Young Huskers to Compete at NCAA Indoor Meet

Lincoln?The indoor track and field season comes to a close this weekend, as Nebraska will feature eight athletes at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The University of Arkansas will play host to the national meet for the seventh consecutive year at its Randal Tyson Indoor Track Complex on Friday and Saturday.

Included among the Husker roster will be six men and two women competing in seven different events. Former All-Americans Dusty Jonas (men's high jump), Nate Probasco (men's 200 meters, 4x400-meter relay) and Brysun Stately (women's pole vault) will lead NU's contingent in Arkansas, while four Husker freshmen will make their first NCAA appearances in Epley Bullock (women's high jump), Daniel Christensen (men's 4x400m), Lukas Hulett (men's 400m, 4x400m) and Scott Wims (men's 200m, 4x400m). Ben Schutter was added to the men's heptathlon field on Tuesday afternoon.

> NCAA Indoor Championships Information
The NCAA Indoor Championships begin Friday at 9 a.m. with the start of the men's heptathlon. Nebraska's first scheduled competitor will be Ben Schutter in the heptathlon at 9 a.m., while Epley Bullock follows in the women's high jump final at 2:30 p.m. Lukas Hulett (400) and Nate Probasco and Scott Wims (200) each will run in their respective prelim races at 5:50 p.m. and 7:35 p.m. The 200 final will be held later that evening at 9:05 p.m.

Saturday's schedule features four finals significant for Nebraska in addition to the completion of the heptathlon. Dusty Jonas competes in the high jump final at 4:45 p.m., while Brysun Stately follows in the women's pole vault competition at 5 p.m. Hulett will run in the 400 finals at 7:05 p.m. if he advances through Friday's prelims. The Huskers' 4x400-meter relay closes out the NCAA meet in the final event at 8:20 p.m.

A complete schedule for the NCAA indoor meet is included on page 2 of this week's Husker track and field notes.

Live results from the weekend will be available at NCAAsports.com. Updates on Nebraska athletes will be posted throughout the weekend on Huskers.com, in addition to post-meet recaps and photo galleries chronicling each competition.

For fans unable to attend the meet, ESPN2 will provide a tape-delayed broadcast of the NCAA's final session at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13.

> Nebraska's 2007 NCAA Qualifiers
Women
Provisional
Name?Event?Mark (Rank)
Epley Bullock?High Jump?6-0 (T-14th)
Brysun Stately?Pole Vault?13-8 1/2 (T-5th)

Men
Automatic
Name?Event?Mark (Rank)
Dusty Jonas?High Jump?7-4 1/4 (4th)

Provisional
Name?Event?Mark (Rank)
Daniel Chrisensen?4x400m Relay?3:07.90 (9th)
Lukas Hulett?400m?47.03 (17th); 4x400m Relay?3:07.90 (9th)
Nate Probasco?200m?21.05 (15th); 4x400m Relay?3:07.90 (9th)
Ben Schutter?Heptathlon?5,474 (16th)
Scott Wims?200m?21.06 (16th); 4x400m Relay?3:07.90 (9th)

> Nebraska NCAA Indoor Bits
? Nebraska will look to improve upon its all-time total of 538 NCAA All-Americans (297 women, 241 men).
? Huskers have claimed at least one individual title at eight straight NCAA meets, dating back to the 2003 indoor season.
? Nebraska boasts three former NCAA champions, none which will compete this indoor season (Abolins, Ruskule and Selig).
? NU athletes have notched 18 of the program's 73 individual national titles since 2002, or 24.7 percent.
? The Husker women have finished in the top 25 during 24 of the 27 national indoor meets since 1980.
? The squad has finished no lower than 13th since not earning a team placing in 2002.
? NU has featured a women's pole vaulter at the NCAA indoor meet five straight years since 2002.
? The NU men have registered a team score in each NCAA indoor meet since 1990 and placed no lower than 19th since 2001.
? Nate Probasco could become NU's first athlete ever with two career All-America honors in the 200 meter indoors.
? Probasco and Tom Fish (1997) are NU's only indoor All-America finishers in the event.
? Ben Schutter will try to earn Nebraska's first-ever All-America finish in the men's indoor heptathlon.
? Dusty Jonas can become NU's first five-time All-American in the high jump since Shane Lavy won six honors.
? Lukas Hulett has the chance to become NU's first 400-meter All-American since the late Mark Graham (1994).
? The Huskers have not placed a relay at the NCAA indoor meet since winning the distance medley relay national title in 2006. The 4x400 previously placed eighth in 1994.
? Gary Pepin has guided at least one men's and one women's athlete to every NCAA meet during every season as a head coach at Nebraska.
? Pepin has been the head coach for 420 All-Americans during his 27-year Husker career.

