Huskers Look to Keep Momentum Rolling

Fresh off their best weekend of the indoor season, the Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams will divide into three groups this weekend to compete at three separate events. The largest contingent of Huskers will travel to Ames, Iowa, for Friday and Saturday’s Iowa State Classic, while a select group of athletes head to Fayetteville, Ark., and the Tyson Invitational for the weekend. Most remaining NU athletes will stay in Lincoln for the Prairie Wolf Invitational, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan on Friday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Track.

Results following the conclusion of the Iowa State Classic can be found at www.cyclones.com, while live results for the Tyson Invitational will be provided at www.flashresults.com. A portion of the Tyson schedule, from 8-9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, will be televised by ESPN2. Recaps and full results from the weekend’s action can also be found at Huskers.com following the conclusion of both Friday and Saturday’s competition.

Who’s Competing Where This Weekend
The Tyson Invitational will be divided into two sections, Friday night’s invitation-only meet and Saturday’s Razorback Invitational. Some of the nation’s elite talent, including eight NU athletes, will participate in the collegiate portion of the meet, while two Huskers will compete Friday.

Senior Anne Shadle is entered in Friday’s women’s mile run (7 p.m.), while junior Priscilla Lopes will compete in the women’s 60-meter hurdles (8:05 p.m.). Huskers to be featured on Saturday include a pair of NU’s talented men’s high jumpers in junior Aaron Plas and freshman Dusty Jonas. The lone remaining group of athletes to compete for Nebraska will be in the pole vault. Juniors Jenna Blubaugh and Nic Petersen will take aim at the men’s and women’s unseeded pole vault championships, while senior Christi Lehman will vie for the women’s seeded title. Junior Ray Scotten and sophomore Gable Baldwin will look to better some of the nation’s top vaulters in the men’s seeded competition.

The Huskers will take their greatest number of entries to the Iowa State Classic. Forty athletes will make the trip to Ames for the two-day event, including sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics, who will attempt to gain an NCAA qualification in the 800-meter run for the first time in 2005. Others that are scheduled to compete include sophomore Arturs Abolins (men’s long jump); senior Richard Davidson, Jr. and junior Courtney Jones (men’s 60m hurdles); junior Kwonya Ferguson (women’s triple and long jumps); freshman Bubba Kramer (men’s shot put); junior Aaron Nasers (men’s 800m); sophomore Nate Probasco (men’s 200m); sophomore Daniel Roper (men’s triple jump); junior Ashley Selig (women’s long jump, shot put, high jump and 4x400m relay); senior Dusty Stamer (men’s 60m); sophomore Jen Steiner (women’s shot put); freshman Peter van der Westhuizen (men’s mile) and junior Oliver Williams, Jr. (men’s 60 and 200m).

While many of Nebraska’s younger athletes will stay in Lincoln to compete at the Prairie Wolf Invitational, three NCAA provisional qualifiers will also be in attendance at the meet hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan. Juniors Tom Donlin (men’s weight throw), Sara Jane Baker (women’s long jump, high jump and 400m) and Jessie Graff (women’s pole vault) will be among the 20 Huskers competing at the Devaney Center on Friday. Field events begin at 2 p.m., while action on the oval is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

NU Steals Spotlight at Sevigne Husker Invitational
Nebraska had quite the break-out party last weekend, in the form of the 30th annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. NU athletes notched two new NCAA automatic-qualifying performances to go along with seven new provisional marks.

The performance of the weekend belonged to sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics, who broke the four-year old collegiate record in the men’s 600-meter dash by clocking a time of 1:15.60. While Milkevics fell only .48 shy of the world-record time of 1:15.12, he shattered the previous NU record of 1:19.05 (Jerry Marsee: 2-10-90). For his effort, the Riga, Latvia, native shared Co-Male Performer of the Meet honors with Baylor’s Darold Williamson.

Junior Ashley Selig helped the Huskers kick off the invite in style Friday. She shattered her previous personal record in the women’s pentathlon when she collected 4,171 points to win the event. The total eclipsed the automatic-qualifying standard and broke the meet record of 4,026 set last year by Michelle Moran. The high jump and shot put events made the day memorable for Selig, as she set respective personal-best marks of 5-7 3/4 and 38-5.

