Relay Club Newsletter - Summer 2006

Abolins, Ruskule Win NCAA Titles
Arturs Abolins completed his goal of an indoor-outdoor sweep of the NCAA men's long jump championships with his second career national title, while Dace Ruskule added her first crown in the women's discus to complete the 2006 collegiate outdoor season at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Abolins recorded an outdoor personal-best leap of 26-3 on his fifth of six jumps to overtake Texas A&M's Fabrice Lapierre during the event finals in Sacramento, Calif. Lapierre followed with jumps of 26-2 1/4 on his fifth attempt and 25-9 on his final opportunity, but neither were enough to overtake NU's 2006 NCAA indoor champion.

Despite fouling on his final attempt, Abolins became the first Husker men's athlete to win the event at the national outdoor meet, while he added only the second long jump title overall in school history. He also became the 10th athlete to sweep the men's indoor and outdoor titles in the same season.

The personal best on his fifth jump nearly equaled the dramatic value of his NCAA indoor performance, when he also leaped over Lapierre on the competition's next-to-last attempt with his indoor career long of 26-7 1/4. Abolins' new outdoor mark ranks third all-time in the NU outdoor long jump record book.

Not to be outdone, Ruskule notched only the second women's discus crown in Husker history the following day with a clutch throw of 180-10 on her fifth of six attempts. The Riga, Latvia, native trailed Rice's Krystal Robinson in second place by less than one foot, but was able to take over the lead with her fifth spin. Alabama's Beth Mallory later moved into second with a mark of 179-7 on her final attempt, but Ruskule was able to hold on to earn her first national title.

An Olympian for Latvia in 2004, Ruskule rebounded from a miserable first experience at the NCAA Championships suffered last year, when she struggled to the tune of a 133-9 throw and 27th-place finish. Her latest performance placed her alongside teammate Becky Breisch as NU's only NCAA champions for the women's discus.

Baker, Breisch Push NU Women to Top-Four Team Finish
A pair of clutch final-day performances by Husker seniors Sara Jane Baker and Becky Breisch helped boost the NU women's team into a tie for fourth place (37 points) and share of the final NCAA team trophy with Arizona State during the NCAA meet's final day. The Husker men finished 14th in their team competition with 19 points.

The NU women sat in fifth place entering the final section of the women's heptathlon, which featured the squad's last scoring hope in Baker. Baker, who needed to finish sixth in the heptathlon competition to push NU's team score high enough to capture a team trophy, ranked 10th overall entering the 800-meter run, 240 points behind Oregon's Lauryn Jordan for sixth place.

While the deficit appeared insurmountable, Baker delivered with a winning time of 2:13.28 to edge Jordan by only eight points. The Husker All-American's total score of 5,507 was a personal best and erased the memories of five straight NCAA combined events challenges without an All-America finish.

Equally important to the performance of Baker was that of Breisch, who ended her distinguished Nebraska career with a runner-up finish in the women's shot put after recording a mark of 59-2 3/4. Breisch stood in third place prior to her final attempt, but uncorked her best throw to overtake Texas' Michelle Carter for second place. North Carolina's Laura Gerraughty won the competition with a mark of 60-1 1/4 , but the final attempt by the Husker senior gained NU a very important two-point jump to help clinch a share of the meet's final trophy.

The high finish marked the fourth straight year the NU women claimed at least one top-five placing.

Eight Claim All-America Honors
In addition to the Huskers' national champion winners (Abolins and Ruskule) and final-day clutch performers (Baker and Breisch), four others helped make the week a complete success for Nebraska.

Priscilla Lopes and Kayla Wilkinson each produced runner-up finishes in their respective specialty events, the women's 100-meter hurdles and javelin.

Lopes broke her own school record for the second time this season with a time of 12.60. The 2004 NCAA indoor champion earned her fifth straight silver medal at a national meet.

Wilkinson overcame her sub-standard performance at the 2005 NCAA meet by recording her first career All-America finish. She launched the javelin 178-11 to become NU's top national finisher in the event since Karyn Szarkowski in 1986.

Dusty Jonas and Ray Scotten also added top-eight finishes for the Husker men's team.

