Huskers to Compete at USATF Championships

Lincoln ? Four Nebraska track and field athletes, as well as one future Husker, will compete at this week’s 2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held June 23-26 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Becky Breisch and Anne Shadle will vie for spots this week on the United States women’s squad that will participate in the IAAF World Championships August 6-14 in Helsinki, Finland. Three others?Dusty Jonas, LeRon Williams and incoming freshman Robert Rands?each are entered in the men’s U.S. Juniors competition, which will determine the national team for next month’s Pan American Junior Championships in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Athletes must place among the top three finishers in their respective event, as well as meet the IAAF "A" standard for that event, in order to be eligible for a spot on the United States national team.

Breisch appears to be in good position not only to earn a spot on the U.S. national team, but also a national championship, in the women’s discus throw. A former NCAA champion in both the discus and shot put who redshirted during the 2005 collegiate season while rehabbing an injured elbow, she has successfully returned to top form and currently owns the nation’s top discus mark of 208-5. The unattached, personal-best throw won the May 7 Nebraska Invitational and set the Ed Weir Stadium record. She also will compete in the shot put, an event which she ranks third nationally with a top mark of 60-7 1/4. Breisch’s personal-best marks would have won both the shot and discus at the NCAA outdoor meet earlier this month. The USATF women’s discus final will be held Thursday, June 23 at 7:30 p.m. PT, while the shot put final is scheduled for Friday, June 24 at 5 p.m. PT.

Shadle will have the opportunity to collect more honors for her already successful 2005 season this week. The South Sioux City, Neb., native concluded her Husker career by earning a pair of NCAA titles in the indoor mile and 1,500-meter run outdoors, which were both firsts for an NU women’s athlete. Shadle’s school-record 1,500-meter time of 4:11.37 is the 10th-fastest for a U.S. women’s athlete this year. The women’s 1,500-meter competition will be held Saturday, June 25 at 2:22 p.m. PT.

Jonas experienced a hugely successful freshman campaign in 2005. He was the runner-up competitor in the men’s high jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, while he earned All-America status for the second time earlier this month with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The La Vernia, Texas, native currently ranks tied for eighth among all U.S. high jumpers with his personal-best mark of 7-3 ?, which he recorded at the NCAA outdoor meet. The junior men’s high jump will be held Thursday, June 23 at 11 a.m. PT.

Williams also recorded a successful first season at NU. The Omaha, Neb., native showed marked improvement in the long jump during the second half of the season, registering a career-best, wind-aided leap of 24-11 to take fourth place at the Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championships. The mark helped him become one of six Husker freshmen to qualify for the NCAA Midwest Regional meet, where he finished 14th.

Rands, a member of NU’s incoming freshman class, is one of the most heralded recruits in Nebraska high school history, owning a lifetime best of 25-1 ? in the long jump. The Bellevue, Neb., native edged Gale Sayer’s 44-year-old state record on the first jump of his senior season and also surpassed Sayer’s high school state meet record set the same year (1961). The future Husker won the last three Class A state titles, including the past two All-Class gold medals. Rands is a two-sport athlete who will also play for the NU football team this fall.

Both Rands and Williams will participate in the junior men’s long jump Friday, June 24 at 10 a.m. PT.