NU’s other automatic mark was recorded by junior Ray Scotten, who won the men’s pole vault by clearing a personal-best height of 18-0 1/2. The vault is the second-best mark in school history. Sophomore Gable Baldwin also excelled in the event, recording his first provisional-qualifying effort with a mark of 17-4 1/2.

Sophomore Priscilla Lopes continued her dominance of the women’s 60-meter hurdles by improving her automatic-qualifying mark to 8.09 in the preliminary round. She would go on to claim gold in the hurdles, as well as the 60-meter dash, in which she lowered her provisional-qualifying time to 7.34. Lopes was named Female Performer of the Meet.

While Selig shined in the pentathlon, junior Sara Jane Baker also performed well, setting a season-best score of 3,843 to finish second. Baker’s best effort came in the 800-meter run, which she won with a career-best time of 2:13.98 to end her evening.

Husker women recording first-time provisional-qualifying performances included Sheryl Morgan in the 400 meters (54.12), Anne Shadle in the mile (4:45.23) and the 4x400-meter relay (3:39.01) team of Justine Roach, Morgan, Selig and Egle Uljas. Thee NU men, Richard Davidson, Jr. in the 60-meter hurdles (7.85), Nate Probasco in the men’s 200-meter dash (21.22) and Peter van der Westhuizen in the mile (4:04. 85), also hit their premier provisional standard.

Nebraska athletes improving upon already-recorded qualifying marks included sophomore Arturs Abolins in the men’s long jump (24-11), junior Courtney Jones in the men’s 60-meter hurdles (7.86) and senior Dusty Stamer in the men’s 60 meters (6.70).

Milkevics, Selig Earn Weekly Big 12 Conference Honors
Sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics and junior Ashley Selig were named Big 12 Indoor Track Athletes of the Week Tuesday for their performances at last weekend’s Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. The conference honor is the first for each athlete.

Milkevics set a collegiate-record time of 1:15.60 to win the 600-meter run on Saturday. The Riga, Latvia, native’s mark was only .48 shy of the world record, while he smashed the NU (1:19.05) and Bob Devaney Sports Center (1:17.92) marks. The former collegiate standard was set by Tom Gerding of Minnesota in 2001. Milkevics shared the weekly men’s award with Texas A&M’s Fabrice Lapierre.

Selig compiled the greatest indoor pentathlon performance of her career to win the event with a career-best and nation-leading score of 4,171 points on Friday. The Lincoln, Neb., native set personal-best marks in both the high jump (5-7 3/4) and shot put (38-5) on her way to overtaking the No. 1 performance in the Big 12 and claiming an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark. It was the third-best point total in NU history and currently ranks No. 1 in the NCAA by 83 points over second-place Amber Williams of Miami (Fla.).

Milkevics and Selig each earned a pair of NCAA All-America honors for NU last season. Milkevics claimed sixth place in the 800 meters at both the 2004 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Selig finished seventh in the pentathlon at last year’s indoor national meet, before earning bronze in the heptathlon at outdoor nationals.

The conference awards are the second and third earned by NU athletes this season. Priscilla Lopes, the defending Big 12 champion in the 60-meter hurdles, was named the Big 12 Female Track and Field Athlete of the Week on Jan. 18 for her performance at the Holiday Inn Invitational. Lopes received indoor recognition for the first time in her career.

NU Athletes Rank Among Nation’s Best
Both the NU men’s and women’s teams made jumps in this week’s edition of the Trackwire Top 25, a set of rankings that are used to predict the outcome of the NCAA Championships. The women’s squad made a huge leap in the standings from 16th to eighth, with a gain of seven points in their projected NCAA meet score. Meanwhile, the Husker men jumped three spots to 22nd due to a one-point gain.

Individually, Nebraska athletes continue to make their presence felt on the national scene. Several Huskers appear among the top-10 athletes on this week’s latest NCAA performance list.

The current highest-ranking individuals for NU are on the women’s squad. Priscilla Lopes continues to lead the NCAA in the 60-meter hurdles, as she has done all season long, as well as rank sixth in the 60-meter dash. Ashley Selig’s incredible performance last weekend shot her up to No. 1 in the pentathlon from her previous spot at twelfth. Selig holds a large 93-point lead over second-place Amber Williams of Miami (Fla.). Kwonya Ferguson (10th) continues to hold in the top 10 in the triple jump. Huskers hovering near the 10th spot include Anne Shadle (12th) in the mile, Sara Jane Baker (12th) in the pentathlon, Christi Lehman (13th) in the pole vault and NU’s 4x400-meter relay (11th).

