Huskers Travel West for Outdoor Season Opener

Lincoln - Nebraska begins the outdoor portion of its 2007 track and field schedule this weekend, as 24 Huskers have been accepted to compete Friday through Saturday at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.

Competition begins Friday with running events at 10:45 a.m. CDT, while field action will begin at Noon. Saturday’s events start at 11 a.m. both on the track and in the field. Live results will be available throughout the weekend and can be found on-line by visiting the Stanford athletics web site, gostanford.com. A complete listing of NU’s entries, as well as a schedule for its events, is included on page 2 of the attached release.

The Stanford Invitational annually serves as Nebraska’s first opportunity to shake off the rust from a long layoff stretching back to the NCAA Indoor Championships. No Huskers have competed during the last two weekends, while most athletes have experienced a four-week break since the Big 12 Indoor Championships, which were held more than a month ago.

> Eight Huskers to See First Competition
Among Nebraska’s travel contingent for the weekend will be eight Huskers who have yet to see action in 2007. While most compete in only outdoor throwing events, such as the discus, hammer throw or javelin, three were either ineligible to compete or nursing injuries during the indoor season.

NU’s two lone returning women’s NCAA champions?seniors Dace Ruskule and Ashley Selig?lead the group. Ruskule, who is the reigning national champion in the discus, participates only outdoors in her specialty event, while Selig, the 2005 NCAA indoor pentathlon champ, was ineligible to compete earlier indoors after completing her indoor eligibility last year. She has been accepted to compete in the 100-meter hurdles and long jump this weekend before her expected heptathlon debut during next week’s Texas Relays. Together, Ruskule and Selig will help provide the NU women with a solid shot of returning to their customary position among the nation’s top 25 this season.

Similar to the situation of Selig, senior Aaron Ross will compete this weekend in the 110-meter hurdles for the Husker men after sitting during the indoor season with expired eligibility. Ross could be a key addition for NU in its conference title run, as he has previously placed as high as sixth in the event during conference action.

In addition to Ruskule, four others who compete only outdoors open their seasons this weekend. Three of the group’s members throw the men’s javelin in senior Corlan Vonderschmidt, junior Thorin Meyer and redshirt freshman Ryan Petrocchi, while freshman Lisa Minnick currently is focusing only on throwing the women’s hammer.

Adding to the women’s team mix outdoors will be freshman Chaunte McMillan, a highly touted horizontal jumper who sat out the indoor season while recovering from ankle surgery. McMillan is entered in both the long and triple jump events at Stanford.

> Wilkinson Expected to Sit Out 2007
The Nebraska women will be without one of their strongest returnees during the outdoor season, as senior Kayla Wilkinson is expected to redshirt while rehabbing from shoulder surgery she underwent during the winter.

Wilkinson became NU’s second-highest finisher ever in the women’s javelin at the NCAA Championships by placing runner-up as a junior last season. She additionally broke the school record earlier in the year with a mark of 181-2 at the Nebraska Invitational. While Wilkinson would have been the nation’s top returning athlete in the javelin this season, she is expected to be completely healthy for the 2008 outdoor season, when she should vie for a spot on the United States’ Olympic team.

> NU Benefits from Added Outdoor Events
With the opening of the outdoor season, NU’s men’s and women’s teams are only expected to grow stronger due to the addition of several strong events, most notably the 400-meter hurdles, 4x100-meter relay and discus events.

One of deepest groups of talent on this year’s Husker squad, on both the men’s and women’s sides, will be the 400 hurdles. While the NU men suffered from the graduation loss of 2006 Big 12 champ Mark Harrison, several elite newcomers will help Andrew Pearson fill the void.

Others who may compete in the event this season include: freshmen Tim Grier, Nick Makukutu, Tyrell Ross and Cylend Simmons. Grier was one of the nation’s top high school recruits in the event last year as the Georgia state record holder in the 300-meter hurdles, while Simmons set the Arizona state prep mark in only his second season competing in the event. Makukutu ranked among the Texas state prep leaders for the hurdles in 2006, and while Ross specializes in the high hurdles, he also could contribute in the longer event.

On the women’s side, seniors Sheryl Morgan and Justine Roach each have experience success during their Husker careers in the 400 hurdles. Roach is a former NCAA qualifier in the event, while Morgan’s personal-best time of 56.81 ranks first on the team.

Nebraska’s biggest boost in the added events will be provided in the women’s discus by senior Dace Ruskule, who is the reigning NCAA champ and a 2004 Olympian for her native Latvia.

Once again, the sprint relay should also serve as a strength for the Husker men’s team. Three legs return from the squad that clocked a time of 39.70 last season in addition to placing third in the Big 12, but competition for spots on the team is expected to be wide open with the several talented freshman to this year’s squad?most notably NCAA indoor All-Americans Lukas Hulett and Scott Wims and fellow freshman sprinter Dax Danns.

