Three NCAA Champions Return for NU Women

The 2005 campaign proved to be a phenomenal year for Nebraska women’s track and field. NU produced a pair of top-10 NCAA team finishes, as well as the program’s second sweep of the Big 12 Championships since the formation of the conference in 1997. Three Huskers also brought home four individual national titles and nine conference awards.

A key to last year’s success?two-time NCAA champion Anne Shadle?is gone, but many pieces of a talented and experienced squad return in 2006. While depth could be an issue for the Husker women, especially during the Big 12 seasons, enough high-end talent remains to make the squad a legitimate contender for its first national title since 1984.

"I think it’s a good team and it certainly has some quality on it, but there is not much depth in some areas," Head Coach Gary Pepin said. "I would expect that the higher level of competition we enter, the better we would do as a team. We should be better outdoors than indoors with some of the added throwing events. If we would happen to hit on all cylinders, we could potentially have a team competing for a championship."

Sprints/Hurdles
Junior Priscilla Lopes will again be Nebraska’s top weapon in the short sprints and hurdles. The 2004 NCAA indoor champion in the 60-meter hurdles, Lopes already owns the designation of being one of NU’s all-time greats with only two seasons under her belt. The Whitby, Ontario, native has earned six NCAA All-America honors and two Big 12 championships. She competed in her second straight World Track and Field Championships last summer for Canada.

"Our women’s sprint corps centers on Lopes," Assistant Coach Matt Martin said. "We have quite a few question marks and not nearly the depth that we would like to have in the sprints, but Priscilla goes a long way in making up for some of those holes. We’ll look to her for more of the same this year."

Sophomore Frances Keating was a major contributor to the Huskers’ Big 12 championships last season. She scored in five events during conference competition, including earning a team-high four medals at the Big 12 outdoor meet. Keating claimed bronze honors in the 100-meter hurdles outdoors after earning fourth place in the 60-meter hurdles indoors. While the Haileybury, Ontario, native could provide much-needed experience for NU, an illness has slowed her progression during fall training. A redshirt season is a possible scenario for Keating.

Another athlete who made an impact in her first year, junior Sheryl Morgan returns with the potential to compete in a variety of events for Nebraska. Morgan ran on Nebraska’s 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays in 2005, and qualified for the regional meet in the 400-meter hurdles outdoors, while hitting the NCAA provisional-qualifying standard for the 400 meters indoors. NU coaches also expect her to give the Huskers much-needed depth in the 200-meter dash.

Junior Justine Roach made major improvements in the 400-meter hurdles outdoors during the 2005 season. She competed in her first NCAA Championships, claiming a 15th-place finish. Roach was slowed during fall training with a stress fracture and could take additional time to round into top form.

NU will look to freshman Pinar Saka to contribute in her first season as a Husker with such a small number of returning pure sprinters on the roster. Saka arrives in Lincoln from Turkey sporting an impressive resume that includes a Turkish national junior record in the 400 meters. Assistant Coach Billy Maxwell expects her to compete in several events in 2005.

"Pinar comes in with very good marks, and she has really worked hard this fall," Maxwell said. "We are expecting some good things from her, not only in the 200 and 400, but also on the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays."

The Huskers will face a stern test in filling their sprint relays this season, as the health of Keating and Roach will be key factors. But if at full speed, the 4x100 and 4x400 relays will each hold the potential to challenge for a spot in the upper-half of the Big 12.

"The 4x100 relay is a big question for us right now," Martin said. "We’re going to be working to develop some depth there. Pinar is someone who could possibly step in and give us a give us a very good leg."

"The secret to having a really good 4x400-meter relay is what happens with Keating and Roach," Maxwell said. "But if Sheryl Morgan, Frances Keating, Justine Roach, Pinar Saka and (sophomore) Egle Uljas are options, we could be pretty good."

