LINCOLN, Neb. — Ada Anderson led the ISU women’s track and field team by placing second in the 800-meter run at the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Saturday.

Anderson provisionally qualified for nationals with a time of 2:09.39 in the event. Anderson said she felt she could have won the race, but was happy she may have the chance to compete at the national meet in Fayetteville, Ark.

“Going in, my goal was to win the Big 12 [800],” Anderson said. “I wish I could have had a better start; [Missouri’s Ashley Patten] blew by me and I didn’t have time to catch up. The 800 is such a mind game. I know what I have to work on.”

Senior Susan Sherman placed fourth in the women’s weight throw with a toss of 60-5. Sherman, last year’s champion, was unhappy with her throw and was upset she didn’t defend her title to go on to nationals.

In the upcoming outdoor season, Sherman will compete in the hammer throw in place of the weight throw, which is designed for indoor meets. The weight she throws for the indoor meets is approximately 20 pounds, and the hammer weighs just over 8 pounds.

“[The main difference is that I] can muscle the weight throw out there, and the hammer is more finesse,” she said. “The hammer has a longer orbital radius so it travels further. I’m better at the weight throw, but I’m learning to like the hammer more.”

Sherman also competed in the women’s shot put, where she placed sixth and had a provisional qualifying mark of 50-10 1/4. Sherman was not as highly regarded in the shot put as she was in the weight throw, but finished strong after the disappointing turnout of the weight throw.

“I’m very, very happy with my performance in the shot today,” she said. “I [beat my personal record] three times. The fact that I wasn’t ranked going in makes it that much better. Next week is my last chance to make it to the finals. I’m glad I could score some points after not doing as well as I’d like in the weight throw.”

Throws coach Dan O’Mara said he was ecstatic about Sherman’s resurgence.

“It was an outstanding job by Susan Sherman to come back from the weight throw and do as well as she did in the shot put,” O’Mara said. “She wasn’t even nationally ranked [like the other girls].

“Her last chance to make it [to nationals] is next Saturday. She may not do the weight throw because she has a better chance in the shot. We’ll make the decision next week if we want her to do both or just one [event].”

Jenny Mockler finished seventh in the women’s 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:54.44. Mockler also said she could have won the event.

“[The other runners] were tired at the end and I was fine,” Mockler said. “The girls that beat me shouldn’t have, but I’ll be back for outdoors. I’m excited for the outdoor season because I’m a much better outdoor runner. I’m going to try to qualify for nationals in the 800 next week. I’m disappointed today, but I’ll make up for it.”

Agata Kosuda placed seventh in the women’s triple jump with a bound of 41-3. Jumps coach Ron McEachran said he believes that Kosuda would have fared better had she been healthier.

“Agata hasn’t been feeling well this past week,” McEachran said. “There wasn’t the speed and spring that she usually has. It was the best she could do today. She’d do better another day. She just didn’t look like herself.”

Women’s head coach Dick Lee felt the team didn’t score well as far as overall points, but finished strong.

“There were a lot of solid performances where we got seventh and eighth place, which don’t add up to points. We were close to getting some third, fourth and fifth places. So that’s frustrating,” Lee said.

The women finished fourth in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:42.35.

“That shows great effort because people had already done a lot of racing,” Lee said. “It shows some pride too. We ended on a high note.”

Saturday in Ames is the NCAA Indoor Qualifier meet for participants who are trying to make it to nationals in Fayetteville, Ark., on March 12-13.