Huskers to Face First Division I Competition

The Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams return to the oval this weekend when they host the adidas Classic at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track on Saturday, Jan. 22. Field events will begin at 1 p.m. with the men’s 35-pound weight throw, while running events will start at 2 p.m. with the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries.

NU will prepare to compete against Division I talent for the first time in 2005, as dual men’s and women’s squads from Drake, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and Wichita State will also be in attendance. Oklahoma State’s women’s team will also be competing, while Fort Hays State and the Truman State men’s team round out the participants.

About 60 Huskers will be in action on Saturday, including sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics, a 2004 All-American in the 800-meter run. Milkievics did not compete at last weekend’s Holiday Inn Invitational because of his training schedule.

Meet recaps and results can be found at Huskers.com on Saturday following the conclusion of competition, while a complete event-by-event schedule will be available Wednesday.

Big 12 Conference Opponents Invade Devaney Center
While NU will get its first taste of premier competition this weekend, it also gets an early look at two conference opponents, Iowa State and Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma State sent 14 athletes to last week’s Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and claimed a pair of first-place finishes. Senior Delisa McClain led the Cowgirls by winning honors in the 20-pound weight throw after recording a school-record spin of 62-8 3/4, which also surpassed the NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Senior Halee Prickett also captured first place in the shot put with a throw of 53-2 1/4.

Iowa State will compete for the first time following its return from Winter Break this weekend at the adidas Classic. The Cyclones did hold their ISU Holiday Classic in early December, capturing 10 first-place finishes against a field comprised of Colorado State, Drake and Kansas City Community College. Iowa State has yet to qualify an individual for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Last Year’s adidas Classic
The 2004 adidas Classic was a day for record smashing, as two school standards and a Big 12 Conference record were reset.

Dmitrijs Milkevics stole the show in the 600-yard run, breaking the NU school record, the Big 12 Conference record and the Bob Devaney Sports Center record with his time of 1:08.67. He erased Regis Humphrey’s previous Husker mark of 1:09.17 set in 1986. Priscilla Lopes broke the Nebraska record in the women’s 60-meter hurdles for the third time in four weeks by claiming a mark of 8.13 in the race finals. Lopes then proceeded to set a provisional-qualifying mark of 7.36 in the 60-meter dash for back-to-back event wins.

Jenny Green and Jessie Graff both recorded the second-best national mark in the women’s pole vault when they each cleared 13-8 1/2. Green won the event because she completed the successful vault on her first attempt.

Seven other Huskers claimed event wins for NU, including Arturs Abolins in the men’s long jump, Becky Breisch in the women’s shot put and weight throw, Ann Gaffigan in the women’s mile, Carl Myerscough in the men’s shot put, Ineta Radevica in the women’s triple jump, Brad Teeple in the men’s pole vault and Na’Tassia Vice in the women’s high jump.

Huskers Clean Up at Holiday Inn Invitational
The defending Big 12 indoor champion Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams opened their 2005 season last weekend by hosting the Holiday Inn Invitational. The Huskers performed very well over the two-day meet, earning top honors in 23 events. Friday, three Huskers set NCAA provisional qualifying marks, including sophomore Priscilla Lopes, who ran an 8.18 in the 60-meter hurdles. Lopes also won the 200-meter dash. In the field events, junior Tom Donlin set a provisional mark with a throw of 62-11 1/2 in the weight throw, good for first place. Donlin was followed by sophomore Issar Yazhbin, who threw 60-1. Yazhbin’s career-best toss is believed to be an Israeli National Record. Senior Christi Lehman also set a provisional mark, vaulting 13-1 1/2 in the women’s pole vault.

Junior Kwonya Ferguson continued NU’s success on Saturday when she jumped a personal best 42-6 1/4 in the women’s triple jump, an NCAA provisional mark. Freshman Dusty Jonas also reached the provisional qualifying level in the men’s high jump by clearing 7-1 3/4. NU also swept each of the men’s and women’s distance medley and 4x400-meter relay events.

Other Husker winners included sophomore Aruturs Abolins (24-5), junior Courtney Jones in the men’s 60-meter hurdles (7.93), freshman Bubba Kramer in the shot put (56-11 1/2), freshman Jack Lemke in the 800-meter run (1:55.98), junior Nic Petersen in the pole vault (16-2 3/4), freshman Greg Peterson in the 1,000-meter run (2:32.99), sophomore Daniel Roper in the triple jump (49-9), junior Ashley Selig in the long jump (19-0), senior Anne Shadle in the 1,000-meter run (2:50.20), freshman Tami Solari in the women’s weight throw (51-3 1/2) and senior Paul Wilson in the 5,000-meter run (14:44.15).