Middle Distance
Nebraska possesses a rare talent in sophomore Egle Uljas, who arrived from Estonia last season for the second semester in time to compete for the Huskers. A 2004 Olympian who competed in Athens in the 400 meters, Uljas made the transition to the 800 during the outdoor season and flourished. She reached the final heat at last year’s NCAA outdoor meet and was challenging for All-America honors before falling down the backstretch. With a full season of training under her belt, Maxwell believes Uljas could make the leap to the next level in 2006.

"Egle has picked up right where she left off last spring," Maxwell said. "The workouts she has had this fall are absolutely unbelievable, and I really look forward to seeing what she can do in the 800 this spring. I think she has a very good chance of winning an NCAA championship, and she could even approach the two-minute mark."

The Huskers’ new volunteer assistant helping with the middle distance area this season is former NU assistant coach Mark Devenney. Devenney is working with sophomore Elizabeth Lange and junior Danute Ceika, and hopes to see great things from both this season in the 800 and 1,000 meters. Lange finished fourth in the 800 at the Big 12 indoor meet last season as a freshman, while Ceika placed in the 1,000- (indoors) and 800-meter (outdoors) competitions at the Big 12 meets during her sophomore campaign.

"(Lange) is coming back off a series of injuries, and both she and Danute ran well during the fall," Devenney said. "I think they can really improve. In addition to their training, we’ve worked on some technical things that they could improve."

The Huskers also signed two-time Nebraska Class B 400-meter state champ Janae Mueller to their group of middle distance standouts last year, but she is expected to redshirt in 2006.

Distance
NU faces a tough task in attempting to replace Anne Shadle, who swept the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500-meter events at last year’s NCAA Championships. Shadle’s influence is still present as an undergraduate assistant coach for a young Husker distance group.

"Those types of athletes come along so rarely, and they are nearly impossible to actually replace," Assistant Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. "But we have a young, talented group of athletes this year that I think will have a profound impact before all is said and done."

The women’s distance area starts with experienced leaders in senior Kayte Tranel and Kim Pancoast. Tranel, who is coming off a redshirt in 2005 after suffering a stress fracture in her foot, won Nebraska’s first NCAA All-America honors in more than a decade in cross country during the fall. She should provide NU with a scoring punch at the conference meets in the 5,000- (indoors) and 10,000-meter (outdoors) races this season.

"Kayte has placed before at the conference meet," Dirksen said. "She is really fit this year, and she is at a level where she could be a really good conference scorer this year."

Pancoast should become the Huskers’ leader in the mile and 1,500 meters during her senior year. The Cape Girardeau, Mo., native suffered from a mid-season bout with anemia last spring, but has fully recovered and competed for the cross country team during the fall.

"Kim’s training is at another level this year," Dirksen said. "She has increased her volume, and has remained injury-free so far. She is more mature physically and mentally as a runner than she was before, and I’m sure she’s going to run faster than she ever has this year."

Other returning Husker women in the distance area include junior Michaela Lenihan, sophomore Betsy Miller and redshirt freshman Joslyn Dalton. Lenihan will focus mainly on the 1,500 meters and mile events, while Dalton will compete in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters. Miller, who opened eyes during the cross country season by making major improvements, possesses the potential of a future steeplechaser.

"Betsy made such huge improvements that we’re thinking about trying her in the 3,000-meter steeplechase," Dirksen said. "Her development has been so phenomenal that it is hard to know exactly how well she could do in that event down the road."

Nebraska brought in several talented newcomers for the distance events this season, including Alaska prep standout Ari Goldstein and Latvia native Natalja Zarcenko. Goldstein was a six-time high school state champion who will run the 3,000 and 5,000 in her first season, while Zarcenko arrives at NU holding the Latvian junior national title in the 1,500.

"I think both (Goldstein and Zarcenko) possess the ability to be a factor in the conference before this year is over," Dirksen said.

