Huskers Face First Road Weekend of 2007

Lincoln - Nebraska leaves the friendly confines of the Devaney Center Indoor Track for the first time this season, as it sends athletes to both the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, and the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., to compete Friday through Saturday.

Fifty-eight Huskers, 34 men and 24 women, will be in action this weekend at one of the road competitions. The pair of competitive meets should prove to be a good measuring stick as to where NU stacks up against some of the nation’s elite talent in 2007.

> Large Contingent Headed to Iowa State
The largest group of Huskers this weekend will compete in one of the nation’s biggest meets of the year at the 16th annual Iowa State Classic. NU plans to send 48 athletes (28 men, 20 women) to Ames to compete against a variety of talent from throughout the nation, including squads from conferences such as the Big 12, ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-10, Conference USA, Missouri Valley and MAC. Athletes from each Nebraska event group will see action at Iowa State, including seven of the squad’s 14 2007 NCAA indoor qualifiers.

Results and a recap from Nebraska’s efforts at the Iowa State Classic can be found following each day’s events on Huskers.com. Live results will not be available during the meet. For a complete schedule covering Nebraska’s entries for this weekend’s events, see page 2 of this week’s Husker track & field notes.

NU's <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>IowaState Classic Travel Roster
Men                                                      Women
Bryan Bell (WT)                                      Epley Bullock (HJ)
Aaron Bozarth (WT)                                Joslyn Dalton (3,000m)
Daniel Christensen (400m)                      Ashlee Dickinson (HJ)
Kyle Custer (Mile)                                  Nikita Eades (200m, 60H)
Dax Danns (60m, 200m)                         Ari Goldstein (5,000m)
Tim Grier (400m)                                    Erin Hannon (60H, HJ)
Zach Holoch (PV)                                   Cgi Kalu (60m, 200m)
Lukas Hulett (200m)                               Jamie Klages (HJ)
Andr?s Lics?k (800m)                             Sarah Lyons (200m, 400m)
Andrew Lind (Mile)                                  Lindsey Maher (PV)
Ethan Luebbe (Mile)                               Leandra McGruder (LJ, TJ)
Nicholas Makukutu (600y)                       Jennifer Pancoast (Mile)
Lee Martin (60H, HJ)                               Kacie Sharp (SP)
Sam Ogden (PV)                                    Kim Shubert (200m, LJ, SP)
John Ottun (HJ)                                      Danielle Smith (TJ)
Brian Parr (3,000m)                                Tamara Solari (WT)
Andrew Pearson (400m)                          Jeni Steiner (SP)
Eric Petersen (WT)                                 Zarinah Suluki-Drakes (LJ, TJ)
Nate Probasco (200m)                            Megan Wheatley (60H, HJ, LJ)
Robert Rands (LJ, TJ)                             Natalja Zarcenko (Mile)
Skyler Reising (60m, 200m)
Tyrell Ross (60H)
Jamie Ryder (60H)
Erwin Schmidt (600y, 800m)
Vince Sickler (Mile)
Peter van der Westhuizen (Mile)
Scott Wims (60m, 200m)
Issar Yazhbin (WT)<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

> Nebraska Sends 10 to Arkansas
Among Nebraska’s group of 10 athletes competing this weekend at the Tyson Invite will be the other half of the team’s NCAA indoor qualifiers. The meet is divided into College, Championshp and Invitational sections, with the Invitational sections consisting mainly of professional entries.

Six Huskers are slated to compete in the Championship section of their respective events, including Jenny Green and Brysun Stately (women’s pole vault); Casie Witte (women’s high jump); Gable Baldwin (men’s pole vault); Dusty Jonas (men’s high jump); and Daniel Roper (men’s triple jump).

Roper and Witte also will appear in the men’s and women’s college sections of the long jump, in addition to NU’s other College entries of Kim Pancoast (women’s mile); Seth Burney (men’s pole vault); Chris Nuttelman (men’s triple jump); and Ben Schutter (men’s 60-meter hurdles and long jump).

Live results will be offered throughout the weekend at http://www.flashresults.com/, while Huskers.com will sort out each of Nebraska’s standout performances with complete post-day recaps.

NU's Tyson Invitational Travel Roster
Men                                                      Women
Gable Baldwin (PV)                                Jenny Green (PV)
Seth Burney (PV)                                   Kim Pancoast (Mile)
Dusty Jonas (HJ)                                    Brysun Stately (PV)
Chris Nuttelman (TJ)                               Casie Witte (HJ, LJ)
Daniel Roper (LJ, TJ)
Ben Schutter (60H, LJ)

> Husker Sets Sights on Sub-Four Minutes
Fans at the adidas Classic saw Peter van der Westhuizen’s early-season success continue with a standout performance during his win in the men’s mile.