Ray Scotten made the biggest leap in the rankings for the Nebraska men, moving from eighth to fourth after reaching 18-0 1/2 last weekend in the pole vault. Gable Baldwin entered the top 10 for the first time ever, now sitting at No. 8 in the pole vault, while Aaron Plas (fourth) and Dusty Jonas (sixth) continue to rank among the nation’s top high jumpers. Arturs Abolins fell one spot to No. 7 in the long jump, while Dusty Stamer fell to No. 13 in the 60 meters. Richard Davidson, Jr. may be the next to enter the top 10. He shot up to 13th after a career-day in the 60-meter hurdles on Saturday.

How Huskers Stack Up Against the Big 12
On the Big 12 conference scene, the Huskers appear to be in good shape at having a chance to repeat as both men’s and women’s indoor team champions. NU currently has at least one athlete ranked among the top-five conference performers for 29 of the 38 events that will be held at this year’s Big 12 Indoor Championships.

The men’s squad appears to lead the way for NU with an athlete in 16 of the 19 conference meet events. Two Huskers, Dmitrijs Milkevics in the 1,000 meters and Ray Scotten in the pole vault, rank No. 1 in the Big 12 for their respective events, while six rank second. Dusty Stamer (60 meters), Nate Probasco (200 meters), Richard Davidson, Jr. (60-meter hurdles), Aaron Plas (high jump), Arturs Abolins (long jump) and NU’s distance medley relay each sit in the conference’s No. 2 spot. The strongest events for the men’s squad are the 60, 200 and 1,000 meters, 60-meter hurdles, high jump and pole vault. Each event claims two Huskers among the top five.

The Nebraska women’s team is more top-heavy when it comes to the conference rankings, with Huskers leading the Big 12 in five events. Priscilla Lopes is NU’s lone double leader, ranking No. 1 in both the 60-meter dash and hurdles. Two athletes, Anne Shadle (mile, 1,000 meters) and Ashley Selig (pentathlon, long jump), lead one event while ranking third in another, while Egle Uljas is NU’s other conference leader in the 600-yard run. Events with multiple Huskers include the 600-yard run (Uljas-1st, Sheryl Morgan-4th), pole vault (Christi Lehman-4th, Jessie Graff-5th), long jump (Selig-3rd, Kwonya Ferguson-4th), triple jump (Ferguson-2nd, Authea Chambers-4th) and the pentathlon (Selig-1st, Sara Jane Baker-2nd, Casie Witte-5th).

From Collegiate Record Holder to....NCAA Qualifier?
One week after running one of the best races in Nebraska history, Dmitrijs Milkevics will return to his specialty, the men’s 800-meter run, at the Iowa State Classic. While he set a collegiate-record time of 1:15.60 in the 600-meter run at last weekend’s Husker Invitatiaonal, he has yet to qualify for the 2005 NCAA Championships in an event. The 600 meters is not a race typically held in the United States, and will not be run at this year’s national meet.

A two-time 2004 NCAA All-American in the 800, Milkevics has yet to compete in the event during the 2005 indoor season, choosing to focus mainly on training instead. This weekend the sophomore will attempt to qualify for the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships while facing his most difficult field since he competed at last summer’s Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Milkevics needs to finish below the NCAA provisional-qualifying standard of 1:50.10 to be considered in contention for this year’s national meet, or reach the automatic mark of 1:48.60. He should have a good chance--he holds a personal-best time of 1:47.82.

Next Up: Big 12 Indoor Championships
Following this weekend’s three road events, the Huskers will take a week off from competition and prepare to defend their 2004 men’s and women’s conference titles at the 2005 Big 12 Indoor Championships, to be held Feb. 25-26 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track.

Friday will mark a busy first day of action at the conference championships, with the women’s pentathlon and men’s heptathlon beginning the meet. The women’s pole vault, men’s and women’s long jump, weight throw, 5,00-meter run and distance medley relays will be the only events, other than the pentathlon, that will conclude on Friday. All other action will be preliminary and semifinal rounds. Competition begins at 9:30 a.m. and should conclude near 9:30 p.m.

The conclusion of the men’s heptahlon kicks off Saturday’s full slate of final-round competition at 9:30 a.m. Remaining field events will begin at 1:30 p.m., while championship rounds on the oval start at 3:00 p.m.