Other new athletes who could see action for the Huskers this season are freshmen Channing Anseth and Rachel Carrizales, also both members of the NU cross country team. Anseth comes to Nebraska from Division II St. Cloud State, where she redshirted during the track season after competing in cross country and swimming in 2004, while Carrizales was a five-time Nebraska state champion at Class C Morrill High School.

Throws
The biggest addition to this year’s squad is really not an addition at all. Senior Becky Breisch returns after redshirting in 2005 while rehabbing after elbow surgery. A former NCAA champion in the shot put and discus for the Huskers, Breisch could have a huge national impact in the throwing events in 2006. While she did not compete for Nebraska last season, Breisch recovered in time to win her first USATF title in the discus at the U.S. Track and Field Championship and qualify for the World Championships.

"It was an incredible achievement for her coming in a time when there was a question as to how high of a level she could return to," Assistant Coach Mark Colligan said. "As long as we manage to keep Becky out of an overuse situation, she seems healthy, fit and ready to go for 2006."

With Breisch on board, NU appears to be set in the throws this season, as the group alone owns nine Big 12 championships. Included in the fray are the top two finishers in last season’s conference discus competition, junior Dace Ruskule and sophomore Laura Wortmann.

Ruskule burst onto the scene in her first season in scarlet and cream by winning the conference title and reaching the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Wortmann also reached the national meet as a true freshman after finishing runner up to Ruskule at the Big 12 meet.

"We have the defending conference discus champion (Ruskule) and a former two-time champ squaring off, and Dace has no intention at all of surrendering her title to anyone," Colligan said. "At the same time, Laura has no desire to finish lower either after having a taste of what a top-two finish is like. It should be exciting to watch the group we have this year."

The Huskers also possess another discus talent in sophomore Amber Curtis. While Curtis split her efforts between the shot and discus last season, she will focus mainly on the discus in 2006 to add to NU’s significant depth in the event, as well as to take full advantage of her long and rangy body type.

Breisch joins Wortmann and Jeni Steiner in the shot put this season. Steiner had a great finish to the 2005 season. She served as NU’s top threat in the shot in Breisch’s absence, and earned a bronze-medal finish at the Big 12 outdoor meet after recording a personal-best mark.

"There’s reason to contemplate Jeni stretching her performance level to reach the NCAA meet this season," Colligan said. "She’s a high caliber individual."

The Huskers return their top four athletes in the 20-pound weight and hammer throws for the 2006 season. Leading the way indoors will be sophomore Tamara Solari, last year’s fourth-place conference meet finisher, while senior Jamie Senkbile could make a run at the NCAA meet outdoors in the hammer.

"We have four quality individuals in that area, and it should save us on wear-and-tear within our throw group," Colligan said. "Jamie, Tamara, Jeni and Amber have all looked good in their fall workouts, and you can never rule out Becky from stepping in."

In the javelin, junior Kayla Wilkinson made a giant leap for the second consecutive year to become a difference-maker for the Huskers. Ranked among the nation’s top-10 javelin throwers for the entire outdoor season, Wilkinson won her first Big 12 title and also made an appearance at the national meet.

"I anticipate her being more consistent this year and performing at the highest level," Colligan said. "She’s mentally prepared to be a high-impact person at NCAAs this year."

Jumps
The women’s jumps area will be short on experience in 2006, but Pepin is hopeful that effort and attitude will help his young group grow up fast.

Nebraska has three athletes who have full seasons of eligibility specializing in the high jump in senior Nicole Kadyszewski, junior Ashlee Dickinson and sophomore Amanda Benson, who tied for eighth at last year’s indoor Big 12 meet. While Dickinson and Kadyszewski have each grabbed conference scoring places during their careers, both athletes have also been hampered by injuries during their time at Nebraska.

"The conference could really be improved this year in the high jump, and if that is the case, then our women are sitting at a very low scoring position coming in," Pepin said. "Each of them are going to have to get better, but they really have good attitudes and are working hard."

