Records Fall During Day Two of Husker Invite

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>LINCOLN?The Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational concluded Saturday with a flurry of broken records and NCAA qualifying marks at the Devaney Center Indoor Track. Day two totals included 26 NCAA provisional-qualifying marks, four automatic marks, five meet records, three DevaneyCenter records and even one new collegiate standard.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

                

Nebraska athletes alone accounted for nine provisionals, three automatics, two meet records and one facility record.

 

Leading the way for the Husker women was sophomore Egle Uljas, who became the fifth NCAA automatic qualifier for the Nebraska women’s team with her win in the 800-meter run. Uljas’ time of 2:05.30 shattered former Husker great Lisa Darley Graham’s 1991 school record of 2:06.93, while also breaking the Devaney Center Indoor Track mark shared by Alice Schmidt (2:05.33) and Mary Decker (2:05.3y). The race by Uljas was the first of the season in her new specialty event.

 

Junior Dmitrijs Milkevics also cleaned up for the Huskers in the men’s 800-meter race with his winning time of 1:48.13. The mark surpassed the 2005 NCAA outdoor champion’s own Husker Invite meet record, set in 2004 (1:48.75), while also meeting the provisional-qualifying standard. Like Uljas, Milkevics was making his first appearance this season in his specialty event. Both marks currently rank as the No. 2 performances among NCAA athletes this season.

 

“(Uljas and Milkevics) are very important for us this year,” Pepin said. “At the same time though, on the conference level they are just two of many individuals who we will need for help to do well.”

 

The conclusion of the men’s heptathlon marked another provisional qualifier for Nebraska, as sophomore Ben Schutter scored a career-best total of 5,363 to win top honors. The point total ranks as the fifth-best all-time in NU men’s history, while it rates as the No. 9 NCAA mark for 2006. Schutter’s performance was especially impressive considering that it counted as the first heptathlon that he had competed in during his short career.

 

“I think a lot of people were surprised (by Schutter’s performance), but I wasn’t particularly surprised,” Pepin said. “His former coach told me that he is a special prospect, and he was right. He is definitely a very talented guy.”

 

As a group, the Husker multi-event athletes swept the women’s pentathlon and men’s heptathlon events during the weekend, while notching two NCAA automatic marks and one provisional total.

 

“Each of our multi-events really did a great job on both sides (men and women) this weekend,” Pepin said. ”(Assistant Coach) Kris Grimes should really be congratulated, because he is working with a bunch of very young athletes. They should just continue to get better.”

 

Two-time NCAA champion Becky Breisch had another big day in the women’s shot put, as she set a career-best throw for the second time in 2006 with her second-place heave of 57-6 1/2. The mark currently sits second in the NCAA rankings, as well as tops among Big 12 athletes. Breisch finished runner-up to former NCAA indoor champion Cleopatra Borel-Brown, who broke the DevaneyCenter record while competing unattached.

 

Junior Peter van der Westhuizen won the men’s mile title and surpassed his first NCAA provisional standard of the season with his time of 4:04.34. The mark fell less than one second shy of his own career-low, while it defeated second-place Patrick Mutai (UTEP) by almost four seconds.

 

One of the weekend’s most competitive events, the men’s high jump, finished with four NCAA All-Americans fighting it out for first place. Kansas State’s Kyle Lancaster, UTEP’s Mikael Hanany, Nebraska senior Aaron Plas and Husker sophomore Dusty Jonas each bowed out of the competition at the 7-3 3/4 mark, but Lancaster claimed the top spot due to number of misses. Plas, Jonas and Hanany finished in order for the 2-4 slots.

 

Following her outstanding performance in the preliminaries of the women’s 60-meter hurdles Friday, junior Priscilla Lopes finished the job by dominating the event finals with her time of 8.08 on day two. The six-time NCAA All-American defeated second-place Lisi Maurer (KansasState), who reached the provisional standard, by 0.35 seconds. Lopes also competed in the 60-meter dash finals, finishing a close second (7.40) to Stanford’s Chaunte Bayne (7.39).

 

In the men’s 60-meter hurdles, senior Courtney Jones won his second straight meet title by winning top honors with a provisional-qualifying time of 7.91 Saturday. Fellow senior Aaron Ross also reached the final heat and placed sixth in 8.03. Junior Gable Baldwin reached a new season high in the men’s pole vault with his second-place clearance of 17-5 3/4, while senior Nic Petersen broke the 17-foot barrier for the first time while finishing fifth (17-00).

 

2006 Most Outstanding Performer awards went to Stanford’s Chaunte Bayne and KansasState’s Christian Smith. Bayne swept the women’s 60- and 200-meter dash events while posting provisional-qualifying times, while Smith set a new collegiate record of 2:19.57 in the men’s 1,000-meter run. Smith broke the former mark of 2:19.64 set by Doug Consiglio (Arkansas) in 1986.

 

Following four home meets in four weeks to open the 2006 season, Nebraska finally takes to the road for the first time next weekend. A select group of Husker athletes will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Invitational on Friday and Saturday, while the majority of the NU squads will compete in the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, beginning Friday.