Impressive Marks Posted at Husker Intrasquad Meet

LINCOLN?With the indoor track and field season quickly approaching, <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska continued preparations for the upcoming campaign by holding its annual intrasquad meet Friday at the Devaney Center Indoor Track. For the second straight year, the Husker women challenged the men in a team scoring matchup.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

While the men’s squad easily outdistanced the women by a 78-29 margin, some outstanding performances were seen from both sides. Several Huskers appeared in mid-season form by either breaking former intrasquad meet records or surpassing previous career bests. In all, five new meet standards were set during the two-hour competition.

The scoring system used was a version of the IAAF Tables, which assign points to individual performances. The tables are similar to the scoring tables used to calculate scores for combined events competitions such as the heptathlon or decathlon. The system allowed a format for the men’s and women’s squads to compare individual performances.

Junior four-time NCAA All-American Dusty Jonas led the way by surpassing the record of 7-1 he set last year with a winning height of 7-3 Friday in the high jump. Jonas also appeared to have a good chance of clearing 7-5, but just clipped the bar with his heels on his second attempt.

Senior Daniel Roper, a three-time Big 12 Conference champion in the men’s triple jump, recorded a huge jump of 51-5 to shatter former Husker Jason Thompson’s previous meet record of 50-4 ?. Roper’s distance was only one-half inch shy of his own personal best set last March.

Not to be outdone, sophomore Zarinah Suluki-Drakes notched an impressive leap of 41-4 ? in the triple jump, which would have wrecked her personal best of 39-10 if it had been recorded in an official competition. To put the mark in perspective, it would have ranked No. 9 on the Husker women’s all-time event chart.

Both of the top two finishers in the 400-meter dash surpassed the previous men’s 400-meter meet record. A pair of freshmen, Tim Grier and Lukas Hulett, clocked respective times of 47.83 and 48.30 to finish 1-2. Grier’s wining mark would have placed him seventh on NU’s all-time list if set during an official competition.

Other new intrasquad records set Friday included those by senior two-time NCAA champion Arturs Abolins in the long jump (24-1 ?), and sophomore All-American Brysun Stately (13-7) in the pole vault. Abolins also finished second in the 60-meter dash, while Stately, who transferred to Nebraska this season from USC following a sixth-place finish at last season’s NCAA Outdoor Championships, fell only one-quarter inch shy of equaling her own personal-best height.

Several other impressive-looking newcomers exhibited why Track & Field News ranked both Nebraska’s men’s and women’s 2006 recruiting classes among the top-10 groups nationally. In addition to Grier, Hulett and Stately, freshman Scott Wims (6.85) won the 60-meter dash and freshmen Seth Burney (17-1) skyed well past his previous-best performance to win the pole vault. Redshirt freshman Tyrell Ross also won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.15.

Among women’s newcomers, freshman Epley Bullock cleared 5-10 in the high jump and freshman LeAndra McGruder sailed to a distance of 39-7 ? in the triple jump.

Husker veterans picking up event wins for the men included sophomore Nathan Kumm (1:13.2) in the 600-yard run; senior two-time All-American Nate Probasco in the 200-meter dash; and junior Keith Lloyd in the weight throw (51-10). Senior Jeni Steiner (50-8) posted the top women’s distance in the weight throw, while a pair of women freshmen (Gyorgi Farkas and Erin Hannon) cleared 5-8 in the high jump.

Complete results from Friday's intrasquad competition can be found by clicking the link at the top of the page.

The indoor track and field season officially begins for Nebraska on Jan. 12-13, when it hosts the annual Holiday Inn Invitational at the Devaney Center Track. Events begin on Friday at 4 p.m., while Saturday’s action kicks off at Noon.