Huskers in the Hunt for NCAA Qualifiers

With the Big 12 Conference season now officially over, the Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams once again turn their attention toward the national level. Forty-one Huskers (19 women, 22 men) will travel to Norman, Okla., for the NCAA Midwest Region Track and Field Championships this weekend at Oklahoma’s John Jacobs Track and Field Complex.

Action begins on Friday, May 27 with the men’s high jump and discus events at Noon. All Friday running events, except for the men’s and women’s 5,000-meter runs, will be preliminary heats. Competition on Saturday, May 28 includes all running event finals. The women’s high jump and discus events will begin Saturday’s action at Noon.

The top five finishers in each individual event, as well as the top three teams in each relay event, will earn automatic qualifications to next month’s NCAA Outdoor Championships (June 8-11) in Sacramento, Calif. The next three finishers for each event, based on reasonable performance, will be placed in a pool of at-large selections from which the final meet field of 544 athletes will be filled out.

The meet is one of three consecutive scored competitions for Nebraska. The NU men’s team will attempt to duplicate its 2004 regional title. The Husker women won the first-ever NCAA Midwest Region team championship in 2003, and finished second to Texas in 2004.

Several Huskers appear to have very good shots at making it to next month’s NCAA Championships. In all, 23 NU athletes (nine women, 14 men) rank among the top eight in the Midwest Region for their respective events.

Where to Find Results this Weekend
Live results for the NCAA Midwest Region Championships can be found at www.soonersports.com. Complete recaps covering Nebraska’s athletes will be available at www.huskers.com following the conclusion of each day’s events.

NU Women Win Second 2005 Big 12 Team Title
The Nebraska women’s team completed its second-ever sweep of the Big 12 Championships by winning the outdoor team title over second-place Texas in Manhattan, Kan. The Huskers also claimed both women’s indoor and outdoor titles in 2000.

The win was only the second outdoor championship for the squad since the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1997. Counting indoor titles, Nebraska has now earned seven conference championships, which trails only Texas (nine) in the short history of the Big 12. The combined number of men’s and women’s championships stands at 19, which leads the second-place Longhorns’ total of 13.

NU’s all-time conference totals are eye-popping. Last weekend’s win for the women’s team was its 40th all-time championship between the former Big Eight Conference and current Big 12, while the men’s total continues to stand at 57. Nebraska (97 total titles) will be in reach of cracking the century mark next season if it can claim three of the four team titles.

Women Claim Five Individual Conference Titles
While the Nebraska women and men were earning respective team finishes of first and second last weekend, the Huskers also managed to take home eight individual Big 12 titles.

Priscilla Lopes won her third conference title of 2005 in the women’s 100-meter hurdles after recording the weekend’s two fastest times in the prelims and finals. Lopes was the only competitor to break the 13-second barrier, notching times of 12.99 (prelims) and12.85 (finals).

Ashley Selig led a Husker sweep of the 1-2-3 spots in the women’s heptathlon by matching the career-best total of 5,587 points that she set at last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships. Selig set individual event personal-best marks in the 100-meter hurdles (14.19), shot put (40-0 3/4) and 200-meter dash events.

Shadle pulled double-duty during the weekend by winning the women’s 1,500 meters and earning runner-up status in the 5,000. The win in the 1,500 was expected, but the 5,000 performance was not. The race, which Shadle decided to participate in to help NU claim the women’s title, marked the first time Shadle had ever run the event. She did better than anyone expected. The South Sioux City, Neb., native ran the third-fastest time in school history while clinching the Big 12 championship for her team.

Nebraska had two first-time women’s winners in Dace Ruskule and Kayla Wilkinson. Wilkinson managed to oudistance the second-place competitor in the javelin by seven feet with a heave of 162-11, while Ruskule defeated teammate Laura Wortmann with a mark of 174-11 in the discus. Only sophomores, both athletes could have more titles in their futures. Ruskule and Wilkinson each rank in the top 10 in the NCAA for their events heading into this weekend’s regional meet.

Baldwin, Plas Earn First Big 12 Championships
Two members of the Husker men’s team overcame stiff competition, which included members of their own team, to claim their first-ever Big 12 Conference titles last weekend.