Lopes Earns Weekly Big 12 Honor
Priscilla Lopes, the defending NCAA champion in the 60-meter hurdles, was named the Big 12 Female Track and Field Athlete of the Week for her performance at last weekend’s Holiday Inn Invitational. Lopes received indoor recognition for the first time in her career.

The Whitby, Ontario, Canada, native won both the 60-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash at the invitational hosted by NU at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track. Lopes reached the NCAA provisional qualifying mark for the hurdles in each of her three heats, posting times of 8.37, 8.33 and 8.18. She recorded a time of 24.18 in the 200. Lopes ranks first in the Big 12 Conference’s performance list for both the 60-meter hurdles and the 200.

In her first season as a Husker in 2004, Lopes claimed the NCAA title in the 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 7.96 at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She later added a silver-medal performance in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships, while later representing Canada in the 100-meter hurdles at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Fabrice Lapierre from Texas A&M won the men’s weekly award after claiming an NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the long jump at last weekend’s Arkansas Invitational.

NU Athletes Rank Among the Big 12’s Best
Nebraska athletes own the top spot in 10 events on this week’s edition of the Big 12’s conference performance list, which will be updated every Tuesday during the 2005 indoor and outdoor seasons.

The Husker women garnered the most top-ranked athletes with seven, one ahead of Kansas State. Priscilla Lopes leads the way in two events, the 200-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. She holds a comfortable advantage in both, leading by 0.19 in the 200 and 0.42 in the hurdles. The most impressive statistic may come from senior Anne Shadle, who holds a five-second lead in the 1,000-meter run over Kansas State’s Lysaira Roman Del-Valle. Kwonya Ferguson leads the women’s triple jump, while ranking second in the high jump. Other NU athletes in top spots include sophomore Lindsey Finkner in the 5,000 meters, junior Ashley Selig in the pentathlon, as well as Nebraska’s top-ranked distance medley relay team.

Three members of the NU men’s team currently rank first in the Big 12, including senior Dusty Stamer in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.74. Stamer holds a 0.02 lead over second-place Quincy Boyles of Texas. Senior Paul Wilson owns the No. 1 ranking in the 5,000 meters after crushing his career-best mark with a time of 14:44.15. Much like the Husker women, the men’s distance medley relay team also leads the Big 12. Sophomore Nate Probasco, who set a personal-best time of 21.42 in the 200 meters on Saturday, trails Oklahoma’s Marcus Pugh by only 0.01, while five others also rank No. 2 for their respective events (Tom Donlin--weight throw, Dusty Jonas--high jump, Courtney Jones--60m hurdles, Bubba Kramer--shot put, Lee Martin--pentathlon, Daniel Roper--triple jump).

Huskers in the "Dandy Dozen"
Ten Nebraska athletes appear in this week’s ranking of the "Dandy Dozen," a power ranking of the men’s and women’s top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.

Priscilla Lopes is the only NU athlete to rank in two separate events, as she is ranked No. 1 in the 60-meter hurdles and No. 7 in the 60-meter dash. Ashley Selig (No. 6) and junior Sara Jane Baker (No. 8) both appear in the pentathlon rankings, while Kwonya Ferguson is the No. 7-rated triple jumper. Jessie Graff, who ranks as the No. 10 pole vaulter, is the final women’s individual event athlete, while the NU distance medley relay is slated at No. 11.

Dmitrijs Milkevics claims the highest rating of any NU male athlete with his No. 6 ranking in the 800, while Ray Scotten is No. 7 in the pole vault. Arturs Abolins comes in eighth in the long jump, while freshman Tesfa Latty (No. 8) and Dusty Stamer (No. 12) both appear in the 60-meter rankings. The Husker men’s 4x400-meter relay also ranks twelfth.

The factors used to build the D12 include values that measure performances in past major competitions (such as conference championships, national championships and Olympic competition), freedom from injuries, demonstrated ability to compete well in multiple rounds of competition, ability in other events, head-to-head competition with other athletes and personal or seasonal bests.

The D12 is compiled by track & field statistician Gary Verigin.

