Huskers Tie Texas for Men?s Big 12 Indoor Crown

AMES, Iowa?Nebraska earned a tie for its ninth Big 12 Conference men’s indoor championship Saturday as the team race at the 2007 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships came down to the final event. The Huskers placed fifth in the women’s race with 69.50 points, while Texas A&M won the women's title with 141 points.

 

NU benefited from the perfect storm of circumstances to catch up to the Longhorns after finishing third in the men’s 4x400-meter relay to conclude the weekend. The NU squad of senior Nate Probasco and freshmen Scott Wims, Daniel Christensen and Lukas Hulett clocked in with a season-best time of 3:07.90, while UT’s squad failed to earn a top-eight placing to knot the final score at 93-93.

 

The title marked Nebraska’s 98th all-time conference track championship between both men’s and women’s squads. The victory was due to a total team effort featuring big performances by several athletes, none which finished as individual champions. This marked the Huskers’ first conference championship team that did not feature an individual event winner.

 

While no Huskers earned event crowns, NU was boosted by four runner-up finishes on the men's side and two for the Nebraska women.

 

"Our goal was to win this meet, and we got about as close to that as you can with a tie, so we're very excited about that," Head Coach Gary Pepin said. "We've always felt that this was one of the best conference championship meets in the country. If you can win a championship here, you have a heck of a team. We're really proud of how our athletes competed."

 

One day after finishing runner-up in the men’s long jump with the best leap of his career, senior Daniel Roper grabbed second-place in the Big 12 triple jump competition. Roper jumped to a season-best distance of 51-8 ?. The Plantation, Fla., native’s mark improved his standing to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, as he moved into a tie for 14th place among all national marks entering the weekend.

 

"It was a good, productive weekend," Roper said about his individual performances. "I'm more than happy that the team could win the Big 12 title. I knew in the triple jump I either had to win or get second for us to have a chance. I'm going to thank God that I got second. As long as we win, I'm happy with that."

 

The Husker men earned big team points in the pole vault, as senior Gable Baldwin and freshman Seth Burney earned second and third places, respectively, after each cleared 17-1 ?. Baldwin appeared in line to win the conference crown late in the competition, but Kansas’ Jordan Scott was able to reach the winning bar of 17-5 ? on his third and final opportunity.

 

Adding a silver-medal showing for the NU men was junior Peter van der Westhuizen, who ran a personal-best time of 2:22.41 in the 1,000-meter run. Freshman Ethan Luebbe used a strong late-race push to earn fourth place (2:26.83) in his Big 12 Conference debut.

 

A pair of freshmen sprinters provided the Huskers with a huge boost in the men’s 60-meter dash, as Scott Wims and Dax Danns finished third and fourth with respective times of 6.77 and 6.79. Both marks were personal bests. Wims added a fourth-place effort in the 200-meter dash with a clocking of 21.06, just ahead of senior All-America teammate Nate Probasco, who was fifth (21.14). Wims' 200-meter dash time ranks third all-time on NU's indoor performance list for efforts on an oversize track (larger than 200 meters).

 

Junior Dusty Jonas grabbed his fifth top-five Big 12 men’s high jump placing in as many attempts with a third-place showing Saturday. Jonas cleared 7-1 ?, but was unable to reach 7-3 in his three tries.

 

Skyler Reising earned his first career Big 12 placing with a sixth-place score of 5,333 in the men’s heptathlon. The score marked a lifetime-best effort for the Lincoln native, erasing his previous best of 5,121 set during an 11th-place showing at the 2006 conference indoor meet. Reising had a solid final day after entering Saturday in third place. He notched individual event bests in each of his three events?the 60-meter hurdles (8.91), pole vault (14-6) and 1,000 meters (2:47.55). Senior teammate Lee Martin placed 11th in the heptathlon with 4,997 points.

 

Several additional Husker men garnered all-conference status on the final day by finishing among the top eight in their respective events. Freshman Lukas Hulett placed sixth in the 400-meter dash (47.27) one day after notching the second-fastest time in school history, while junior Keith Lloyd kept NU's title hopes alive with a seventh-place toss of 55-2 3/4 in the shot put.

 

The Husker women's squad also posted several All-Big 12 performnes on the final day of competition, including senior Jeni Steiner, who finished fifth in the shot put to earn her a fifth career conference scoring position in the event. Steiner’s mark of 50-7 ? was her second-best this indoor season, as well as her second toss of more than 50 feet in as many weeks.

 

Nebraska placed three women among the top eight in the high jump. Freshman Epley Bullock led the contingent with a personal-best indoor leap of 6-0. Senior Casie Witte, the fifth-place individual in Friday's pentathlon competition, tied for sixth in the high jump at 5-8, and freshman Erin Hannon, who earned sixth place in the pentathlon, added eighth place in the high jump with the same mark.

 

Adding team points for the Husker women were sophomore Natalja Zarcenko, the fifth-place individual in the mile(4:49.86); freshman Nikita Eades, who placed seventh in the women’s 60-meter hurdles (8.56); sophomore Zarinah Suluki-Drakes, the seventh-place finisher in the women’s triple jump (41-3); senior Sheryl Morgan, who despite falling during the final heat of the 400-meter dash still managed to earn seventh place; and sophomore Jennifer Pancoast, the fifth-place individual in the 3,000 meters (9:46.37). Jennifer's older sister, senior Kim Pancoast, claimed eighth place in the mile (4:53.07).

 

Nebraska takes a week off from the championship indoor circuit next week, as it attempts to land some additional last-minute qualifiers for the NCAA indoor meet, which will be held in two weeks at Fayetteville, Ark. The Huskers will send athletes to NCAA Qualifier meets in both Ames and Fayetteville.

 

Men's Team Scores

1. Nebraska - 93

    Texas - 93

3. Oklahoma - 80.50

4. Missouri - 79

5. Baylor - 75

 

Women's Team Scores

1. Texas A&M - 141

2. Texas - 104

3. Texas Tech - 93

4. Oklahoma - 74.50

5. Nebraska - 69.50