The Husker junior clocked a personal-best time of 4:02.27 to easily claim victory while placing his name among the nation’s early leaders in the mile. In the process, van der Westhuizen moved into third place on Nebraska’s all-time event list.

If his progress continues, look for the South African to have a shot at becoming only the second Husker ever to break the four-minute barrier in the mile this season. Greg Carlberg turned in NU’s only sub-four-minute indoor mile back in 1971 with a time of 3:59.6 on an oversized track in Houston, Texas.

Van der Westhuizen will have that opportunity on Saturday, when he runs the mile at Iowa State’s Lied Recreation Center, the same facility that will host the Big 12 Indoor Championships two weeks later. ISU’s 300-meter oversized track typically provides faster results than Nebraska’s regulation-sized 200-meter oval.

The 2005 Big 12 runner-up in the indoor mile, van der Westhuizen currently sits at the top of the conference performance list in two different races not named the mile?the 1,000- and 5,000-meter run events.

> Young 4x400 Closing In
One of the youngest and most exciting groups on this year’s Husker squad is the men’s 4x400-meter relay. At times this season, NU has lined up with as many as three freshmen among the four members of its relay squad.

The relay, comprised of senior Nate Probasco and freshmen Daniel Christensen, Lukas Hulett and Scott Wims, came close to meeting the NCAA provisional standard (3:10.40) while winning the event at the adidas Classic with a time of 3:10.90.

The squad, which has also featured junior Andrew Pearson and freshmen Tim Grier and Nicholas Makukutu this season, is attempting to become the first Husker 4x400-meter relay to reach the NCAA Championships since the 2004 group of Pearson and former Huskers Mark Harrison, Danny Hill and Dmitrijs Milkevics earned ninth place at the NCAA indoor meet.

This week’s Iowa State Classic will provide the Huskers with a great opportunity to reach the NCAA qualifying level, as the oversized 300-meter track at the Lied Recreation Center typically provides faster results than Nebraska’s regulation-sized 200-meter oval.

> Roper Leaps to Big 12 Lead
Daniel Roper finished last weekend’s Husker Invite with a pair of new NCAA provisional marks in the triple jump and long jump, but it was his performance in his non-specialty event that earned him a place at the top of this week’s Big 12 Conference performance list.

Roper, who is the only Husker all-time with three career conference titles in the men’s triple jump, soared to the top of the conference standings in the long jump with a career-best mark of 24-7 1/4. One of only two Nebraska athletes this season with multiple NCAA qualifications, Roper had never previously surpassed 24-3 indoors during his career.

While Roper’s long jump was impressive, he remains focused on the triple jump, as he is tied for No. 22 nationally in his specialty event with his best performances still ahead of him. The Plantation, Fla., native, who reached a season-best 50-8 last weekend, has soared to a distance of more than 52 feet during his career.

> Eades Making Steady Progress
Nebraska faced a stern challenge during the off-season in trying to replace former Husker great Priscilla Lopes, who turned to the professional ranks following a storied career featuring a national title in the women’s 60-meter hurdles and five Big 12 championships.

Enter freshman Nikita Eades, previously a standout in the Colorado prep ranks for Littleton High School. While no one can replace Lopes, Eades has quietly pushed herself into consideration for conference honors in her first season. She claimed three straight victories in the hurdles to open her career while lowering her personal-best time during each of the four weeks this season to her current low mark of 8.46.

Eades currently ranks fourth in the Big 12 with the time and trails the conference leader by only 0.05 seconds. The clocking also moved her into a tie for fifth place on Nebraska’s all-time indoor event chart. Additionally, Eades needs to lower her time only 0.03 seconds to meet the NCAA provisional-qualifying standard.

> Schutter Paces NU at Husker Invite
Ben Schutter led a Nebraska effort that featured three event titles and seven new NCAA qualifying performances last weekend during the 32nd annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational at the Devaney Center Indoor Track.

More than 4,300 spectators attended the two-day meet, as Schutter completed an outstanding effort in the men’s heptathlon by winning his second straight Husker Invite title. In addition to setting a meet record with a personal-best score of 5,474, Schutter also earned an NCAA provisional qualification with the nation’s ninth-best total this season.