Gable Baldwin continued his impressive sophomore campaign by tying former teammate Eric Eshbach’s Big 12 Outdoor Championships record (18-2 1/2) to win his first conference title. Baldwin, who has vaulted all outdoor season with a series of fractures in his foot, also had to overcome teammate and NCAA No. 2-ranked Ray Scotten, who ended the competition with a height of 17-10 1/2. Baldwin’s performance was the second time this year he has cleared the personal-best height. Scotten has reached the mark once this season.

Aaron Plas outdueled defending NCAA champion Andra Manson (Texas) and NCAA leader Kyle Lancaster (Kansas State) in the Big 12 men’s high jump competition. All three competitors cleared a height of 7-3 3/4, but Plas won the event due to fewer overall misses. The mark tied a career-best height for the McCook, Neb., native, while it moved him into a tie for No. 5 on the current NCAA performance list. Teammate Dusty Jonas finished just out of the final group with a clearance of 7-2 1/4.

4x100-Meter Relay Steps Up for Husker Men
Entering last weekend’s Big 12 Outdoor Championships, it would have been tough to recognize Nebraska’s men’s 4x100-meter relay as the defending conference champion. The squad was hidden in the Big 12 rankings at No. 4, which was very low for a team returning three members from last season’s NCAA All-America crew. Its previous season-best time of 39.86 was almost one-half second slower than the school-record mark it set at last year’s NCAA Championships (39.41).

The squad burst back onto the national scene in a big way by running past the field and winning its second straight conference title. The group also rewrote program history in the process. Nebraska had won only six 4x100-meter (or 4x110-meter) relay conference titles in its long, 98-year history, none of them coming in consecutive years. The wins also are the only two relay titles for NU in the Big 12 era.

While this year’s relay team may have taken some time to gel, it very well could be on the same path it created last season. In fact, this year’s edition may even be better, having produced a much quicker Big 12-winning time this season (39.59) than last year (40.92).

Hard-Luck Husker
Dmitrijs Milkevics turned in a career and world-class performance in the Big 12 men’s 800-meter run competition, but it only earned him second place. Milkevics clocked a personal-best time of 1:45.10 that currently ranks third in the world, No. 1 for all European athletes and second in the NCAA this season. The only problem was that No. 2 on the world list was right ahead of him.

Texas Tech’s Jonathan Johnson recorded the second-fastest time
(1:44.86) in the world this season in the 800-meter run finals, just edging Milkevics by 0.24. Johnson’s mark is now the top U.S. time for 2005. While he was the runner-up, Milkevics did manage to launch himself into second on NU’s all-time 800-meter chart behind former Husker great Diedonne Kwizera (1:44.76), moving up from his current position at No. 5.

Another Husker competitor in the finals was Aaron Nasers, who shattered his own personal-best time with a clocking of 1:47.43 that earned him fourth place. The race was also important to Nasers for a reason other than team points, as he entered Nebraska’s all-time 800-meter performance list at No. 6.

Pepin Named Big 12 Women’s Coach of the Year
Nebraska track and field coach Gary Pepin was honored as the Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year, the Big 12 Conference announced Thursday, May 19.

Pepin led the NU women to their 18th all-time outdoor conference championship, and the 17th under his watch, in Manhattan, Kan. The Huskers earned their second Big 12 outdoor title after edging Texas by 9 2/3 points.

The women crowned four individual champions at the conference meet, while the men won three titles en route to a second-place finish behind Texas Tech.

The Husker women completed their second indoor-outdoor conference sweep since the formation of the Big 12 conference after taking both titles during the 2000 season.

Pepin is in his 25th season at Nebraska and has served as the head coach for both the men and women the last 22 years. He has been selected as the Big 12 Outdoor Coach of the Year five times, including three times for the men’s team and twice for the women.

The Pittsburgh, Kan., native led his teams to 63 indoor and outdoor conference championships over the last 25 years, making him the all-time winningest track and field coach in the history of the Big 12 Conference and the former Big Eight Conference.

Huskers Climbing the All-Time Charts
Nebraska’s all-time performance charts were turned upside down at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. Fifteen Huskers either entered or moved up the rankings in 11 events during the three days of competition.

The biggest splash was made by a pair of Husker men’s sprinters. Dusty Stamer (100 meters) and Nate Probasco (200 meters) each turned in the quickest automatic-timed performances under any conditions in school history for their respective events. Stamer was clocked at 10.14w while winning his preliminary heat on Saturday, but a wind reading of +5.0 m/s was also recorded at his back. Probasco (20.53w) also fell victim to the same circumstance, but with less of a wind reading (+3.1m/s). Neither mark will go down as an official school record.

