University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
USATF Indoor Track & Field Championships
Greene Takes Third In High Jump at USATF Indoor Championships
February 18, 2018 | Track & Field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - North Carolina's Nicole Greene jumped 6-2 (1.88 meters) to take third at the USATF Indoor Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center Sunday.
After making each of the first three heights (1.77m, 1.82m, 1.85m) on her first attempt, Greene, a sophomore from Ponte Vedra, Fla., matched her personal best of 1.88 meters on her second attempt before bowing out to the 1.91-meter bar. The jump matches her personal best from earlier this year at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup on January 13.
The jump is the best in the ACC this season by nearly five inches, and it is the third-best jump in the NCAA.
"For her to jump that in this arena at this meet, you're on national television, you're going up against huge competition, you just hit your PR again - that's what you want," coach Nicole Hudson said. "That's what bug time performance is."
Vashti Cunningham, the 2016 world champion in the women's high jump and a two-time national champion in the event, won the 2018 indoor crown with her jump of 6-5 ½ (1.97 meters). Inika McPherson, the 2014 high jump outdoor national champion, claimed second with her jump of 6-3 ¼ (1.91 meters).
"I was thoroughly impressed," Hudson said. "She came in and was scrapping with the big dogs, and to medal at this meet is a big deal. I'm so proud of her. I'm proud of how she handled it. She cam in with that mindset of, 'I'm not going to be intimidated. I'm just going to come out here and do me', and it was great."
NEXT UP: Greene will compete at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held in Clemson, S.C. from Feb 22-24. The women's high jump will take place on Friday (Feb. 23) at 6:30 p.m. The event will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra.
"I went in there thinking this was a meet to prepare me for ACCs and nationals," Nicole Greene said. "I didn't have anything to lose because most of these people I have seen before in outdoors, but it's just a fun meet to fine tune myself before the championship season."
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