All-Americans Headline 2005 Captains
The NU track and field team elected eight athletes to serve as captains during the 2005 season. The group of four men and four women have accounted for a total of seven All-America honors and three individual Big 12 championships through their careers.

Husker women appointed captains included two seniors, Christi Lehman (Newton, Kan.) and Anne Shadle (South Sioux City, Neb.), one junior, Ashley Selig (Lincoln, Neb.), and one sophomore, Priscilla Lopes (Whitby, Ontario). Lehman (2003 indoor pole vault) and Shadle (2004 indoor 1,000 meters) are both former Big 12 champions, while Lopes (sprints/hurdles), Selig (pentathlon/heptathlon) and Lehman have each earned All-America honors over the course of their careers. Lopes won the 2004 indoor national title in the 60-meter hurdles.

Senior Dusty Stamer (Grand Island, Neb.) leads the men’s quartet of captains after earning 2004 outdoor All-America recognition as a member of Nebraska’s school-record-setting 4x100-meter relay. Seniors Richard Davidson (Lewisville, Tex.), who claimed third place in the 110-meter hurdles at last year’s Big 12 Outdoor Championships, and Kyle Goerl (Hutchinson, Kan), who placed eighth in the decathlon at the same meet, were also elected. The lone non-senior to be named a men’s captain, junior Nic Petersen (Omaha, Neb.), earned eighth place in the pole vault at last year’s Big 12 Indoor Championships.

Ten Returning All-Americans to be Featured in 2005
A total of 10 NCAA All-Americans return for the Huskers this season, five each for the men’s and women’s squads. Headlining the group will be sophomore sprinter/hurdler Priscilla Lopes, who won accolades in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles indoors, as well as the 100-meter hurdles outdoors. Other women to return after reaching All-America status include junior Ashley Selig, who finished seventh indoors in the pentathlon and third outdoors in the heptathlon, and senior Christi Lehman, who finished ninth (eighth American) in the indoor pole vault. Senior thrower Becky Breisch, the 2004 NCAA discus champion, and sophomore Jenny Green, an All-American in both the indoor (third) and outdoor (third) pole vault, also return for NU, but both are likely to redshirt in 2005 because of injury.

Sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics will aim for NCAA titles in the 800-meter run following an outstanding freshman campaign that saw him earn All-America honors by finishing sixth at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Junior Aaron Nasers, who finished ninth (fifth American) indoors in the 800, adds even more firepower to Nebraska’s middle distance crew. Finally, three members of NU’s eighth-place outdoor 4x100-meter relay quartet return in senior Dusty Stamer, junior Oliver Williams Jr. and sophomore Nate Probasco.

Nebraska: Home to the World-Class Athlete
Nebraska was represented well by both current and former track and field athletes at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, at the end of August. In all, four current and two former Huskers vied for Olympic honors, the 13th straight Games that NU has been represented.

Once again, former Husker Merlene Ottey claimed the highest placing of any NU athlete by finishing 10th in women’s 100-meter dash competition while representing Slovenia. Ottey’s appearance was her seventh straight Olympics, over which time she has earned three silver and five bronze medals. She also competed in the 200, but did not qualify for the finals.

Another former NU athlete, Ineta Radevica, made her first appearance in an Olympics by representing Latvia in both the long jump and triple jump events. Radevica, who concluded her Husker career last spring with an NCAA title in the triple jump, claimed three national titles in the event during her three years at Nebraska. She was unable to reach the finals in either the long jump or triple jump in Athens.

Dmitrijs Milkevics became the first-ever Husker to reach the semifinals of the men’s 800-meter run while also representing Latvia. Milkevics, who earned two All-America honors in 2004 in the 800, won his quarterfinal heat in a time of 1:46.66 before bowing out in the semifinals.

Last year’s women’s NCAA 60-meter hurdle champion, Priscilla Lopes, competed in the 100-meter hurdles for Canada. She finished fifth in heat four of the five-heat first round, 20th overall. Another Husker hurdler, Nenad Loncar, represented Serbia and Montenegro in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, finishing 46th overall in first round competition with a time of 14.02.

One newcomer to the Nebraska track and field ranks also competed in the Games for Latvia. Dace Ruskule, a sophomore thrower in 2005 for NU, earned 14th place in the women’s discus qualifying round after unleashing a throw of 188-5. The mark would have won last year’s Big 12 Championships by more than 18, while earning fourth place at the 2004 NCAA Championships.