NU Concludes Regular Season at Ed Weir

The Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams will polish off the regular season portion of the 2005 schedule on Saturday with the Nebraska Invitational, the lone home meet of the outdoor season. Field events are slated to begin at 2:30 p.m. with the men’s hammer throw and long jump events, as well as the women’s javelin and pole vault competitions. Action on the track is scheduled to commence at 4 p.m. with the women’s 4x100-meter relay.

The meet will serve as a tune-up for next week’s Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and will give Husker athletes one more chance to qualify for this month’s NCAA Midwest Regional Championships. Teams to participate this weekend include Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Drake, Missouri-Kansas City, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota State, Wichita State and Cloud County CC. Live results will be available online via the track home page on huskers.com.

The Huskers will host just one home competition at the Ed Weir track this season for the second straight year. NU hosted only the Nebraska Quadrangular in 2004. The last time the Huskers hosted more than one home outdoor meet was in 2003, when both the Nebraska Twilight and NCAA Midwest Regional were held at Ed Weir Stadium.

Nearly every Husker expected to make next week’s conference championship roster will compete in at least one event this weekend. One theme for the Nebraska Invitational will be NU athletes competing in events other than their specialties. Some of the interesting changeups include Kyle Doperalski, Eric Rasmussen and Paul Wilson in the 1,500-meter run; Dmitrijs Milkevics in the men’s 400 meters; Nate Probasco in the men’s 100 meters; Aaron Ross in the 400-meter hurdles; Sheryl Morgan, Justine Roach and Egle Uljas in the women’s 200 meters; and Kim Pancoast and Anne Shadle in the women’s 800 meters.

Next Up: Big 12 Outdoor Championships (Friday, May 13-Sunday, May 15)
Nebraska will attempt to become the first Big 12 Conference school to earn its second season sweep of the men’s and women’s conference championships May 13-15 in Manhattan, Kan. The 2000 NU squad was the last to claim each of the conference’s four single-season titles. The only other Big 12 school to accomplish the feat was Texas in 1999.

Six Current Huskers Set to Graduate
The University of Nebraska track and field program would like to congratulate a select group of athletes who will be earning degrees during this weekend’s Commencement ceremonies.

Six current members of the NU men’s squad will be earning letters Saturday including Jesse Colburn (finance), Kyle Doperalski (broadcasting), Kyle Goerl (psychology), Nenad Loncar (economics), Tim Williams (exercise science) and Paul Wilson (English).

Eight former Huskers will also earn their degrees including Authea Chambers (accounting), Ineta Radevica (economics), Na’Tassia Vice (broadcasting), Michele Witter (psychology), Eric Eshbach (art), Kevin Johnson (finance), David Olson (law) and Brad Teeple (sociology).

Congratulations to these current and former Huskers for their excellence both in and out of the classroom.

NU Collects Three Drake Relays Titles
Nebraska put its imprint on the 2005 Drake Relays by winning three event championships.

Huskers won both the men’s and women’s pole vault events Friday. Gable Baldwin outlasted teammate Ray Scotten (second place) to win the men’s section with a personal-best clearance of 18-2 1/2. Christi Lehman claimed the women’s title after reaching a height of 12-11 1/2. Lehman declined to continue her run after eliminating the remainder of the field.

Dmitrijs Milkevics added NU’s lone win in a running event by taking the men’s special Invitational section of the 800-meter run Saturday in a time of 1:47.68. He was one of only two collegiate athletes in the race, which was comprised mainly of professional runners. The time was a season low for Milkevics, who knocked more than two full seconds off his previous 2005 outdoor mark of 1:50.29.

Three other Huskers earned runner-up honors, including Kayla Wilkinson, who set a career-best mark of 174-4 to earn silver in the women’s javelin. Dace Ruskule (179-3) also gained a second-place finish on Friday in the women’s discus, while Peter van der Westhuizen (3:47.77) did the same on Saturday in the men’s 1,500-meter run.

Sara Jane Baker and Danute Ceika were the only NU athletes to notch new NCAA regional-qualifying marks at Drake. Baker’s third-place height of 5-8 3/4 in the women’s high jump just eclipsed the qualifying standard, while Ceika’s season-low clocking of 2:09.23 in the 800 meters earned a regional qualification.

Lopes Wins First Penn Relays Title
Priscilla Lopes added another moniker to her already impressive r?sum? last weekend?Penn Relays champion.