> Nebraska’s Returning NCAA Outdoor Qualifiers
Women
Name?Event?Best Mark (NCAA Finish)
Danute Ceika?800m??04: 2:06.84 (26th)
Jenny Green?Pole Vault?13-3 3/4 (T-17th)
Justine Roach?400m Hurdles??05 58.56 (15th)
Dace Ruskule?Discus?193-9 (1st)
Ashley Selig?Heptathlon??05: 5,775 (3rd)
Brysun Stately?Pole Vault?13-7 1/4 (T-6th)
Kayla Wilkinson?Javelin?181-2 (2nd)
Casie Witte?High Jump??05: 5-10 (T-16th)

Men
Name?Event?Best Mark (NCAA Finish)
Arturs Abolins?Long Jump?26-3 (1st); 4x100m??05: 39.40 (10th)
Gable Baldwin?Pole Vault?17-9 (No Height)
Dusty Jonas?High Jump?7-5 3/4 (4th)
Nate Probasco?200m??05: 20.59 (11th); 4x100m??05: 39.40 (10th)
Daniel Roper?Triple Jump?52-0 1/2 (14th)
Peter van der Westhuizen?1,500m??05: 3:43.62 (20th)
Issar Yazhbin?Hammer??05: 206-11 (15th)

> NCAA Indoor Recap
Nebraska concluded the indoor track season with eight athletes in competition at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Husker men finished among the nation’s top 25 teams for the sixth straight season with nine team points, while NU athletes also grabbed eight All-America honors.

Dusty Jonas nearly single-handedly kept the top-25 streak alive for the NU men after he finished runner-up in the men’s high jump for the second time in three seasons. Jonas’ final clearance of 7-4 1/2 marked his best ever in NCAA competition while earning him a fifth career All-America finish in as many chances.

The men’s 4x400-meter relay team of senior Nate Probasco and freshmen Scott Wims, Daniel Christensen and Lukas Hulett provided an additional point with an eighth-place finish after clocking in at 3:08.68. NU’s relay, which was the lone group among the field featuring as many as three freshmen, was the first Husker relay to earn a point at an NCAA meet since 1996. Each member was crowned an All-American.

Hulett’s honor marked his second such accolade of the weekend, as he also finished as the eighth American (11th overall) in the men’s open 400-meter competition

Brysun Stately, who finished sixth in the pole vault at the 2006 NCAA outdoor meet as a freshman for USC, registered the lone team scoring of the weekend for the Husker women, as she tied for seventh place in the vault with a height of 13-5 1/4.

NU’s other women’s athlete in action, freshman Epley Bullock, placed ninth in the high jump after tying her career-best height of 6-0. Bullock helped make the Husker freshmen a near-perfect 5-for-6 in All-America finishes during the weekend. Wims, who did run on NU’s 4x400 relay, was the lone Husker freshman not to meet the distinction in his individual event by placing 16th in the men’s 200-meter dash.

> NCAA Indoor Leftovers
Epley Bullock
? Is one of only two NU freshmen women’s indoor All-Americans in the high jump, joining Heather Smith, who tied for third in 1984.

Lukas Hulett
? Is one of only six NU men with multiple All-America finishes at the same NCAA indoor meet:
1. Garth Case, 1972 (440y, 4x440y)
2. Roger Chadwick, 1973 (880y, 4x880y)
3. Scott Poehling, 1979 (4x440y, 4x880y)
4. Mark Graham, 1994 (400m, 4x400m)?freshman
5. Jonah Kiptarus, 1996 (Mile, DMR)
6. Lukas Hulett, 2007 (400m, 4x400m)?freshman

? Is only NU’s fourth indoor All-American in the 400:
1. Clifton Forbes, 1969 (440y)
2. Garth Case, 1972 (440y)
3. Mark Graham, 1994 (400m)?freshman
4. Lukas Hulett, 2007 (400m)?freshman

Dusty Jonas
? Ranks second all-time at NU in high jump All-America finishes with seven career honors:
1. Shane Lavy, 7 (1996i, 1997io, 1998io, 1999io)
2. Dusty Jonas, 5 (2005io, 2006io, 2007i)
3. Petar Malesev, 4 (1992i, 1993o, 1994i, 1995i)
4. Shaun Kologinczak, 3 (2000i, 2001i, 2003o)
    Aaron Plas, 3 (2005io, 2006i)
6. Dick Meissner, 1 (1951o)
    Howard Turner, 1 (1922o)
    Darren Burton, 1 (1985i)
    Jeff Loescher, 1 (1985i)
    Kyle Odvody, 1 (2002i)

Nate Probasco
? Is one of only nine Husker men with All-America finishes in three career events:
1. Howard Debus, 1942-43 (SP, DT, Jav)
2. Lynn Headley, 1964-66 (60y, 100y, 4x110y)
3. Dave Crook, 1964-66 (440y, 600y, 4x110y, 4x440y)
4. Charlie Greene, 1965-67 (60y, 100y, 4x110y)
5. Garth Case, 1969-72 (600y, 440y, 4x440y)
6. Scott Poehling, 1977-80 (1,000m, 4x440y, 4x880y)
7. Jean Vester, 1985-87 (Mile, 4x800m, DMR)
8. Jonah Kiptarus, 1996 (1,500m, Mile, DMR)
9. Nate Probasco, 2004-07 (200m, 4x100m, 4x400m)