Huskers Split Up, Hit the Road

The Nebraska men's and women's track and field teams leave their home base of the Devaney Center Indoor Track for the first time this season, as the squads split up and travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Invitational and to Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa State Classic this weekend. Each two-day meet will feature a collection of some of the nation's top talent.

Twenty-four Huskers will compete at the Tyson Invite, held Friday and Saturday at the Randall Tyson Indoor Track Center, the site of this year's NCAA Indoor Championships. NU's sections of competition begin both days at 11 a.m. Live results will be provided for the Tyson Invitational throughout the weekend at www.flashresults.com.

The larger contingent of 41 Nebraska athletes will compete in the Iowa State Classic, held Friday and Saturday at the Leid Recreation Center. Action begins at 2 p.m. on Friday, with Saturday's competition beginning at 9:45 a.m.

Results and recaps of the action from each meet will be available on Huskers.com following conlusion of competition both evenings.

Tyson Invitational
Nebraska will send some of its most talented athletes to Arkansas for the Tyson Invitational. The meet, which annually features many of the elite NCAA athletes, will be a measuring for each Husker to see how they stack up against the nation's best. Several events are split into College and Championship divisions to give the top athletes a stage to face each other. The Tyson Invitational is slated to be a team scored meet with each event utilizing a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 point system for 1st through 8th places. In events that are divided into divisions (Championship and College), all times and marks will be combined to determine an placing order.

Husker women slated to compete in Championship divisions are: Jenna Blubuagh and Jenny Green in the pole vault; Kayte Tranel in the 5,000-meter run; and Egle Uljas in the 800 meters. NU has a larger group of men's athletes entered in the top divisions, including: Arturs Abolins in the long jump; Gable Baldwin and Ray Scotten in the pole vault; Dusty Jonas and Aaron Plas in the high jump; Nate Probasco in the 200-meter dash; Daniel Roper in the triple jump; and Peter van der Westhuizen in the mile. Dmitrijs Milkevics will also compete in the Invitational section of the 800 meters, which will feature several professional runners.

For a complete list of Huskers competing in College division events, as well as a time schedule for all of NU's Tyson Invitational entries, see page 2 of this week's track and field notes.

Iowa State Classic
More than 2,000 athletes from over 75 teams will compete at the Iowa State Classic in Ames. One of the largest indoor meets in the nation each year, it will feature six squads from the Big 12, as well as other top teams from the ACC, Big Ten, PAC-10 and SEC. The meet will be unscored.

Among the group of 41 Huskers traveling to Iowa State will be Nebraska's throws group, along with most of the distance athletes. A small number of athletes from nearly every other area will also attend. Three of NU's All-Americans are scheduled to compete in Ames: Becky Breisch (women's shot put), Aaron Nasers (men's 800 meters) and Oliver Williams Jr. (60 and 200 meters).

A time schedule and list of NU's entries for the Iowa State Classic is included on page 3 of this week's track and field notes.

Records Fall at Husker Invite
The Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, held last weekend at the Devaney Center Indoor Track, proved to be another record-setting edition in the 31-year history of the competition. Two-day totals of 46 NCAA provisional marks, 13 automatic marks, six meet records and three facility records were set.

Several Huskers turned in winning performances that place them among the nation's leaders for 2006, including Priscilla Lopes, who tied the top mark in the nation in the women's 60-meter hurdles with her time of 8.06. The time gave Lopes her first NCAA automatic bid of the year.

Also gaining automatic status were Ashley Selig and Sara Jane Baker, who finished 1-2 in the women's pentathlon with respective scores of 4,107 and 4,088 points. The pair of Huskers currently rank second and third nationally with the scores.

Egle Uljas broke the Nebraska women's 800-meter school record on the final day of competition with her NCAA automatic time of 2:05.30. Uljas also set new Devaney Center and Husker Invite standards with the race. On the men's side, Dmitrijs Milkevics won the 800 meters in 1:48.13 to earn his first provisional mark of the year.