> Nebraska at the NCAA Indoor Championships
The Last 10 Years...
Women
Year?Site?NU Finish (Points)?Champion (Points)?NU All-Americans
2006?Fayetteville, Ark.?T-13th (17)?Texas (51)?4
2005?Fayetteville, Ark.?4th (29)?Tennessee (46)?4 (Selig Pent Champ; Shale Mile Champ)
2004?Fayetteville, Ark.?3rd (45.5)?LSU (52)?9 (Lopes 60mH Champ; Radevica TJ Champ)
2003?Fayetteville, Ark.?11th (18)?LSU (62)?4
2002?Fayetteville, Ark.?Did Not Score?LSU (57)?None
2001?Fayetteville, Ark.?18th (12)?UCLA (53.5)?2
2000?Fayetteville, Ark.?12th (14.5)?UCLA (51)?5
1999?Indianapolis, Ind.?Did Not Score?Texas (61)?3
1998?Indianapolis, Ind.?T-43rd (4)?Texas (60)?2
1997?Indianapolis, Ind.?T-9th (20)?LSU (49)?5 (Thompson SP Champ)

Men
Year?Site?NU Finish (Points)?Champion (Points)?NU All-Americans
2006?Fayetteville, Ark.?T-12th (16)?Arkansas (53)?4 (Abolins LJ Champ)
2005?Fayetteville, Ark.?7th (28)?Arkansas (56)?7
2004?Fayetteville, Ark.?T-19th (13)?LSU (44.5)?4
2003?Fayetteville, Ark.?T-9th (18)?Arkansas (54)?2 (Myerscough SP Champ)
2002?Fayetteville, Ark.?14th (11.5)?Tennessee (62.5)?2 (Myerscough SP Champ)
2001?Fayetteville, Ark.?T-26th (9)?LSU (34)?3
2000?Fayetteville, Ark.?T-24th (6)?Arkansas (69.5)?5
1999?Indianapolis, Ind.?T-44th (3)?Arkansas (65)?2
1998?Indianapolis, Ind.?T-14th (15)?Arkansas (56)?4
1997?Indianapolis, Ind.?18th (12)?Arkansas (59)?3

> Feels Like Home
The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held at a familiar venue for most of Nebraska's roster selected to compete this weekend. Each of the athletes, with the exception of Epley Bullock, has competed at the Tyson Track Complex at least once this season.

The four members of the Huskers' 4x400-meter relay each saw extensive action last weekend on the banked track that boasts one of the steepest angles in the world during the Arkansas Last Chance Qualifier. The three freshmen legs competed on the track for the first time in their careers, providing them with a tremendous learning experience for the NCAA meet.

While the track itself may take some getting used to, Nate Probasco can attest that it certainly has a history of providing quick results. Probasco ran his career best of 20.93, the No. 2 time in school history, to place ninth at the 2005 national meet.

Dusty Jonas also has performed well at the facility, finishing no lower than fifth during his two NCAA meets in Arkansas. Jonas claimed the silver medal in 2005 as a freshman.

Brysun Stately recorded her personal-best height of 13-8 1/2 in the pole vault at the Tyson Track Center during last month's Tyson Invitational, while Ben Schutter competed in the 60-meter hurdles and long jump.