Two more Huskers moved into the No. 2 spots: Dmitrijs Milkevics (800 meters) and Issar Yazhbin (hammer throw). Milkevics moved up from his previous position of fifth, while Yazhbin inched up from third. Both also came close to breaking the school records; Milkevics (1:45.10) was merely 0.34 shy of the 800-meter record, while Yazhbin fell just three inches short of the hammer mark.

Other Nebraska chart-climbers included:
>Men’s 4x100-Meter Relay (39.59) -- Unranked to No. 3
>Anne Shadle, Women’s 5,000 (16:27.21) -- Unranked to No. 3
>Frances Keating, Women’s 400m Hurdles (57.87) -- No. 5 to No. 3
>Aaron Plas, Men’s High Jump (7-3 3/4) -- No. 6 to No. 4
>Aaron Nasers, Men’s 800 (1:47.43) -- Unranked to No. 6
>Aaron Ross, Men’s 110m Hurdles (wind) (14.05w) -- Unranked to No. 6
>Jenna Blubaugh, Women’s Pole Vault (11-11 3/4) -- No. 9 to No. 7
>Dusty Jonas, Men High Jump (7-2 1/4) -- No. 10 to No. 8
>Lee Martin, Men’s Decathlon (6,769) -- Unranked to No. 9
>Adam Evans, Men’s Hammer (175-0) -- Unranked to No. 10

NU Fourth, Seventh in Latest Dual Meet Rankings
The Nebraska men’s and women’s teams both continue to rank among the top-10 teams in this week’s USTCA Team Power Rankings. The Husker women won the final Indoor Power Rankings earlier this year, while the men finished sixth.

Despite a gain of nearly 14 points that raised its season-total score to 387.25, the NU men remained seventh in the rankings for the third consecutive week. Other Big 12 Conference squads also rated among the poll’s top 25 include Texas Tech (first) and Kansas State (14th). Nebraska once again closed the gap on No. 1 this week, from nearly 15.5 points to about 10. The Nos. 2 - 7 teams are separated only by a margin of four points.

The NU women’s team moved up a spot to fourth place this week after jumping two spots last week. The Huskers gained nearly 15 points to raise their potential score to 383.68. The Huskers are the top Big 12 Conference team, with Kansas State (ninth), Texas Tech (26th) and Missouri (28th) also appearing among the top-30schools. NU has cut the margin between itself and first-place UCLA nearly in half over the last two weeks of competition from about 48 points to nearly 24.

The Team Power Rankings are a unique a system of rating college teams on the basis of quality of athletic performance, team depth and dual meet scoring potential. The system rates teams in the same fashion as a decathlete or heptathlete. Points are assigned for two athletes in each event contested in a dual meet and points assigned on the basis of quality of performance. The top person in each event has his/her points doubled to adjust for the value of the number one performer on each team in a dual meet. The points for all events are then totaled for the ranking score.

Fantastic Freshmen Make Their Marks
A common theme during the outdoor season has been young Huskers recording big performances. Six NU freshmen, who combined to notch 11 regional-qualifying performances, will compete in at least one event during this weekend’s NCAA Midwest Regional.

Nebraska’s youthful group of throwers leads the way with three regional qualifiers. Bubba Kramer was able to record his first qualifying performance in his first outdoor meet--the Stanford Invitational. His best throw of 56-10 1/4 in the men’s shot put currently ranks 12th in the Big 12. Kramer will not compete this weekend, though, due to an injured back. A pair of freshmen Husker women’s discus throwers, Amber Curtis and Laura Wortmann, joined NU’s Midwest Regional list at the Emporia State Relays. Wortmann and Curtis have garnered respective conference rankings of second and sixth with their recent performances, while Wortmann also has qualified in the shot put.

Dusty Jonas became the first member of the NU vertical jumps crew to qualify for regionals when he finished fifth in the long jump at the Texas Relays. Jonas is no stranger to early-career success, as he finished as runner-up in the high jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Meanwhile, Frances Keating joined fellow freshman women’s qualifiers Curtis and Wortmann by finishing seventh in the 400-meter hurdles at Texas, while she also teamed with three of NU’s upperclassmen to reach qualifier status in the 4x400-meter relay.