Lopes won her first women’s 100-meter hurdles title of the outdoor season in grand style on a wet and cold Saturday in Philadelphia, Pa. The Whitby, Ontario, native posted the competition’s two fastest overall times on the weekend in the finals (12.97) and preliminaries (13.01). She was 0.10 quicker than South Carolina’s Tiffany Ross-Williams during the finals.

The men’s 4x110-meter shuttle hurdle relay team of Richard Davidson Jr., Courtney Jones, Nenad Loncar and Aaron reached their goal of breaking the Nebraska record for the event for the second straight year while finishing a close second place to Tennessee (54.97). The squad’s time of 55.12 smashed the same lineup’s 2004 Husker record of 56.14, and it also bested the previous Big 12 Conference standard of 55.80 (Texas A&M, 1982). Individually, Loncar, Jones and Davidson Jr. went 5-6-7 during the 110-meter hurdles final in respective times of 13.89, 14.04 and 14.06.

Husker men’s high jumpers Dusty Jonas and Aaron Plas placed second and third during the Championship section of the men’s high jump competition. Jonas’ clearance of 7-0 1/2 equaled that of winner Tom Smialek (Akron), but he finished runner-up due to earlier misses. Plas reached a final mark of 6-11.

Nebraska’s men’s 4x100-meter relay team of Oliver Williams Jr., Arturs Abolins, Nate Probasco and Dusty Stamer won the College men’s relay heat after missing out on qualifying for the final spot in the Championship heat during Friday’s prelims. The squad’s recorded a time of 40.23 during the College finals.

Homebound Huskers Win at Wesleyan
Of those athletes who remained in Lincoln last weekend, several elected to participate in the Nebraska Wesleyan Twilight Meet. Nebraska athletes gained five event titles and one new regional qualifier.

NU winners included Korey Hardiway (12.20) in the women’s 100-meter dash, Tim Williams (1:53.20) in the men’s 800 meters, Patrick Southern (15-2) in the men’s pole vault, Jesse Colburn (192-11) in the men’s javelin and Tom Donlin (183-3) in the men’s hammer throw. Donlin earned his first regional qualification with his performance.

Baldwin Wins Weekly Big 12 Award
Gable Baldwin was named the Big 12 Conference Men’s Track and Field Athlete of the Week Tuesday for his efforts during last weekend’s Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Baldwin won his first Drake Relays pole vault title with a career-best vault of 18-2 1/2.

The Grand Island, Neb., native tied teammate Ray Scotten for the NCAA’s top 2005 outdoor performance with the clearance, which was more than a foot better than Baldwin’s previous outdoor best (17-0 1/2). The Huskers’ marks currently lead the Big 12 by six inches. BYU’s Robbie Pratt overtook the NCAA lead later on Friday with a mark of 18-4 1/2, so Baldwin and Scotten currently rank in a tie for No. 2.

Marshevet Hooker from Texas won the women’s weekly award for winning the women’s 100-meter dash competition at last weekend’s Penn Relays.

The Big 12 honor is the sixth earned by Husker athletes so far during the 2005 season. Anne Shadle and Scotten both have been named Athlete of the Week outdoors, while Priscilla Lopes, Dmitrijs Milkevics and Ashley Selig each were awarded during the indoor season.

Huskers Climbing Up the All-Time Charts
Husker athletes moved up the all-time Nebraska performance lists in multiple events last weekend at both the Drake Relays and Penn Relays.

The most notable performance was that of the men’s 4x110-meter shuttle hurdle relay team of Richard Davidson Jr., Courtney Jones, Nenad Loncar and Aaron Ross. The team broke the school record by more than a full second with a time of 55.12 at the Penn Relays. The mark also bested Texas A&M’s 1982 Big 12 Conference record of 55.80.

Two other relays moved into NU’s top-10 performances at the Drake Relays. The 4x800-meter relay squad of Ashley Selig, Anne Shadle, Kim Pancoast and Danute Ceika recorded the fourth-fastest time in Nebraska women’s history with an effort of 8:43.55. The 4x800 is an uncommon event; the most recent top-10 performance recorded before last weekend was in 1991. The team of Shadle, Selig, Sara Jane Baker and Pancoast also entered the women’s distance medley relay list at No. 8 with its time of 11:46.13.