Other Huskers who could add depth in the high jump are a pair of multi-event athletes, seniors Sara Jane Baker and Casie Witte. The two may give NU its best chance in the area, as each athlete owns a personal best of 5-10 or higher.

The Huskers have high hopes for freshman Zarinah Suluki in the long jump and triple jump. Suluki arrives at Nebraska from the Florida prep ranks, where she won three state titles in the long jump (two) and triple jump (one) in her final two years of high school.

"Zarinah has a chance to be a conference-level scorer in both events for us as a freshman," Pepin said. "She’s a great athlete, and she’s going to continue to get better and better. She has a good attitude and a great body type for the horizontal jumps."

Senior Ashley Selig will also provide NU with a threat in the long jump, as she scored at both conference meets last season in addition to her multi-event competitions.

Pole Vault
New assistant coach Kris Grimes inherits a collection of talent with the Huskers’ pole vault group in his first season in Lincoln. NU returns a pair of vaulters with NCAA experience, including a two-time All-American.

Sophomore Jenny Green returns after redshirting the 2005 season while recovering from a back injury. Green finished third as a freshman at both NCAA meets in 2004.

"Jenny is coming off a tough year of rehabilitation," Grimes said. "We’ve used this fall as a real rebuilding time. She’s made great progress, and she’s starting to look like the Jenny of old. She still has work to do, but we think we can get her back to her old form."

Senior Jessie Graff, who shares the Nebraska indoor pole vault record with Green, returns looking to bounce back from a sub-par 2005 campaign. Graff failed to place at either conference meet last season after reaching both NCAA meets as a sophomore in 2004.

"Jessie has made some good progress in training," Grimes said. "She looks like she can get back up there to where she was before (2005). We’re expecting some good things out of her."

The Huskers also have big expectations for freshman Kate Colvin, who won back-to-back Colorado state titles as a prep athlete at Lewis-Palmer High School.

"Kate has shown why she was a state champion in training," Grimes said. "She has some technical issues to work out, but she’s certainly capable of making an impact in the Big 12 if she can work through those changes."

Another senior, Jenna Blubaugh, also aims for improvement in 2005 after making some technical adjustments during the fall. Grimes said he hopes to have her approach the 13-foot mark in her final year at Nebraska.

Multi-Events
Grimes also takes over one of the deepest pools of talent on the team with the Husker multi-event athletes. Seniors Ashley Selig, Sara Jane Baker and Casie Witte finished 1-2-3 in the heptathlon at last year’s Big 12 Outdoor Championships, while Selig and Baker each competed at the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets for the second consecutive season.

Selig proved to be one of the top all-around athletes in the nation in 2005 after winning Nebraska’s first-ever NCAA championship in the indoor pentathlon. The Lincoln, Neb., native, who also finished third in the heptathlon outdoors, could cement herself as one of the Huskers’ all-time greats with an even better season in 2006.

"The driving force behind the (multi-events) group is Ashley," Grimes said. "She has had a particularly good fall and is making progress in some of the events where she has room to improve. She is right on track to improve her scores from last year."

Baker will look to make the jump to All-America status this season after reaching the last four NCAA meets. Like Selig, she still has room for improvement in several events.

"Sara is sprinting well, and she looked fast this fall," Grimes said. "Her high jump looks good, and certainly her hurdles and throwing are coming along. She seems to have made solid progress across the board."

Given the talented front end of NU’s multi-event group, Witte’s status for 2006 is up in the air. She showed dramatic improvement during the fall, and with a redshirt season could be primed to take up the torch as the conference’s top threat in the multi-events for 2007.

"The progress she’s made is so dramatic, that it seems she could do some great things at the Big 12 and NCAA levels with another year under her belt," Grimes said.

If Witte does redshirt that would leave NU’s third spot to sophomore Kim Shubert, who cut her teeth last season in the multis and should continue to develop for the future.