The Kansas Relays was another fine meet for Husker freshman, as Keating recorded another qualifying mark to win the 100-meter hurdles and tie Sheryl Morgan for the team lead with three regional qualifications. Egle Uljas also joined NU’s group of fantastic freshman with her qualifying performance that won the women’s 800 meters.

Both Keating and Uljas were a part of the Huskers’ 4x100-meter relay team that notched its first qualification of the season at the Nebraska Invitational, while Uljas also qualified in her second individual event of the year, the 400 meters.

LeRon Williams became the final member of NU’s freshman class to qualify for regionals when he earned fourth in the long jump at last week’s Big 12 Outdoor Championships with a personal-best leap of 24-11.

NU Athletes Rank Among Nation’s Best
The newest set of Trackwire Top 25 rankings for the 2005 outdoor season were released last Tuesday with the Nebraska men’s and women’s teams each appearing among the nation’s top 10 teams. The women’s team slid from seventh place to ninth this week, while the men’s team made a big jump from No. 15 to sixth.

The Trackwire Top 25, a set of rankings used to predict the outcome of this year’s NCAA Championships, are calculated by track and field statistician Gary Verigin, who uses his "Dandy Dozen" power rankings of the top 12 athletes in each NCAA event. Fifteen Huskers appear in this week’s edition of the "Dandy Dozen," the same number as last week’s season-best total. For a complete list of NU athletes ranked, see page 4 of this week’s track and field notes.

With the help of a big weekend at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships two weeks ago, several Huskers own lofty event rankings on the NCAA’s latest performance list.

Nebraska women who have earned high marks include: Anne Shadle, the top-ranked athlete for the 1,500-meter run; Priscilla Lopes, who ranks third in the 100-meter hurdles; and Ashley Selig and Dace Ruskule, who own respective No. 4 rankings for the heptathlon and discus. Kayla Wilkinson also continues to rank among the nation’s top-10 competitors in the javelin at seventh for the second consecutive week. Sara Jane Baker (12th-heptathlon), Frances Keating (18th-400-meter hurdles), Christi Lehman (20th(tie)-pole vault) and Laura Wortmann (20th-discus) also own top-20 places in the respective events.

The NU men’s team carries several highly ranked individuals. Dmitrijs Milkevics (800), Gable Baldwin (tie-pole vault) and Ray Scotten (tie- pole vault) each rank second in the NCAA for their events, while Aaron Plas (5th-high jump) and Nate Probasco (tie-9th-200) also have earned top-10 rankings. Aaron Nasers (11th-800), Richard Davidson Jr. (14th-110m hurdles), Dusty Jonas (16th-high jump) and NU’s 4x100-meter relay (tie-14th) also fit in among the nation’s top-20.

Selig, Shadle Claim First NCAA Championships
Two Huskers went a long way toward pushing the Nebraska women’s squad to its fourth-place team finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Ashley Selig and Anne Shadle each broke NU records to earn their first national title with the Huskers.

Selig overcame a strong performance by BYU’s Amy Menlove to claim the women’s pentathlon championship with a school-record 4,327 points. The three-time NCAA All-American set personal bests in the high jump (5-9 1/4) and long jump (20-2 1/2) to break her own Husker women’s record of 4,269 points. Selig’s win came as no surprise; she entered the competition with the nation’s No. 1 ranking for the event.

Anne Shadle provided what outsiders may have described as a mild upset in the women’s mile. Shadle entered the weekend with the nation’s No. 4 time in the event, but gave the best performance of her life during Saturday’s final to finish in an NU-record 4:38.22. The mark bumped former Husker great Fran ten Bensel’s 1992 record of 4:38.33 from the top of the Nebraska women’s charts.

Priscilla Lopes (60m, 60m hurdles) also added a pair of All-America honors for the women, while Gable Baldwin (pole vault), Richard Davidson Jr. (60-meter hurdles), Dusty Jonas (high jump), Aaron Plas (high jump), Nate Probasco (200 meters), Daniel Roper (triple jump), Ray Scotten (pole vault) and Dusty Stamer (60 meters) earned recognition for the NU men.

