DES MOINES - Chris Bucknam's emotions freely roam the track on the great days.

Friday afternoon, that side of his personality took a reserved seat after one session of the NCAA Midwest Regional at Drake Stadium.

The Northern Iowa track and field coach watched his Panthers rise to the occasion and fall well short of the mark as they pursued berths in the national outdoor meet.

"We had some really good things happen and some really bad things," said Bucknam as he sat in a tunnel underneath the stadium stands.

The good? Jarno Kivioja claimed a spot in the NCAA pole vault with a second-place finish.

The bad? Andre Poljanec, the man who shared the Division I regular-season lead in the vault, struggled to a 14th-place tie. He won't automatically make the national field; only the top five in the individual events earn that honor. The odds of an at-large invitation to the men's vault appear slim at best.

Another reliable Panther, AGWSR graduate Cody Eichmeier, finished eighth in the long jump. A senior, his UNI career will probably end without one more NCAA outdoor as a punctuation mark.

The good? Rachel Jansen, thanks to a third, reached the next level in the women's shot put.

The bad? She was the only Panther women to qualify for the NCAA meet Friday.

The good? Terrance Reid ran well in his preliminary heat of the 400 meters, advancing to today's finals. So did Kyle Smith and Tyler Mulder in the 800.

The bad? Reigning Missouri Valley champ Cory Goos and fellow Panther Greg Offerman did not qualify for the 400 hurdles finals.

"It's the hardest part of coaching, I can tell you, having to deal with those disappointments when those guys are really good," said Bucknam.

Even the Panthers who enjoyed relatively good days dealt with mixed emotions.

Kivioja, the senior from Finland, was a runner-up at Drake Stadium for the third time in the 2007 outdoor season. He took second at the Drake Relays, posted the same result at the Missouri Valley Conference meet here and then did it again at the regional.

Friday, Kivioja cleared 17 feet, 1 inch, on a difficult day for vaulters. Swirling winds made the trip up the runway and over the bar a treacherous one.

"It was really hard to get the right poles and the steps," said Kivioja, who missed three tries at the winning height of 17-5, cleared by Kansas' Jordan Scott. "They were off all the time, but I'm pretty happy about making the nationals. I'm pretty happy, even though I'm ready to go a lot higher."

Poljanec, the junior from Slovenia, didn't come close to going high enough.

While winning the MVC outdoor, Poljanec soared 18-2 1/2, matching Kansas' Scott for the best Division I jump in the nation. Friday, he struggled with his approach, his equipment and virtually everything else, clearing just 16-1 1/4 and dropping out at 16-7.

"It was a mix of all the problems, and it ended up being pretty terrible," said Poljanec. "Pretty much nothing went right - that's how it was."

Jansen, the junior and two-time all-American in the weights, got it right on just one throw in the shot. That legal toss, her first in the preliminary round, traveled 56-1 and landed Jansen in third place.

On the other hand, five consecutive fouls tarnished her day.

"I got the job done," said Jansen. "I did what I had to do, but I was a little disappointed. I was pretty inconsistent. I had some big throws; I just couldn't hold them in the ring. So I was struggling a little bit, but now I know what to work on for the next couple of weeks so I can pull it together."

Over his career at UNI, Eichmeier pulled in plenty of success, including 10 Missouri Valley titles and five all-America performances. He couldn't get it done Friday in the regional long jump.

"It was just hard for him to find a rhythm - there's no other way to put it," said Bucknam of Eichmeier. "I know he feels badly, but you have to look at all the great things he's done for us."

UNI's hopes for a top-five finish in the team standings may be fading, but the Panthers can still score some points on the men's side. Reid qualified third in the 400, while Smith and Mulder went 2-7 in the 800. Dorian Ulrey enters the 1,500 ranked sixth, the same spot occupied by teammate Marcin Kazubowski in the javelin.

Jansen could reach the NCAA women's meet in two more events today - the discus and hammer throw.

Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com

TEAM STANDINGS (through five events) - 1. Kansas 41; 2. Nebraska 22; 3. Oklahoma 18.33; 4. (tie) Texas Tech and Colorado 16; 6. Colorado State 13; 7. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 11; 8. Texas 10. 9. Iowa 9. 10. Northern Iowa 7.33; 11. Sam Houston State 6.33; 12. New Mexico 6; 13. Wyoming 5; 14. (tie) Tulsa and Texas State 4; 16. (tie) Houston, Minnesota and Oklahoma State 3; 19. (tie) Oral Roberts, Rice and Air Force 2; 22. Stephen F. Austin 1.

Finals only

(Winners and UNI finishers)

Men

LONG JUMP - 1. Barrett Saunders (Kan), 25 feet, 9 1/4 inches; 8. Cody Eichmeier (UNI), 23-9 1/2.

HAMMER - 1. Egor Agafonov (Kan), 223-0.

POLE VAULT - 1. Jordan Scott (Kan), 17-5; T2. Jarno Kivioja (UNI), 17-1; T14. Andre Poljanec (UNI) and Raven Cepeda (UNI), 16-1 1/4.

DISCUS - 1.Derek Randall (Tex), 197-1.

5000 METERS - 1. Brent Vaughn (Colo), 13 minutes, 57.36 seconds.

Women

TEAM STANDINGS (Through five events) - 1. Texas Tech 19; 2. (tie) Texas and Texas A&M 18; 4. Nebraska 16; 5. (tie) Southern Methodist and Colorado State 12; 7. (tie) Kansas State and Texas El-Paso 11; 9. Minnesota 10.5; 10. (tie) Rice and Texas State 10; 12. (tie) Tulsa, Stephen F. Austin and New Mexico 8; 15. Northern Iowa 6; 16. Iowa 4.5; 17. Colorado 4; 18. (tie) TCU, Wichita State and Texas-San Antonio 2; 21. (tie) Iowa State, Montana State and Lamar 1.

Finals only

(Winnners and UNI finishers)

JAVELIN - 1. Erma Gene Evans (UTEP), 177 feet, 7 inches.

HIGH JUMP - 1. Destinee Hooker (Tex), 6-4.

LONG JUMP - 1. Funmi Jimoh (Rice), 20-10.

SHOT PUT - 1. Abigail Ruston (Tex. St.), 56-5 1/2; 3. Rachel Jansen (UNI), 56-1; 27. Sarah Harms (UNI), 43-3 3/4.

5,000 METERS - 1. Sally Kipyego (Texas Tech) 16 minutes, 1.64 seconds.