Jonas cleared 7-3 3/4 to place fourth in the high jump, while Scotten placed fifth in the pole vault with a height of 17-10 1/2. Both Huskers earned their fourth consecutive All-America honors.

Seven Champions Lead NU at Big 12 Championships
Sara Jane Baker and Mark Harrison led a group of seven NU conference outdoor event champions May 12-14 at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Waco, Texas. It was the first career conference crowns for both Huskers.

Baker, competing in her eighth consecutive Big 12 combined events challenge, finally broke through in the women's heptathlon with a personal-best, winning score of 5,486, while Harrison also claimed his first Big 12 title in the men's 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 50.46.

Other NU event champions included: Becky Breisch, who won the women's discus to tie former Husker great Paulette Mitchell's school record for total conference throws titles (nine); Priscilla Lopes (100-meter hurdles) and Kayla Wilkinson (javelin), who each successfully defended their 2005 Big 12 women's outdoor championships; Daniel Roper, who became only the second Husker men's athlete to claim three triple jump titles; and Nate Probasco, who earned his fourth overall conference title and second in the men's 200-meter dash.

Nebraska finished runner-up in the race for the men's team championship, while the women placed third.

Huskers at the USA Championships
Eleven current and former Huskers competed at the USA Outdoor Championships last month in Indianapolis, Ind., led by defending women's discus champion Becky Breisch.

Breisch earned third place while attempting to repeat as USA champion. The Huskers' 10-time All American recorded a throw of 190-2 to finish behind Nike's Arthea Thurmond (205-1) and Asics' Suzy Powell (192-6). Breisch added sixth-place honors in the women's shot put (56-6 1/2).

Kayla Wilkinson also claimed bronze-medal honors in her first career attempt at the USA title in the women's javelin. The Deshler, Neb., native, who will enter her senior season in 2007 as the nation's top returning NCAA finisher, launched a throw of 171-7.

Other current Huskers appearing in Indianapolis included Dusty Jonas, who tied for seventh place in the men's high jump (7-0 3/4), Robert Rands, the fifth-place finisher in the USA men's junior long jump (23-11 1/2), and Sam Ogden, who earned ninth place in the men's junior pole vault (15-7). Gable Baldwin no-heighted during the men's senior pole vault competition.

Former NU standouts Sara Jane Baker (11th-women's heptathlon), Christina (Blackmer) Dougherty (16th-women's 10,000 meters), Ann Gaffigan (11th-women's 3,000-meter steeplechase), Melissa (Price) Myerscough (10th-hammer throw) and Anne Shadle (10th-1,500 meters) also competed.

NU Continues Academic Success
Four Huskers added to the strong academic tradition of Nebraska athletics this season by earning ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America. The four honorees tied Nebraska's single-season high, also set during the 2002 and 2004 seasons.

Ashley Selig became only the fifth Husker women's track and field athlete to be named a first-team academic All-American, and the first since Tia DeSoto in 2004. A five time NCAA All-American, Selig has been one of NU's most involved student-athletes in the community. She has volunteered for activities such as the Special Olympics and American Education Week, while also serving as the president for Nebraska's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during the past academic year.

For her efforts in the classroom and on the track, Selig was awarded the Huskers' Female Student Athlete of the Year Award during the spring. She graduated in May with a 3.63 grade-point average in exercise science.

NU's Male Student-Athlete of the Year, Aaron Plas, also earned national recognition by being named to the Academic All-America men's second team. The McCook, Neb., native recently concluded his distinguished athletic career at the NCAA Outdoor Championships after posting All-America finishes during his previous three national meet appearances. Plas, who sports a 3.63 grade-point average in business education, was a three-time first-team academic All-Big 12 honoree.

Nate Probasco was also named to the second team. The Huskers' four-time Big 12 champion owns a 3.76 GPA in history and is two-time academic All-Big 12 honoree.

Also earning recognition from CoSIDA was Jenny Green, who became the first Husker sophomore women's track athlete to be named an Academic All-American. Green carries a 3.83 GPA in advertising.

Sara Jane Baker was awarded a second-team academic all-district selection. Only first-team all-district members advanced to the academic All-America ballot.