Women's NCAA Midwest Region Championships Roster
Name Class Hometown (High School/Other School)
>Sara Jane Baker Jr. Kalamazoo, Mich. (Mattawan, Mich.) High Jump
>Danute Ceika So. Valmiera, Latvia (Valmiera Viesturs) 800m
>Amber Curtis RFr. Brodhead, Wis. (Brodhead) Discus
>Kwonya Ferguson Jr. Melbourne, Fla. (Rockledge/Barton County) Long Jump, Triple Jump
>Frances Keating Fr. Haileybury, Ontario (Timiskiming Secondary) 100m Hurdles, 400m Hurdles, 4x100m
>Christi Lehman Sr. Newton, Kan. (Hesston, Kan.) Pole Vault
>Priscilla Lopes Jr. Whitby, Ontario (Father Leo J. Austen) 100m Hurdles
>Sheryl Morgan So. Manchester, Jamaica (Holmwood Tech/George C. Foster College) 400m Hurdles, 4x400m
>Kim Pancoast Jr. Cape Girardeau, Mo. (Cape Girardeau Central) 1,500m
>Justine Roach So. Leicester, England (Beauchamp College) 400m Hurdles
>Dace Ruskule So. Vecumnieku Pagasts, Latvia (Latvian Academy of Sport Education) Discus
>Ashley Selig Jr. Lincoln, Neb. (Lutheran) 4x400m
>Jamie Senkbile Jr. Central City, Neb. (Nebraska Christian/Trinity International) Hammer Throw
>Anne Shadle Sr. South Sioux City, Neb. (South Sioux City) 1,500m
>Jen Steiner So. Columbus, Neb. (Columbus) Shot Put
>Egle Uljas Fr. Tallinn, Estonia (Tallinn Music High School) 800m, 4x400m
>Kayla Wilkinson So. Deshler, Neb. (Belleville, Kan.) Javelin
>Casie Witte Jr. Lincoln, Neb. (Southeast) High Jump
>Laura Wortmann Fr. Crofton, Neb. (Crofton) Shot Put, Discus

Men's NCAA Midwest Region Championships Roster
Name Class Hometown (High School/Other School)
>Arturs Abolins So. Riga, Latvia (Riga Secondary) Long Jump, 4x100m
>Gable Baldwin So. Grand Island, Neb. (Central Catholic) Pole Vault
>Richard Davidson Jr. Sr. Lewisville, Texas (Lewisville/Huston Tillotson) 110m Hurdles
>Tom Donlin Jr. Seattle, Wash. (O’Dea) Hammer Throw
>Mark Harrison Jr. Philadelphia, Pa. (Simon Gratz) 400m Hurdles, 4x400m
>Dusty Jonas Fr. La Vernia, Texas (La Vernia) Pole Vault
>Courtney Jones Jr. Lancaster, Texas (Lancaster) 100m Hurdles
>Nenad Loncar Sr. Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro (Economics/Univ. of Physical Education) 110m Hurdles
>Dmitrijs Milkevics So. Riga, Latvia (Riga Technical College/Univ. of Latvia) 800m, 4x400m
>Aaron Nasers Jr. Kalamazoo, Mich. (Pennfield/Western Michigan) 800m
>Andy Nelson Jr. Greenwood, Mo. (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) 400m Hurdles, 4x400m
>Nic Petersen So. Omaha, Neb. (Creighton Prep) Pole Vault
>Aaron Plas Jr. McCook, Neb. (McCook) High Jump
>Nate Probasco So. Scribner, Neb. (Scribner) 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m
>Daniel Roper So. Plantation, Fla. (Plantation) Long Jump, Triple Jump
>Aaron Ross So. Mullica Hill, N.J. (Clearview Regional) 110m Hurdles
>Ray Scotten Jr. Indianapolis, Ind. (Ben Davis/Southern Illinois) Pole Vault
>Dusty Stamer Sr. Grand Island, Neb. (Grand Island) 100m, 4x100m
>Peter van der Westhuizen So. Kempton Park, South Africa (Rhodesfield/Univ. of Pretoria) 1,500m
>LeRon Williams Fr. Omaha, Neb. (Central) Long Jump
>Oliver Williams Jr. Jr. Central Islip, N.Y. (Central Islip) 100m, 4x100m
>Issar Yazhbin So. Yavne, Israel (Ginsburg) Hammer Throw