Gable Baldwin notched a huge performance to shoot up the men’s outdoor pole vault charts into a tie for second place with teammate Ray Scotten. Baldwin cleared 18-2 1/2, nearly 14 inches better than his previous outdoor best of 17-0 3/4, at the Drake Relays. He had held the No. 10 NU ranking prior to last weekend.

A pair of Huskers also moved up the women’s all-time 400-meter hurdles performance chart. Frances Keating improved from sixth to fifth after recording a time 59.00 during a preliminary heat at the Penn Relays, while Justine Roach made the leap to sixth with a time of 59.18. Roach had not been in the top 10 before the Drake Relays.

NU Seventh in Latest Dual Meet Rankings
The Nebraska men’s and women’s teams both rank seventh 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.

The men’s team dropped one spot this week from its previous position of sixth, despite a gain of nearly five points that upped its season-total score to 360.72. Fellow Big 12 Conference squads also rated among the poll’s top 25 include Texas Tech (first), Kansas State (15th) and Iowa State (23rd). Nebraska managed to close the gap on Texas Tech from 30 points to about 28.

The NU women’s team ranks seventh for the second consecutive week with a potential score of 351.04, a gain of roughly 2.5 points. The Huskers are the top Big 12 Conference team, with Kansas State (ninth), Missouri (18th) and Texas Tech (20th) also appearing among the top-25 schools. NU trails the new first-place squad, UCLA, by about 48 points.

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 young outdoor season has been even younger Huskers recording big performances. So far, six NU freshmen have combined to notch eight regional-qualifying marks with only two weekends of competition remaining before the 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. Kramer’s best throw of 56-10 1/4 in the men’s shot put currently ranks 11th in the Big 12. A pair of freshmen Husker women’s discus throwers, Amber Curtis and Laura Wortmann, also joined NU’s Midwest Regional list at the Emporia State Relays. Curtis and Wortmann have garnered respective conference rankings of fifth and sixth with their recent performances.

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-meter run.

NU Athletes Rank Among Nation’s Best
The newest set of Trackwire Top 25 rankings for the 2005 outdoor season were released on Tuesday with the Nebraska women’s team once again earning top-10 recognition. The women’s team dropped from eighth place to ninth this week, while the men’s team returned to the rankings at No. 15 after a two-week hiatus.

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. A season-high 13 Huskers appear in this week’s edition of the "Dandy Dozen," up from last week’s total of 11. For a complete list of NU athletes ranked, see page 4 of this week’s track and field notes.

While the outdoor season is still relatively young, several Huskers own lofty event rankings on the NCAA’s latest performance list.

Nebraska women who have earned high rankings 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 Sara Jane Baker, who own the No. 5 and 6 rankings for the heptathlon, respectively. Dace Ruskule and Kayla Wilkinson also rank among the nation’s top-10 competitors with Wilkinson sitting seventh in the javelin and Ruskule eighth in the discus.

NU’s hurdlers lead the men’s team in the NCAA rankings with six athletes among the nation’s top-ranked performers. Four Huskers, Richard Davidson Jr. (No. 15), Courtney Jones (No. 16), Nenad Loncar (No. 17) and Aaron Ross (No. 65) rank among the top performers in the 110-meter hurdles, while Andy Nelson (28th) and Mark Harrison (tie-48th) both represent NU in the 400-meter hurdle ratings. Nebraska’s pole vault crew is also well-represented with second-ranked Ray Scotten and Gable Baldwin, as well as Nic Petersen (tie-38th). Aaron Plas (tie-sixth) and Dmitrijs Milkevics own NU’s final top-10 rankings in the high jump and 800 meters, while Dusty Jonas (tie-16th, high jump), Nate Probasco (No. 16, 200 meters), Peter van der Westhuizen (No. 18, 1,500 meters) and NU’s 4x100-meter relay (No. 20) also fit in among the nation’s top 20 for their respective events.

How Nebraska Stacks Up Against the Big 12
With this year’s Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championships only a week away, NU athletes have settled their names alongside the league’s best athletes. Huskers appear in the top eight (scoring places) on this week’s Big 12 performance list 51 times (28 women, 23 men), a gain of four scoring spots from last week’s total of 47.

Nebraska possesses balance on both the men’s and women’s sides, as Husker athletes hold a top-eight spot in 16 (women) and 14 (men) of the 21 events that will be held at this year’s outdoor conference meet.