This year's four Husker track and field honorees brings Nebraska's season-ending total of student-athletes recognized by CoSIDA to 11 across all sports, including seven first-team selections. NU, which now boasts respective totals of 233 overall honorees and 117 first-team selections, continues to lead the nation in CoSIDA Academic All-Americans for all sports, while Notre Dame ranks second with 176 honorees.

Twenty-three of the Husker award winners participated in track and field while at Nebraska.

Colligan Named Regional Assistant Coach of the Year
Nebraska's Mark Colligan was honored as one of the nation's top assistant track and field coaches recently, as the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association tabbed him as Midwest Regional Women's Throws Coach of the Year.

Colligan guided his Husker women's throwers to another banner season in 2006, as the group combined for four NCAA All-America finishes, three individual Big 12 titles and one national championship. The group's top 2006 achievement came at the NCAA outdoor meet, when Dace Ruskule won her first national title in the discus. Teammates Becky Breisch and Kayla Wilkinson added runner-up finishes in the shot put and javelin, respectively. NU's three women's throwers alone accounted for 26 of Nebraska's 37 team points to help the Huskers finish tied for fourth place.

Recently concluding his 20th season as a member of the Nebraska track and field coaching staff, Colligan has helped turn NU into a top destination for some of the world's most talented throwers. He has guided 34 athletes to the NCAA Championships, five reaching the highest level by combining for 12 individual NCAA titles. In addition to his current pupils, Colligan has coached former Husker standouts Carl Myerscough (four NCAA titles), Tressa Thompson (three titles) and Kevin Coleman (two titles) to NCAA champion careers. Breisch, who concluded her Nebraska career as a 10-time All-American, also won the USATF discus crown last summer under Colligan's watch.

Nebraska Men's 2006-07 Track and Field Signing Class
Name — Hometown (High School/Other School) — High School Events
Alie Beauvais — Hempstead, N.Y. (Hempstead) — i400m (48.16), i600m (1:20.21)
Seth Burney — Beatrice, Neb. (Beatrice) — PV (16-7)
Dax Danns — Lemon Grove, Calif. (Helix) — 100m (10.3h, 10.60), 200m (21.21)
Tim Grier — Stone Mountain, Ga. (Hiram) — 60mH (8.03), 110mH (14.26), 300mH (36.74), LJ (23-3 1/4)
Lukas Hulett — Bellevue, Neb. (East) — 400m (46.98), 200m (21.53)
Eric Lund — Milford, Neb. (Milford) — 110mH (14.5), 300H (38.75)
Nicholas Makukutu — Missouri City, Texas (Fort Bend Marshall) — 300mH (37.50)
Jamie Ryder — London, Ontario (Sir Frederick Banting) — i60mH (7.92), 110m H (13.86)
Erwin Schmidt — Kempton Park, South Africa (Kempton Park) — 800m (1:49.75)
Scott Wims — Ft. Wayne, Ind. (Northrop) — 100m (10.46), 200m (21.15)

Nebraska Women's 2006-07 Track and Field Signing Class

Name — Hometown (High School) — High School Events
Epley Bullock — Allen, Texas (Allen) — HJ (6-0)
Nikita Eades — Aurora, Colo. (Littleton) — 100mH (13.86), 300mH (4291)
Gyorgi Farkas — Budapest, Hungary (Cornivus University) — Hept (5,550), HJ (5-10), LJ (19-10 1/4)
Erin Hannon — Bradford, Pa. (Bradford Area) — HJ (5-10), LJ (18-7 1/2), TJ (40-0), Pent (3,372)
Jessi Kissel — Kennedale, Texas (Kennedale) — HJ (5-6)
Leandra McGruder — Jefferson City, Mo. (Jefferson City) — TJ (39-9 3/4), LJ (19-6 1/2)
Chantae McMillan — Rolla, Mo. (Rolla) — LJ (19-7 3/4), TJ (40-0)
Sarah Lyons — Omaha, Neb. (Brownell-Talbot) — 100m (11.68w), 200m (24.06), 400m (55.37)
Danielle Smith — Bellevue, Neb. (West) — TJ (38-3)
Meagan Wheatley — Perth, Australia (Penrhos College) — Heptathlon (5,323)