NU Adds Three to Roster
The Husker coaching staff went international in its search for the finest athletes during the past year, and three impact athletes were added to Nebraska’s roster for the 2005 season during the past week, two each to the men’s and women’s squads.

The most accomplished athlete of the group, freshman Egle Uljas, hails from Tallinn, Estonia. Uljas, also a renowned concert pianist, reached the semifinal round of the women’s 400-meter dash at the 2004 Olympics after recording a career-best time of 51.91 in the quarterfinals. That mark would rank No. 1 on NU’s all-time indoor charts, ahead of former Husker Ximena Retsrepo’s school record of 52.12. Uljas is the reigning Estonian national indoor champion in the 400, and holds national records in the 300 meters (38.71), 400 meters both indoors (54.25) and outdoors (51.91) and the indoor 600-yard run (1:20.65).

Like the women’s team, the Husker men also landed a top-level athlete from South Africa. Sophomore Peter van der Westhuizen, from Kempton Park, South Africa, has recorded personal-best times of 1:50.35A over 800 meters and 3:44.0 over 1,500 meters. Van der Westhuizen’s 1,500-meter mark would place seventh on NU’s all-time performance list. He placed second in the 1,500 at the 2003 South African Junior (Under-20) Championships, as well as third in 2002.

Freshman Gatis Spunde, Nebraska’s final addition to the men’s squad, hails from Smiltene, Latvia. Specializing in the 400-meter hurdles, he won the 2004 Latvian national championships in the event, while also earning the Balkan Championships title the same year. Spunde owns a personal-best clocking of 51.31.

Huskers Announce Three Early Signings
Three athletes signed early national letters of intent in November to compete for the Huskers nest year. Included in the group is one Nebraska native, Grand Island Northwest prep star Sam Ogden.

Ogden won the 2004 Nebraska Class B state championship in the pole vault as a junio by clearing a height of 15-6 at last year’s state meet. He also competed at the 2003 state meet, finishing just out of the top-6 scring spots

Also joining the men’s squad will be Randolph Bryant, a long/triple jumper from Quincy, Fla. Bryant placed fourth in the long jump at the 2004 NJCAA Championships for Wallace State College in Hanceville, Ala.

Ari Goldstein a middle distance runner from Soldotna, Alaska, will be added to the women’s team. Goldstein won 2004 Alaska state high school titles in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter run events. She also has claimed two straight Alaska state cross country championships.

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 and Anne Shadle, one junior, Ashley Selig, and one sophomore, Priscilla Lopes. 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 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, Jr. who claimed third place in the 110-meter hurdles at last year’s Big 12 Outdoor Championships, and Kyle Goerl, 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, 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.

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 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.

A pair of newcomers 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. Egle Uljas, a late addition to the Nebraska’s women’s roster reached the semifinal round of the women’s 400-meter dash after blazing to a personal- and Estonian-record time of 51.91 in the preliminaries. Uljas was unable to reach the finals, but did run her second-best time of 53.13 in the semis.

Nebraska's 2005 NCAA Indoor Qualifiers

Women
Automatic
Name Event Mark
Priscilla Lopes 60m Hurdles 8.14
Ashley Selig Pentathlon 4,171

Provisional
Name Event Mark
Sara Jane Baker Pentathlon 3,843
Kwonya Ferguson Triple Jump 42-6 1/4
Jessie Graff Pole Vault 12-11 1/2
Sheryl Morgan 400 Meters 54,12
Christi Lehman Pole Vault 13-1 1/2
Priscilla Lopes 60 Meters 7.34
Anne Shadle Mile 4:45.23
Roach, Morgan,
Selig, Uljas 4x400m Relay 3:39.01

Men
Automatic
Name Event Mark
Ray Scotten Pole Vault 18-0 1/2

Provisional
Name Event Mark
Arturs Abolins Long Jump 24-11
Gable Baldwin Pole Vault 17-4 1/2
Richard Davidson 60m Hurdles 7.85
Tom Donlin Weight Throw 62-11 1/2
Dusty Jonas High Jump 7-3
Courtney Jones 60m Hurdles 7.86
Aaron Plas High Jump 7-3 1/4
Nate Probasco 200 Meters 21.22
Dusty Stamer 60 Meters 6.70
Peter van der Westhuizen Mile 4:04.85