While Nate Probasco (200 meters), Gable Baldwin (tie-pole vault) and Ray Scotten (tie-pole vault) are the lone Husker men’s athletes leading an event, three others sit alone or in a tie for second place. Anne Shadle (1,500 meters), Dace Ruskule (discus), Kayla Wilkinson (javelin) and Ashley Selig (heptathlon) each have earned No. 1 rankings for the NU women, while two others own second-place positions. For a complete list of NU’s Big 12 rankings, see page 5 of this week’s track and field notes.

NU will begin making final decisions as to the makeup of this year’s postseason squads in following few days as it looks forward to next week’s Big 12 Championships in Manhattan, Kan.

Shadle, Selig 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.

While Selig and Shadle were the lone Huskers to win NCAA titles, several other athletes also had fantastic finishes. Including the two champions, Nebraska took home 12 All-America honors. Priscilla Lopes earned two awards for finishing second in the women’s 60-meter hurdles and eighth in the dash. Three NU men finished runner-up, including Dusty Jonas (high jump), Ray Scotten (pole vault) and Dusty Stamer (60 meters). Other All-Americans included Gable Baldwin (men’s pole vault), Richard Davidson Jr. (men’s 60-meter hurdles), Aaron Plas (men’s high jump), Nate Probasco (men’s 200 meters) and Daniel Roper (men’s triple jump).

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 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 Ashley Selig, who finished seventh indoors in the pentathlon and third outdoors in the heptathlon, and Christi Lehman, who finished ninth (eighth American) in the indoor pole vault. Thrower Becky Breisch, the 2004 NCAA discus champion, and 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 an NCAA title 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. 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, Oliver Williams Jr. and Nate Probasco.

Nebraska's 2005 NCAA Qualifiers
Women
NCAA Championships Provisional Qualifiers
Name Event Mark
Sara Jane Baker Heptathlon 5,469
Ashley Selig Heptathlon 5,474w
Casie Witte Heptathlon 5,072

NCAA Midwest Regional Qualifiers
Name Event Mark
Sara Jane Baker High Jump 5-8 3/4
Danute Ceika 800 Meters 2:09.23
Amber Curtis Discus 167-10
Kwonya Ferguson Long Jump 19-8 1/4; Triple Jump 42-1 1/2
Jessie Graff Pole Vault 12-5 1/2
Frances Keating 100m Hurdles 13.51; 400m Hurdles 59.00
Christi Lehman Pole Vault 13-1 1/2
Priscilla Lopes 100m Hurdles 12.89
Sheryl Morgan 400 Meters 54.47; 400m Hurdles 59.94
Kim Pancoast 1,500 Meters 4:27.55
Justine Roach 400m Hurdles 59.18
Dace Ruskule Discus 179-9
Anne Shadle 800 Meters 2:07.82; 1,500 Meters 4:14.39
Jen Steiner Shot Put 50-9
Egle Uljas 800 Meters 2:08.87
Kayla Wilkinson Javelin 174-3
Casie Witte High Jump 5-9 3/4
Laura Wortmann Discus 166-1
Roach, Keating, Morgan, Uljas 4x400m Relay 3:37.84Men
NCAA Midwest Regional Qualifiers
Name Event Mark
Gable Baldwin Pole Vault 18-2 1/2
Richard Davidson Jr. 110m Hurdles 13.87
Tom Donlin Hammer Throw 183-3
Mark Harrison 400m Hurdles 51.97
Dusty Jonas High Jump 7-0 1/2
Courtney Jones 110m Hurdles 13.88
Bubba Kramer Shot Put 56-10 1/4
Nenad Loncar 110m Hurdles 13.89
Dmitrijs Milkevics 800 Meters 1:47.68
Aaron Nasers 800 Meters 1:49.85
Andy Nelson 400m Hurdles 51.39
Nic Petersen Pole Vault 16-10 3/4
Aaron Plas High Jump 7-2 1/2
Nate Probasco 200 Meters 20.74
Aaron Ross 110m Hurdles 14.22
Ray Scotten Pole Vault 18-2 1/2
Dusty Stamer 100 Meters 10.35
Peter van der Westhuizen 800 Meters 1:50.29; 1,500 Meters 3:43.62
Issar Yazhbin Hammer Throw 193-5
O. Williams, Probasco, Abolins, Stamer 4x100m Relay 39.8
Harrison, Probasco, Nasers, Nelson 4x400m Relay 3:09.24