Uljas Sets Second School Record of Season

LINCOLN?Several members of the Husker men’s and women’s track and field teems geared up for next weekend’s Big 12 Indoor Championships Friday by competing at the Prairie Wolf Invitational, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan at the Devaney Center Indoor Track.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

It was another meet and another school-record race for sophomore Egle Uljas, who broke her second Husker all-time mark of the season Friday in the 600-meter run. The Tallinn, Estonia, native dominated the field, winning in a time of 1:28.42 to wipe former Husker NCAA All-American Marcia Tate’s 1984 standard of 1:33.11 off the books. Uljas also broke Big 12 (<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Oklahoma’s Annette Campbell-1:29.91) and DevaneyCenter records (Iowa’s Karen Layne-1:32.68) during the competition. Uljas set the NU indoor 800-meter record two weeks ago at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.

                                    

Sophomore Dusty Jonas also proved that he is ready for next week’s conference meet, as he reached a new personal best while winning the men’s high jump with a clearance of 7-4 1/2. Jonas, last season’s runner-up in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships, climbed into second place on the NCAA performance list with the leap.

 

Senior Becky Breisch surpassed the NCAA provisional-qualifying mark in the women’s shot put for the sixth straight weekend while winning with a toss of 54-11 1/2. Sophomore Tamara Solari led a Husker 1-2-3 finish in the women’s weight throw with a spin of 54-8 1/2. Junior Jeni Steiner (personal best 57-3 3/4) and senior Jamie Senkbile (55-7 1/2) finished second and third, respectively.

 

The trio of freshman Natalja Zarcenko (2:53.61), senior Michaela Lenihan (2:55.75) and sophomore Betsy Miller (2:58.27) swept the top three places in the women’s 1,000-meter race. Zarcenko and Lenihan each notched personal-best performances.

 

Nebraska also dominated the men’s long jump by grabbing the first, second, fourth and fifth spots. Sophomore Demea Carter won the event with a leap of 23-9 1/2, with freshman Robert Rands (23-7 1/4) claiming second, Jonas (22-10 1/2) finishing fourth and junior Daniel Roper (22-9 3/4) coming in fifth. The NU women's pole vault crew of Jenna Blubaugh (first, 12-9), Jenny Green (second, 12-9), Kate Colvin (fourth, 11-9) and Jessie Graff (fifth, 11-9) earned the same placings.

 

Senior Aaron Ross hurdled to a career-low time of 7.92 to take gold in the men’s 60-meter hurdles. Ross, who entered the season with a personal-best time of 8.06, fell only one-hundredth of a second shy of the NCAA provisional standard.

 

Other outstanding Husker women’s performers included senior Kim Pancoast, who recorded a lifetime best of 2:11.53 to win the 800-meter run; sophomore Amanda Benson, who tied her career-best indoor height of 5-7 to claim the high jump title; and freshman Zarinah Suluki, who soared 18-3 to take gold in the long jump.

 

Notable performances by Husker men included those by senior Tom Donlin, who surpassed his career best in the weight throw with a provisional-qualifying, winning spin of 64-11 1/4; sophomore Keith Lloyd, who exceeded his personal best by more than two feet to finish second in the weight throw (60-1); and freshman Jordan Bates, who notched a lifetime best of 45-7 1/4 in the triple jump for a third-place finish.

 

Nebraska looks to defend its indoor conference men’s and women’s titles next weekend, as it hosts the 2006 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Devaney Center Track. Competition begins on both Friday and Saturday at 9:30 a.m.