Becky Breisch met the automatic-qualifying standard for the third time this season with a personal-best throw of 57-6 1/2 in the women's shot put. Other provisional marks set during the weekend included Ben Schutter, who won the men's heptathlon (5,363) in his first career attempt; Aaron Plas, who cleared 7-2 1/2 in the men's high jump after taking two weeks off from competition; and Peter van der Westhuizen, who cruised to a victory in the men's mile (4:04.34).

Uljas Earns Weekly Big 12 Honor
Nebraska sophomore Egle Uljas was named Big 12 Conference Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Week Tuesday for her performance during last weekend’s Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. She broke the Husker women’s indoor 800-meter run school record with a personal-best time of 2:05.30.

Uljas became NU’s fifth NCAA automatic qualifier this season while recording the nation’s No. 4 time for the 800 meters with her win on Saturday. She broke former Husker great Lisa Darley Graham’s 1991 school-record mark of 2:06.93 and the Bob Devaney Sports Center record shared by North Carolina’s Alice Schmidt (2:05.33) and Colorado’s Mary Decker [2:05.3 (yards)]. Uljas, a native of Tallinn, Estonia, also claimed a new Estonia national record during her first 800-meter race of the season, erasing the former record of 2:05.57.

A 2004 Olympian in the 400 meters for Estonia, Uljas switched her specialty race to the 800 meters midway through the 2005 outdoor campaign, her first season at Nebraska. She reached the 800-meter final at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, but was disqualified from the race after suffering a fall midway through the final backstretch.

The sophomore owns an outdoor career-best mark of 2:02.92, which she set at the Athletissima IAAF Super Grand Prix meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, during the summer of 2005. She already ranks among the Huskers’ all-time top-10 performers for four different events (indoors: 400 meters, 600 yards, 800 meters; outdoors: 800 meters).

NU Multis Open Season In High Gear
Nebraska's combined events athletes posted impressive performances in their first multi-event competitions of the season during last weekend's Husker Invite. Huskers Ashley Selig (pentathlon) and Ben Schutter (heptathlon) posted wins for the NU men and women.

Selig and teammate Sara Jane Baker each earned NCAA automatic qualifications while finishing 1-2 in the women's pentathlon. Selig won her second straight Husker Invite title with a score of 4,107, while Baker smashed her previous best by more than 100 points with her 4,088 point total. The two seniors currently possess the Nos. 2 and 3 national rankings for the event thanks to their efforts.

Schutter hit the provisional mark while completing his first-ever heptathlon for the NU men with a career-best score of 5,363. The sophomore transfer from Doane College set individual career bests for five of the seven events (long jump, shot put, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters) during the two days of competition.

For the weekend, six of eight Huskers totaled lifetime best scores for their respective combined events.

Breisch Back and Better than Ever
Becky Breisch continued her remarkable comeback from a career-threatening elbow injury with some of her finest performances in the indoor shot put this season.

The eight-time NCAA All-American set an indoor personal best of 57-6 1/2 to finish second during last week's Husker Invite. The mark erased her previous best of 57-3, which she set to win the adidas Classic earlier this year.

Breisch earned Nebraska's first automatic qualification of the season to the 2006 NCAA meet, where she will attempt to earn her first indoor national title, during the adidas Classic. She has won an NCAA outdoor title in the event, as she claimed the 2003 NCAA title as a sophomore. The Edwardsburg, Mich., native has rewritten her own personal best twice already this season, with each performance rating as an NCAA automatic qualifier.

Team Rankings Hold in Coaches Poll
In conjunction with the launch of its new web site this season, the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has began organizing a Division I USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. Nebraska is one of five programs to have both its men's and women's teams appear among the poll's top 10 this week.

The NU women remained in fifth place this week behind South Carolina (first), Texas (second), Stanford (third) and defending NCAA indoor champion Tennessee (fourth). Texas A&M (13th) is the only other Big 12 school in the rankings.

The Husker men were voted as the No. 7 team by the coaches for the third straight week. Texas takes over at the top this week, replacing defending NCAA indoor and outdoor champion Arkansas, which slid to second. Other ranked conference squads include Texas A&M (ninth), Baylor (13th), Kansas (16th) and Texas Tech (20th).

