freshman, I couldn't ask for much more," she said. "I am very fortunate to have excellent teammates who really push me in practice and in the meets. I know I can keep improving, and that really drives me."

Green is shooting to improve on her indoor national finish at next month's NCAA outdoor meet in Austin, Texas.

"The experience from indoor nationals will definitely help me at outdoor nationals," Green said. "I am hoping to become an All-American again. I still have over a month of training left before nationals. I am excited to see what I can do."

Rick Attig, who coaches the Husker pole vaulters, said he is excited about Green's future.

"Jenny's done a great job, but she has the potential to become a lot better," Attig said. "Her speed and power are her biggest assets. Technically, she has made some good adjustments. We are working on a few changes and hope to have her jumping in the mid-14s by the NCAAs."

Her early collegiate success in the pole vault may be just the beginning for the versatile Green.

She plans to compete in the heptathlon next year, and maybe someday the decathlon if it is added to the women's list of events. She wanted to try the heptathlon this year, but a back injury put those plans on hold.

"Jenny could be a great heptathlete," Attig said. "I think she could have placed real high at Big 12s in that event. She is an excellent athlete. And she is a great kid who is very coachable."

Green came to Nebraska after a remarkable high school career at Grand Island Central Catholic. She was named Gatorade Nebraska Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 2003.

As a senior, she set the state-meet record in winning her fourth pole vault gold medal. She also won gold in the long jump and took first in Class B in the 300 hurdles and second in the 100. She scored all of her team's points at state, leading GICC to a third-place finish in Class B.

Green admits it has been an adjustment competing mainly in just one event this year.

"I miss doing the other events - I always enjoyed that in high school," she said. "It's definitely a change to focus on one event. I am looking forward to the challenge of trying the heptathlon next year."