Lopes, Ruskule Win Regional Titles

AUSTIN, Texas?Nebraska athletes earned two individual titles Saturday during the final day of the NCAA Midwest Regional Track and Field Championships at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Meyers Stadium. Husker juniors Priscilla Lopes and Dace Ruskule were two of seven NU athletes gaining automatic-qualifying spots to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, to be held June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif.

Overall, 12 Huskers earned automatic spots during the two-day team-scored meet. NU finished fifth in the women’s team race with 46 points, while the men’s team placed sixth (42 points).

Lopes provided Nebraska with an early boost Saturday, as she earned her third consecutive regional title in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. The Huskers’ seven-time All-American overcame a poor start out of the blocks to overtake Texas’ Melaine Walker (12.77) with a wind-aided time of 12.70. Despite the uncharacteristic start, Lopes still managed to clock her second-fastest time of the season.

"I’m just trying to stay consistent," Lopes said. "I had a slow start. I kind of stayed in the blocks too long. Everyone was out before me, so I had to play a little catch-up. But overall, once I got going, it was good."

NU’s third regional title of the weekend came from the right arm of Ruskule, who won the women’s discus with a spin of 193-9. The throw marked Ruskule’s best performance since joining the Huskers prior to the 2005 season. She easily out-distanced the regional field, winning by nearly 11 feet over second-place Krystal Robinson of Rice (182-11).

"This was a tricky wind today," Ruskule said. "Most of the girls did the same thing?they were throwing the discus too high. I usually go really low with it, and my one attempt really went well."

Shockingly, the finals field did not include senior Becky Breisch, the 2005 USATF and 2004 NCAA discus champion. Breisch sector fouled on each of her three preliminary attempts, meaning she is not eligible to receive an at-large bid in the discus to the NCAA Championships. She will still compete in the shot put, though, as she won the Midwest Regional title on Friday.

With Breisch’s absence Ruskule now will enter the NCAA Championships as the favorite to win her first national title, as her mark recorded Saturday ranks No. 2 nationally behind only Breisch.

"I’m happy to be going to nationals, but I was hoping we would go first and second," Ruskule said. "I’m not going to predict anything, because sports are unpredictable. If fortune is on my side, I will do my best."

Nebraska qualified both senior Aaron Plas and sophomore Dusty Jonas in the men’s high jump. The pair of Husker All-Americans shared second place by clearing 7-3 ? behind event winner Andra Manson (Texas), who reached 7-4 ?. Plas and Jonas survived an extremely difficult Midwest Regional field that featured four of the nation’s top five athletes.

Junior Daniel Roper earned NU’s first automatic qualification of the day with a fifth-place finish in the men’s triple jump. Roper, who will compete in his first NCAA outdoor meet in two weeks, leaped a distance of 51-3 on his third preliminary attempt to earn his highest career regional finish.

The Husker men added another automatic qualifier with senior Mark Harrison running to a fifth-place finish in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Harrison, who clocked in at 51.31, will have the opportunity to add his first All-America finish in two weeks after already claiming his first Big 12 title last weekend.

Sophomore Jenny Green became the third Husker pole vaulter to earn an automatic bid, joining junior Gable Baldwin and senior Ray Scotten of the NU men’s team, as she won a jump-off for fifth place during the women’s competition. Both Green and Minnesota’s Andrea Smith reached 13-3 ? and bowed out of the competition at 13-7 3/4, but the Husker All-American cleared 13-3 ? again on her first attempt of the jump-off’s second round to grab the final automatic berth. Senior Jenna Blubaugh finished seventh (12-11 ?), but she will likely earn an NCAA at-large bid since she entered the weekend tied for ninth nationally with her season-best mark of 13-7 ?.

The NU men featured both their 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays in finals Saturday, although neither team finished in the top three to earn an automatic NCAA bid. The 4x400-meter team of sophomore Andrew Pearson, junior Nate Probasco and seniors Andy Nelson and Mark Harrison earned seventh place with a time of 3:17.12, while the 4x100-meter team of junior Arturs Abolins, senior Oliver Williams Jr., Probasco and Roper also finished seventh in 39.76.

Williams also registered an outstanding performance in the men's 100-meter dash featuring a personal-best time of 10.29 (wind aided) that earned him seventh place. The finish made Williams eligible for an at-large NCAA bid in the event.

The track and field season comes to a close June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif., as at least 12 Huskers will vie for national honors at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Sacramento State’s Alex G. Spanos Track and Field Complex. NCAA at-large selections will be announced Tuesday.