Husker Women Win Big 12 Championship

MANHATTAN, Kan. ? Anne Shadle, Priscilla Lopes and a host of other Huskers helped boost the Nebraska women’s track and field team to its first conference outdoor team championship since 2000 Saturday during the conclusion of the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The NU women edged Texas by a score of 126.67-117, while the Husker men’s team (136) earned runner-up honors behind team champion Texas Tech (149.50).

Shadle put the women’s team race out of reach with her win in the women’s 1,500-meter run (4:15.66) and second-place finish in the 5,000 meters (16:27.21). The South Sioux City, Neb., native had never run the 5,000 prior to Saturday, but with her team in dire need of points late in the day, she delivered the third-fastest performance in Husker women’s team history.

"I knew I needed to get as many points as I could since there was still the 4x400 (meter relay) to go, and you never know what’s going to happen," Shadle said. "Even if they would have told me (the points were not needed), I’m too much of a competitor to let anyone else beat me."

Lopes was her normal, spectacular self in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. She clocked a season-best time of 12.85 to run away with the race by 0.27 over Texas’ Ashlee Williams.

"I just came out here and wanted to do the best that I could," Lopes said. "I just react to the gun, run the fastest that I can and hope for the best that I can do."

Dace Ruskule added a title in the women’s discus with a throw of 174-11 for her first-ever Big 12 championship. Ruskule’s mark was short of her season and career bests, but she still managed to outdistance teammate Laura Wortmann, who earned second with a spin of 172-4.

"It was not a great performance for me, but I am happy with the result," Ruskule said. "It was a good competition, but I am not satisfied. It makes me want to practice much harder so that I can do the best that I can do."

The Husker men’s team received a shot in the arm late in the day when Aaron Plas won his first Big 12 title in the men’s high jump. Plas was one of three competitors to clear 7-3 ?, but the McCook, Neb., native took first for making it over the bar on his first attempt.

"The whole outdoor season, I’ve been jumping well," Plas said. "I really felt like I was ready to break out at some point. I thought I did that today. I’d like to (jump) a little bit higher, but a win is a win."

Nebraska’s men’s 4x100-meter relay team of Arturs Abolins, Oliver Williams Jr., Nate Probasco and Dusy Stamer also won gold on Sunday for the second consecutive year after recording a blazing time of 39.59. The mark is good for third on NU’s all-time performance list, while it shattered the group’s previous season-best time of 39.86.

"All four of us ran good races, and two out of the three handoffs were pretty good," Stamer said. "But it was still a great time for us this time of year. That was our goal from the beginning of the season, repeat as Big 12 champions. So it feels pretty good."

Several non-winning Huskers also turned in fantastic performances Sunday. In all, six NU athletes garnered runner-up honors.

Dmitrijs Milkevics recorded the second-fastest performance in NU men’s history with his time of 1:45.10 in the 800-meter run. Although he finished second behind Texas Tech’s Jonathan Johnson, the 2004 Olympian for Latvia did manage to set a career-best mark.

Frances Keating earned a suprising second-place finish in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with her personal-low time of 57.87. Another Nebraska hurdler, Courtney Jones, was the runner-up finisher in the men’s 110-meter hurdles after tying his career-best clocking of 13.84.

Probasco notched a silver medal in the men’s 200-meter dash (20.93) to go along with his 4x100 gold award, while he also ran a leg on NU’s third-place 4x400-meter relay (3:07.61). Stamer finished third in the men’s 100-meter dash (10.43).

Other NU athletes to earn high scoring spots Sunday included Aaron Nasers (fourth) in the men’s 800 meters; Dusty Jonas (fourth) in the men’s high jump; Christi Lehman (fourth) in the women’s pole vault; and Peter van der Westhuizen (third) in the men’s 1,500 meters;

"It was a great win for our women, and a real team effort," Head Coach Gary Pepin said. "When you have one team that wins and one that doesn’t, it takes a little bit of the edge off, but at the same time, I felt like our men had a pretty good meet in a lot of places. We still had a lot of strong performances, so I’m really proud of both teams."

With the Big 12 Conference races now over, the Huskers switch their focus to the national scene. The NCAA Midwest Region Championships (May 27-28) will be up next for Nebraska following a week off from competition.