Four Huskers Qualify for NCAA Meet

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>NORMAN, Okla. ? Four Nebraska athletes qualified for the NCAA Track and Field Championships during day one of the NCAA Midwest Regional Friday at Oklahoma’s John Jacobs Track and Field Complex. The Husker men currently sit in fifth place in the regional team title race with 16 points, while the NU women are 13th with four points.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Aaron Plas (tie-second) and Dusty Jonas (fourth) notched an early 12 points in the high jump for the Husker men’s team to give the squad an early lead in the points race. Both jumpers qualified for the NCAA meet by recording leaps of 7-1, but Plas finished ahead of Jonas because of fewer misses.

 

Arturs Abolins added four points for the men’s team with a fifth-place finish in the men’s long jump. His leap of 25-5 ? barely edged Northern Iowa’s Cody Eichmeier for the final automatic NCAA bid.

 

Christi Lehman qualified for her fifth NCAA Championships in the women’s pole vault after clearing an outdoor season-best height of 13-3 3/4. Lehman just met the automatic-qualifying provision with her fifth-place finish.

 

All running events held Friday, with the exception of the men’s and women’s 5,000-meter runs, were preliminary races. The top-eight finishers advanced to compete in Saturday’s finals. Fourteen NU athletes made it through their prelim competitions Friday.

 

Three Huskers qualified for Saturday’s final in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. Courtney Jones led the way for NU as the second seeded finisher by winning his prelim heat in a personal-best time of 13.83. Richard Davidson Jr. finished third in 13.91, while Nenad Loncar sneaked into the finals with his mark of 14.02.

 

The Nebraska women’s 100-meter hurdlers fared nearly as well, placing two in the final heat. Priscilla Lopes recorded the quickest time of the day with her 13.02 clocking, while Frances Keating earned the sixth seed in 13.58.

 

The Husker men’s 4x100-meter relay team of Arturs Abolins, Oliver Williams Jr., Nate Probasco and Dusty Stamer cruised into the finals by running a season-best time of 39.52. Stamer held off a late surge by Texas’ Trey Hardee down the final stretch, but kicked late to help NU record the fastest time of the three preliminary heats.

 

Probasco continued his dominance of the men’s 200-meter dash Friday by recording the day’s fastest mark of 20.79, which broke his personal best by 0.14.

 

Peter van der Westhuizen (3:47.15) finished second in his heat, and fourth overall, during the men’s 1,500-meter preliminaries to qualify for Saturday’s final, while Egle Uljas (2:07.09) did the same in the women’s 800 meters. Uljas’ time was a career low for the 800.

 

Justine Roach (58.64) and Mark Harrison (50.92) each earned spots in their respective fields of women’s and men’s 400-meter hurdles finals. Both set career-best times during the prelims, with Harrison cutting more than one second off of his previous low of 51.97.

 

Other Huskers advancing to Saturday’s event finals included Dmitrijs Milkevics (1:49.15) in the men’s 800 meters and Oliver Williams Jr. (10.38) and Stamer (10.48) in the men’s 100-meter dash.

 

Nebraska is set for a busy Saturday as Huskers are scheduled to compete in 20 of the 28 event finals. The women’s discus and men’s high jump begin field event action at Noon, while running events are scheduled to commence at 5 p.m.

Media Note: For complete results from the NCAA Midwest Region Championships, visit the following link:

http://www.ncaasports.com/track-and-field/results/outdoor/2005/div1/midwest/results