NU Gains Ground in Trackwire 25
Nebraska men's and women's squads were listed among the nation's top 10 in the weekly Trackwire 25 Monday. Both teams have been ranked in the top 10 during each of the poll's four weeks this season.

The women's team stayed at No. 4, the same spot it placed at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships, despite gaining ground on the poll's leaders. The Huskers closed the gap on No. 1 South Carolina to a projected nine points from last week's 26-point deficit. NU is one of two Big 12 Conference schools included among the top 10, along with No. 3 Texas. Texas A&M (tie-No. 18) and Kansas State (tie-No. 21) also are included in the women's rankings.

The Husker men jumped one spot to No. 9 from last week's season-low of 10th place. The poll predicts a talented Big 12 men's field in 2006, as six teams appear in the rankings: Texas (tie-No. 1), Kansas (No. 8), Texas A&M (tie-No. 11), Baylor (tie-No. 19) and Texas Tech (tie-No. 19).

The Trackwire 25 attempts to predict team scores for the NCAA Championships based on individual athlete rankings for each event?nicknamed the "Dandy Dozen"?that are updated weekly by track and field statistician Gary Verigin.

Nebraska is one of the hot names in the Dandy Dozen for 2006, as the program ranks second among all NCAA teams with 12 individual athletes this week. Michigan leads the nation with 13 different athletes selected, while Arkansas (11) and Texas (10) rank close behind NU.

Both individual Husker teams rank near the national lead in numbers of athletes selected. The seven men's picks falls one short of Arkansas' nation-leading eight, while NU's five women's selections trail only Michigan (10) and South Carolina (six).

Husker athletes among this week's "Dandy Dozen":
Women
Ashley Selig, Pentathlon?2nd
Becky Breisch, Shot Put?2nd
Priscilla Lopes, 60m Hurdles, 2nd; 60 Meters?9th
Sara Jane Baker, Heptathlon?3rd
Egle Uljas, 800 Meters?4th

Men
Dmitrijs Milkevics, 800 Meters?1st
Arturs Abolins, Long Jump?3rd
Dusty Jonas, High Jump?4th
Aaron Plas, High Jump?8th
Gable Baldwin, Pole Vault?8th
Ben Schutter?10th
Courtney Jones, 60m Hurdles?12th

Huskers Rank Among Nation's Best
Eleven NU athletes sit among the top 10 for their respective events on the latest NCAA performance list. Six Huskers entered the nation's top 10 this week following successful performances at last weekend's Husker Invite.

Topping the charts is Priscilla Lopes , who is tied for the nation's No. 1 time in the women's 60-meter hurdles this season. Two Huskers, Becky Breisch and Ashley Selig, own No. 2 rankings for the women's shot put and pentathlon, respectively, while Sara Jane Baker is the third-ranked pentathlete. Also entering the women's ratings this week is Egle Uljas, who posted the fifth-best time in the 800 meters with her school-record performance.

Six Nebraska men find themselves in the national rankings this week. Dmitrijs Milkevics, who ranks fourth in the 800 meters, enters the ratings as NU's top-ranked men's athlete. Dusty Jonas is tied for fifth in the men's high jump, while teammate Aaron Plas also cracked the top-10 list in a tie for seventh with his jump of 7-2 1/2 at the Husker Invite. Courtney Jones' stellar time of 7.84 in the men's 60-meter hurdles ranks him ninth nationally for the event this week, while Arturs Abolins has earned a No. 8 ranking in the long jump for the third consecutive week. Ben Schutter (ninth) entered the rankings for the first time in his career after earning a provisional qualification in the heptathlon last weekend.

Huskers Lead Eight Big 12 Events
With the 2006 Big 12 Indoor Championsihps rapidly approaching, several Huskers find themselves leading the league rankings in events that will be held at this year's indoor conference meet. Six Huskers (five women) rank No. 1 among all league athletes for eight events this week.

Two Nebraska athletes, Egle Uljas and Dmitrijs Milkevics, own No. 1 rankings for two events, with each holding down the top spots with their respective marks in the women's and men's 600-yard and 800-meter run events. Milkevics currently is the only Husker men's athlete with a top rating, although multiple others rank in the top 10.