Nate Probasco won his second career Husker Invite title in the men’s 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 21.12. A two-time Big 12 champion, Probasco also earned his first NCAA provisional time of the year. Kim Pancoast provided a win for NU in the women’s 1,000 meters with the Big 12’s fastest time this season of 2:51.44.

Zarinah Suluki-Drakes placed third in the women’s triple jump after extending her personal best by more than nine inches to an NCAA provisional-qualifying 41-10 3/4, while Daniel Roper earned his first qualifying marks in both the men’s long jump (24-7 1/4) and triple jump (50-8). Roper’s long jump marked a career-best effort.

Two additional Huskers set provisional marks on Friday, as Casie Witte (3,791) and Kim Shubert (3,716) finished second and third in the women’s pentathlon with career-best scores.

> Yazhbin Continues Strong Comeback
One of the more welcome sights for Nebraska in the early going this season has been the exceptional weight throw performances from Issar Yazhbin, who sat out the 2006 season with a groin injury.

To tell if Yazhbin has completed a successful recovery, one must only look at his early 2007 results. He recorded personal-best spins during each of his first three meets of the season, including a high mark of 64-8 1/2 to claim victory during the adidas Classic. Yazhbin also earned his first career NCAA provisional qualification three weeks ago.

While last week’s effort of 62-8 1/2 broke his three-week streak of setting personal-best distances, it was still well beyond his previous best mark of 61-5 that he brought into the 2007 season. Additionally, Yazhbin has continued to extend his own Israeli national record in the event, which he first set as a junior in 2005.

> Freshmen Driving NCAA Qualifying Efforts
Nebraska’s highly-touted newcomers have already started to show off their talents in 2007. Of the 14 Huskers who have earned provisional qualifications to March’s NCAA meet, three are freshmen.

Lukas Hulett, a former high school All-American from Bellevue, Neb., became the first Husker to add his name to the list when he clocked a blistering time of 47.03 while winning the men’s 400-meter dash at the Holiday Inn Invite. The Nebraska prep record-holder’s time is the third-fastest indoor mark all-time at NU.

Seth Burney and Epley Bullock joined Hulett with outstanding performances during the Conference Challenge. Burney became NU’s 12th men’s athlete all-time to break the 17-foot barrier in the pole vault with a clearance of 17-0 3/4, while Bullock tied a host of other female athletes at No. 10 on the Husker indoor high jump chart with a leap of 5-11 1/2.

> Men Keep Top-10 Rank in Trackwire 25
The Nebraska men’s team continued its stay in the Trackwire 25 this week, making a jump for the second straight week from 10th to ninth.

The Trackwire 25 attempts to predict team scores for the NCAA Championships based on individual athlete rankings for each event?nicknamed the "Dandy Dozen"?that are updated weekly by track and field statistician Gary Verigin.

After beginning the season ranked ninth, the Huskers fell to a season-low position of 16th before climbing back up to their original position. One of four Big 12 teams included in the list, the Huskers join conference opponents Texas (sixth) and Baylor (eighth) in the top 10.

The Husker women, who began the year ranked 14th in their respective poll, went unranked for the third straight week. Texas Tech (sixth), Texas A&M (seventh), Kansas State (11th), Texas (13th) and Kansas (tie-23rd) represent the Big 12 in the latest release.

Nebraska athletes among this week’s "Dandy Dozen" include:
Women
Brysun Stately, Pole Vault?8th

Men
Arturs Abolins, Long Jump?1st
Dusty Jonas, High Jump?4th
Nate Probasco, 200 Meters?5th
Ben Schutter, Heptathlon?12th

> Husker Men Rise in Coaches Poll
The Nebraska men’s team moved up two places in this week’s USTFCCCA Coaches poll to seventh, while the Husker women dropped out of the rankings.

The Husker men’s squad, which boasts five returning All-Americans and finished the 2006 indoor season tied for 12th at the NCAA indoor meet, was rated ninth in the poll’s initial release but jumped Baylor and Oregon this week into seventh.

The NU women, also with five All-Americans, opened the year at No. 19 last week following a 13th-place NCAA indoor effort last season, but the squad fell out of the ratings, which recognize only 20 teams. The complete coaches poll, as well as the Trackwire 25, may be found on page 3 of this week’s Husker track & field notes.

> 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. Danns currently leads the Husker men’s team with a time of 6.79 in the 60 meters.

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.

> 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 Gy?rgyi 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.

> Pepin in 27th Season at Husker Helm
Nebraska Head Coach Gary Pepin is in 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 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 the following week. The Big 12 Outdoor Championships come to Ed Weir Stadium for the first time in the conference’s 11-year existence the weekend of May 11-13.