Greene Earns Runner-Up Finish At First NCAA Outdoor Championships

Saturday, June 8

Austin, Texas

All Day

North Carolina

NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Nicole Greene, Women's High Jump - 2nd Place

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

Greene Earns Runner-Up Finish At First NCAA Outdoor Championships

June 8, 2019 | Track & Field

Complete Results

AUSTIN, Texas — North Carolina's Nicole Greene placed second in the women's high jump on Saturday in her first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the University of Texas's Mike A. Myers Stadium.

Greene's performance marks the best finish in the outdoor event by a Tar Heel since Sheena Gordon (2nd) in 2006. Before redshirting the 2018 outdoor and 2019 indoor seasons, Greene became just the second woman in UNC history to win the women's indoor high jump title at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

"All season we've been saying that the pieces are starting to come together," head coach Harlis Meaders said. "It was really exciting to watch Nicole Greene battle for that championship – once again in a jump off – and come out with second-place finish, once again in a jump off, battling for that championship. She's a tremendous kid. She's an excellent student and a leader with the team, and she has just done a phenomenal job this season. I think Coach Hudson has done a fantastic job getting her ready for this day. Now she'll move on to post-NCAA competition with some summer events, but this is a fantastic conclusion to the end of the collegiate season for her."

Greene and Texas Tech's Zarriea Willis were the only two competitors to clear the fifth height of 6-1 ½ (1.87 meters), entering the next round with perfect performances. After both failed to clear 6-2 ¾ (1.90 meters) on three attempts, Greene and Willis moved into a jump off to determine the champion. On the second attempt of the jump off, Willis was able to clear 6-2 (1.88 meters) to claim the NCAA crown.

"The competition was amazing," Greene said. "Both of us cleared everything on our first attempts and it came down to a jump off again — I guess I like doing those. It just came down to who wanted it more and I fell short, but after coming off a full redshirt season, I couldn't be more proud of myself and what I did today. Two more seasons to prove to myself that I can do it."

Greene's eight points, combined with Madison Wiltrout's six points from Friday's women's javelin competition, moved the Tar Heels into a tie for 17th place in the team standings with 14 points. The two women earned North Carolina's highest women's team finish since the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships and also the most team points since that same meet.

"We've been saying that the athletes are getting better each week, and I was really excited to see their hard work culminate here in Austin," Meaders said. "I couldn't be more proud of Madison Wiltrout who overcame so much last year to get back to the All-America level on the college scene. She's done a fantastic job and I think Coach Gorski has worked extremely hard tutoring her. I think both of these women will be back at the national championship next year, and they have a chance to help our program continue to make the next step. I think we are on the cusp of breaking into the top ten and once you break into the top ten, it's a smaller step trying to become a podium team at the national championships. The pieces are in place, and I'm really excited for the women's program. I think it's going to be a tremendous ride for those young ladies.

"Our men's team continued to improve all season. They did a great job at the conference meet, finished a lot higher than most people expected and obviously advanced the 4x400 to Austin this week. That relay is a young group, and those guys came to the biggest stage and ran their absolute best time of the year. It just goes to show the hard work they've put in and how well coach [Abigi and Kia] Id-Deen have prepared them for this level of competition. It's a change in the culture with this new staff. We've only all been together for seven months, but you can already see an amazing impact all across the board. I think you can see the beginnings of something really special about to happen at Carolina."