Huskers Add Four Titles on Final Day of Kansas Relays

<?xml:namespace prefix="u1"?><?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>LAWRENCE, Kan.?Nebraska picked up four more track and field event titles Saturday during the final session of the 79th annual Kansas Relays held at KU’s Memorial Stadium. The victories brought NU’s total to six first-place finishes during the three-day meet.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Dusty Jonas continued his phenomenal sophomore campaign by winning the men’s Invitational high jump title with a personal-best clearance of 7-5 ?. The performance marked the Husker All-American’s third straight week with a career best and moved him from fourth place into a tie for second on NU’s all-time outdoor high jump chart with former Nebraska great Shaun Kologinczak (2003). Jonas also became the first Husker men’s high jumper to win a Kansas Relays title since Steve Krebs accomplished the feat in 1968.

 

“I just pulled everything together today,” Jonas said. “We trained pretty hard this week. I was actually surprised (about the personal best) today, because I tweaked my quad muscle earlier in practice this week. I took a couple of days off, so I guess I was fresh.”

 

Husker Head Coach Gary Pepin, who tutors Jonas in the high jump, was less-than-surprised to see the sophomore’s latest effort.

 

“Dusty is just executing better lately,” Pepin said. “The heights don’t seem to bother him at all. He’s been long jumping some, and I think that’s helping him with his high jump, as well. We have trained pretty hard because he wants to do well at the end of the year. He’s also had good weather to jump in now two weeks in a row.”

 

The Nebraska men received their second event title of the weekend when the 4x100-meter relay team of seniors Courtney Jones and Oliver Williams Jr. and juniors Nate Probasco and Daniel Roper posted a winning time of 40.35. Roper fought off a late charge by Lindenwood anchor Michael Rogers to secure an NU win in the event for the second straight week. Another Husker quartet comprised of junior Priscilla Lopes, freshman Pinar Saka, junior Sheryl Morgan and freshman Chi Kalu added a third-place finish in the women’s 4x100-meter relay with a clocking of 46.11.

 

Senior Jenna Blubaugh claimed the women’s collegiate pole vault title in a return to her home state where she was a four-time All-American for JohnsonCountyCommunity College. Blubaugh matched her personal-best height with a clearance of 13-1 ? to win her first Kansas Relays title in front of several family and friends. The Greeley, Kan., native made each of the last three bars on her final attempts.

 

“I was happy to win here, because some of my family had never even seen me jump,” Blubaugh said. “It felt good to get over the bar on my third attempt, and to match my PR was even better.”

 

Junior Dace Ruskule provided the NU women with a title in the women’s discus. The reigning Big 12 champion in the event put the competition out of reach in the preliminary round with a winning throw of 186-11 that outdistanced the field by more than 25 feet. While Ruskule fouled on each of her three finals attempts, her qualifying efforts were still good enough to earn her first meet title of the season.

 

“My first throws were a good beginning for me, and 57 meters is pretty good for this time of year,” Ruskule said. “It’s not time for 60 meters yet, so I’m satisfied.”

 

Sophomore teammate Amber Curtis added a fourth-place finish in the discus (153-4), while junior Jeni Steiner also reached the finals and placed seventh (149-6) in her first attempt at the event this season.

 

Nebraska had a pair of finalists in the high hurdles, as Jones advanced through the prelims of the men’s collegiate 110-meter hurdles and Lopes competed in the Invitational section of the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Jones finished runner-up with a time of 14.10, while Lopes earned third place among a very competitive field in 13.28.

 

In addition to Lopes and Jonas, NU also had three athletes participating in Invitational sections of the pole vault. Senior Ray Scotten led the men by jumping 17 4 ? to place seventh, while Gable Baldwin was eighth at 16 8 ?. Scotten had the third-highest jump among collegians.

 

Sophomore Gatis Spunde nearly gave NU its fifth event title of the day when he finished only about a hair behind the unattached Maurice Bridges in second place in the 400m hurdles. After trailing the entire race, Spunde made a major kick down the home stretch to all but catch Bridges (51.53) with a season-best time of 51.54. Junior Justine Roach finished eighth (1:02.55) in the women’s intermediate hurdles competition.

 

Other Huskers competing in event finals Saturday included: sophomore Elizabeth Lange, who earned fifth place in the women’s collegiate 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.95; junior Jessie Graff, who tied her season-best clearance of 12-5 ? by placing third in the women’s collegiate pole vault; and freshman Robert Rands who led a group of four NU men’s long jumpers with a fourth-place leap of 23-8 ?.

 

A small group of Huskers also competed in-state Saturday at the Doane Invitational in Crete. NU swept the 2-4 spots in the men's javelin, with sophomore Ben Schutter taking third with a throw of 184-3. Sophomore Daniel Wasson was the lone Husker to compete in a jumps event, as he earned third place in the men's triple jump (personal best 46-8). For complete results from Doane, click on the link at the top of the page.

                                                                                 

Nebraska continues the relays circuit next week, when it splits its squads between the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, and Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa.