Huskers Open 2007 Indoor Season at Home

Lincoln?The Nebraska men's and women's track and field teams begin the 2007 indoor season this weekend by hosting the annual Holiday Inn Invitational at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13. Competition begins on Friday with field events at 4 p.m., while action on the track starts at 4:30 p.m. Both running and field events commence at Noon on Saturday.

Reserved tickets for Saturday's meet may be purchased from the Husker Athletic Ticket Office for $6, while general admission prices are $4 for adults and $2 for children ages seven and older. Admission is free for NU students with a valid ID and children six and under.

The Holiday Inn Invitational is one of the largest annual indoor meets held in the state of Nebraska. More than 20 schools have registered to compete at this weekend's invite, including in-state squads from Concordia, Hastings, Midland Lutheran, Nebraska-Kearney, Nebraska-Omaha, Nebraska Wesleyan and Wayne State.

Live results will be offered throughout the weekend on Huskers.com. Final results and a recap will also be posted on the web site following the completion of each day's events, while a complete list of competitors will be available on-line early Thursday afternoon.

> Nine All-Americans Return in 2007
Nebraska returns four women's and five men's athletes for the 2007 season who have combined to earn 19 NCAA All-America honors during their outstanding careers.

Leading the pack is senior Ashley Selig, who has registered five of the awards, including the 2004 NCAA indoor championship in the pentathlon. NU returns a second national champion in senior Dace Ruskule, who won the NCAA outdoor discus title last season, while senior Kayla Wilkinson (javelin) and junior Jenny Green (pole vault) also will compete for further accolades this season. Only Green will compete during the 2007 indoor season.

Nebraska brought in a fifth women's All-American to join the squad during the offseason in sophomore Brysun Stately, who placed sixth in the pole vault at the 2006 NCAA outdoor meet.

Senior Arturs Abolins, a two-time national champion in the long jump, leads the men's squad into the season, while junior Dusty Jonas, a four-time All-American in the high jump, also returns. Two-time All-American Nate Probasco will be the Huskers' leader in the sprints during his senior campaign. Gable Baldwin (pole vault) and Daniel Roper (triple jump), each one-time honorees, also will compete in their finals seasons as Huskers.

> NU Boasts Heralded Freshman Classes
A pair of incoming classes ranked among the nation's top 10 by Track & Field News magazine will aid both Husker men's and women's teams in their championship drives during the 2007 season.

The women's class, ranked No. 4 nationally by Track & Field News, will help fill the holes created by the loss of a 2006 senior class that accounted for three individual NCAA titles and 21 All-America finishes.

The group, which was highlighted with signings by former high school All-Americans Brysun Stately and Epley Bullock, along with international combined events prospects Gyorgyi Farkas and Megan Wheatley, was NU's first-ever top-five ranked class.

While the Husker men lost 10 All-America finishes with members of its 2006 senior class, this season's group of newcomers earned one of the program's highest rankings ever by the famed track and field publication with a No. 8 rating.

The class featured the signings of former high school All-Americans Seth Burney, Tim Grier, Lukas Hulett, Nicholas Makukutu and Scott Wims.

> Three Men Added to Roster at Semester
The Husker men's squad added three freshmen athletes to its 2007 roster this week following the start of second semester classes?Dax Danns (Lemon Grove, Calif.), Erwin Schmidt (Benoni, South Africa) and Cylend Simmons (Mesa, Ariz).

Danns, a sprints prospect out of Helix High School, arrives at Nebraska boasting solid personal-best times of 10.60 in the 100-meter dash, 21.21 in the 200 and 48.44 in the 400. A native of Guyana, both of Danns' 100 and 200 marks rank as national junior records. He finished fourth place in both events as a junior at the 2005 California state meet.

Simmons will join Nebraska's hurdles crew following an outstanding prep career at Mesa Westwood High School. He set the all-time Arizona state record of 37.01 while winning the 300-meter hurdles at the Arizona Meet of Champions last spring. Simmons was named the Gatorade Boy's Athlete of the Year for Arizona in 2006 and also owns a personal-best time of 14.26 in the 110-meter hurdles.

Schmidt brings outstanding potential from South Africa in the 800-meter run, as he owns a personal-best time of 1:49.75. The mark ranked third among all South African junior athletes for 2006.

> Pepin Enters 27th Season at Husker Helm
Nebraska Head Coach Gary Pepin is beginning his 27th year guiding the Husker women’s team and 24th year coaching the NU men's squad. Pepin is only one season shy of former Husker coach Frank Sevigne as the longest-tenured track and field coach in school history. Sevigne logged 28 seasons leading the NU men’s program from 1956 through 1983.

Pepin has helped the Husker women combine for 38 of their 40 conference titles, while also notching 20 of the program’s 21 top-five NCAA team finishes, including each of Nebraska’s three indoor national championships.

Pepin has led the men's team to 25 of its 57 indoor and outdoor conference crowns, while also notching two NCAA top-five placings. The Huskers' second-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships ranks as the squad's highest at an NCAA meet.

> Huskers to Host Full Home Schedule
Nebraska will host one of its most extensive series of home meets in recent memory during the 2007 season. In addition to scheduling four home competitions at the Devaney Center Indoor Track, the Huskers have three outdoor meets planned for Ed Weir Stadium.

The indoor schedule stacks up much the same as it has over recent years, with the Huskers hosting four straight home meets to open the season?the Holiday Inn Invitational, the Conference Challenge (a team-scored meet pitting Nebraska, Kansas State and Missouri against schools from the Mountain West Conference) and the adidas Classic. The always high-profile Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational will conclude the stretch Feb. 2-3.

Outdoors, the Huskers will host three meets for the first time since 2003, all during a three-week period. The Nebraska Open will be held on Sunday, April 29, the same weekend as the Drake and Penn Relays, with the Nebraska Invitational following the subsequent week. The Big 12 Outdoor Championships come to Ed Weir Stadium for the first time in the conference’s 11-year existence for the weekend of May 11-13.