Huskers Pick Up Two NCAA Automatic Qualifiers at Panther Open

Cedar Falls, Iowa ? Ineta Radevica and Becky Breisch paced the Huskers, as they both notched NCAA automatic-qualifying marks in the first meet of the season for the Nebraska track and field team Saturday in the Panther Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Radevica, the 2003 NCAA Outdoor triple jump champion, leaped a career-tying mark of 21-0 ? to automatically qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. She was followed in second place by freshman Angela Dies with a leap of 20-3.

Breisch, the 2003 NCAA Outdoor shot put champion, turned in her first NCAA automatic-qualifying mark of the season in the shot with a launch of 54-5 ? to win the event. Senior Leann Boerema was second with a provisional qualifying mark of 50-0 ?.

"We are really glad to get started," Head Coach Gary Pepin said. "Anytime you can get those qualifiers out of the way, that is a good thing. I felt like we got off to a real good start and it gave us an idea of where we are."

Priscilla Lopes, competing in her first meet as a Husker, easily won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.44, but ran an NCAA provisional time of 8.35 in the preliminaries. In back-to-back events, Lopes again easily outdistanced her opponents, winning the 60-meter dash in 7.46 to set a new UNI-Dome record.

Sophomore Courtney Jones ran a solid race in the 60-meter hurdles to win the event in 7.99 seconds. Richard Davidson took the fourth spot in 8.14.

Making the transition from the football field to the track, Dusty Stamer won his first collegiate competition in the 60 meters, running a time of 6.78. He was followed by Oliver Williams Jr. (6.88), Arturs Abolins (6.95) and Shelldon Simpson (6.95).

"That was a really good run by Dusty," Pepin said. "We were really anxious to see where he was, and what he could do. He is a great athlete to coach, and I think he is going to do real well for us."

Chris Richardson and Jesse Colburn took first and second in the men’s heptathlon with scores of 5,329 and 4,673, respectively.

The Huskers also claimed the top three spots in the men’s 200 meters, with Williams winning the event in 22.04, followed by Simpson and Stamer, respectively.

The Husker men finished first through third in the high jump, with senior Travis Baker claiming the win with a leap of 6-11. Kyle Odvody was second, clearing 6-9 ? and sophomore Aaron Plas tied for third place.

Na’Tassia Vice took top honors in the women’s high jump, clearing 5-8, while Sara Jane Baker and Ashlee Dickinson tied for second at 5-6.

Nebraska crowned the champion of both the men and women’s 400-meter dash, including a 1-2-3 finish on the men’s side, led by Andy Nelson in 49.72. Maggi Escudero clinched the women’s race with a time of 59.21.

Kim Pancoast raced to a first-place finish in the 3,000 meters, running a time of 10:22.94 to claim the win. The Huskers notched the top three spots in the men’s race, with Eric Dall winning in 8:41.60, followed by Paul Wilson and Alec Maduza.

The Nebraska men won the 4x400-meter relay in 3:16.89, while the women’s A squad finished second in 3:59.27.

Freshman Gable Baldwin earned his first collegiate victory in the pole vault, tying Northern Iowa’s Jarno Kiviajo with a mark of 16-0 ?. Freshman Jenny Green won the women’s portion, clearing 13-5 ?.

Jason Thompson won the men’s triple jump with a leap of 49-6 ?.

Danute Ceika won a two-person race in the 800 meters, clocking a time of 2:25.97.

In the mile, Michaela Lenihan took fourth place in the women’s race with a personal-best run of 5:21.20, while Bryce Dickmeyer was second in the men’s race in 4:27.47.

In Friday’s portion of the meet, Nebraska claimed three out of four event titles.

Sophomore Ashley Selig won the women’s pentathlon with a score of 3,761 to provisionally qualify for the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships. She led a 1-2-3 Husker finish, with Sara Jane Baker winning silver (3,644) and Casie Witte in third (3,322).

Tia DeSoto won the women’s weight throw with a mark of 56-9 ?, while Tommy Donlin took silver in the men’s weight throw.

Daniel Roper clinched the men’s long jump title with a leap of 24-3 ? to finish off Friday’s competition.

The Huskers open their home season next weekend with the Holiday Inn Invitational. The meet will get underway at 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23, and at noon on Saturday, Jan. 24.