For the NU women, Priscilla Lopes tops the women's 60-meter hurdles field with her NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 8.06, while Kim Pancoast owns a lead in the mile (4:50.74). Becky Breisch also owns a substantial edge of more than three feet with her automatic-qualifying mark of 57-6 1/2 in the shot put. Entering the list at No. 1 this week after her first competition in the pentathlon is Ashley Selig with her score of 4,107. Sara Jane Baker and Kim Shubert help Selig form an impressive Husker multi-event groups that ranks 1-2-4 in the pentathlon this week.

Thirteen All-Americans Return in '06
A combined 13 NCAA All-Americans will suit up for the Husker men's and women's squads in 2006. The NU men will feature nine athletes, including 2005 NCAA champion Dmitrijs Milkevics, while four honorees will compete for the NU women. Of the four Husker women's All-Americans, three own NCAA championships in Becky Breisch (2003 outdoor shot put, 2004 discus), Priscilla Lopes (2004 60m hurdles) and Ashley Selig (2005 pentathlon).

Husker NCAA All-Americans (former NCAA champions in bold)
Women
Name; Honors; Event(s)
Becky Breisch; Eight; Shot Put (five), Discus (three)
Jenny Green; Two; Pole Vault
Priscilla Lopes; Six; 60m (two); 60m hurdles (two); 100m hurdles (two)
Ashley Selig; Four; Pentathlon, Heptathlon

Men

Name; Honors; Event(s)
Gable Baldwin; One; Pole Vault
Dusty Jonas; Two; High Jump
Dmitrijs Milkevics; Three; 800m
Aaron Nasers; One; 800m
Aaron Plas; Two; High Jump
Nate Probasco; Two; 200m, 4x100m
Daniel Roper; One; Triple Jump
Ray Scotten; Three; Pole Vault
Oliver Williams Jr.; One; 4x100m

Three Huskers Win USATF Titles
The 2005 season proved to be a banner year for Nebraska athletes competing on the national stage. While Huskers brought home four individual NCAA titles, that success carried into the summer months with three athletes claiming titles at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Carson, Calif.

Becky Breisch became the first Husker to win a USATF title in the women’s discus with her final throw of 206-5, securing victory over four-time U.S. champion Seilala Sua (202-10). The win also clinched a spot for Breisch on the U.S. World Championships team, while she fell just short of qualifying in the shot put with a fifth-place finish.

Dusty Jonas and Robert Rands earned respective U.S. junior titles in the high jump and long jump events. Jonas cleared 7-4 1/2, more than five inches higher than the runner-up, to win the high jump, while Rands, who joined the Nebraska men’s squad this fall, soared to 24-7 while taking the long jump. Jonas and Rands each qualified for the Pan American Junior Games, where they also claimed titles during the summer.

Huskers Take on the World
Four Nebraska athletes saw their 2005 seasons extend into the late summer to the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, during late August. The elite competition served as the second consecutive world championship competition for Becky Breisch, Priscilla Lopes, Dmitrijs Milkevics and Egle Uljas.

Priscilla Lopes experienced the most successful stay among Huskers with her semifinals appearance in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Competing for Canada, Lopes notched the 10th-fastest semifinal time to fall only two spots shy of her first career final at a world competition.

Becky Breisch finished 18th overall during women’s discus qualifying with a throw of 57.16 meters (187-6) on her second of three attempts. Breisch recorded fouls on her first and third attempts to finish 10th in her flight.

Dmitrijs Milkevics, competing for Latvia, ran in the men’s 800-meter race, but did not advance out of the qualifying stages. Milkevics finished fifth in the third of six heats with a time of 1:50.44, just .30 seconds off the heat’s winning time.

Egle Uljas competing for Estonia, ran a season-best time of 52.94 during women’s 400-meter qualifying to finish seventh in the first of six heats and 32nd overall out of 46 athletes. Uljas competed primarily in the 800 meters as a Husker last spring, but also competed at the 2004 Olympics in the 400.