> Probasco to Make NCAA Return
Nebraska's lone senior on this year's NCAA indoor roster, Nate Probasco will compete at a national meet for the first time since 2005, when he finished as the eighth American athlete in the 200 during the indoor season.

The Nebraska record holder in the 200 meter outdoors, Probasco was hampered by a hamstring injury for much of the 2005 indoor season as a junior. The setback limited him to only three 200-meter races on the way to missing his third straight NCAA berth. Outdoors, he was unable to advance past the prelims of a tough Midwest Regional field despite winning his first career Big 12 outdoor title only a week earlier.

In addition to earning a qualification for the NCAA 200-meter dash this season, Probasco has been the experienced leader for a young 4x400-meter relay that could be one of the top groups in recent Husker memory.

> Double the Fun
Three Huskers are primed for busy weekends by each competing in two NCAA indoor events. Lukas Hulett (400 meters) and Nate Probasco and Scott Wims (200 meters) will all participate in individual races in addition to their duties on the Huskers' 4x400-meter relay.

The three multi-tasking Huskers signifies a high mark for the Nebraska program at the NCAA indoor meet since 2004, when NU also had three such individuals in Priscilla Lopes (60 meters, 60 hurdles), Ineta Radevica (long jump, triple jump) and Dmitrijs Milkevics (800, 4x400).

> Jonas Provides Steady Results
If someone is looking to predict the height for Dusty Jonas this weekend in the high jump, the safe guess would be on 7-3 3/4.

The four-time All-American has recorded the same mark during each of his previous NCAA indoor and outdoor competitions. The height has provided a wide range of placings for the Husker junior, from a runner-up finish as a freshman at 2005 indoor nationals to sixth place at the NCAA outdoor meet that same season.

Jonas, already one of the top athletes in NU history, is continuing on a path to become one of the most-honored jumpers. Former Husker Shane Lavy earned a Nebraska-record six All-America finishes in the event from 1996 to 1999, while Petar Malesev owns the program's only national title in the event (1995 indoors).

> Huskers Own Field's Youngest 4x4
One of the youngest and most exciting groups on this year's Husker squad is the men's 4x400-meter relay. The squad ranks as the youngest among this weekend's field in terms of number of freshmen with three. Only two other schools, Baylor and Texas Tech, feature as many as two freshmen legs.

The relay, comprised of senior Nate Probasco and freshmen Daniel Christensen, Scott Wims and Lukas Hulett, became the first Nebraska 4x400-meter relay to earn an NCAA qualifying mark since 2004 with its season-best time of 3:07.90 that placed third at the Big 12 indoor meet.

The mark, which ranks as the fourth-fastest performance in school history on an oversized track, enters the NCAA meet as the competition's No. 9 seed.

It took some time, but the team appears to have finally settled on a running order. NU lined up with six different team combinations (members or running order) in the six weeks leading up to the Big 12 Championships, but has used the same order?Probasco, Wims, Christensen, Hulett?during each of the past two meets. Interestingly enough, the squad flipped its middle legs from the squad that had owned the previous season-best time entering the conference meet (3:08.17 at Iowa State Classic).

> Freshmen Drive NCAA Qualifying Efforts
Nebraska's highly-touted newcomers have already started to show off their talents in 2007. Half of the squad's eight NCAA competitors are freshman. Epley Bullock, Daniel Christensen, Lukas Hulett and Scott Wims give the Huskers their highest number of frosh athletes at the national indoor championships since six were selected to the field in 2004.

NU did not have a freshman qualify for either NCAA Championships in 2006.

The number is even more impressive when counting total newcomers to the program, as Brysun Stately is also in her first season at NU after transferring from USC during the summer.

> Stately Looks to Further NCAA Success
Brysun Stately earned her first taste of success at the NCAA Championships last year during the outdoor season while competing for USC, as she tied for sixth in the pole vault with a mark of 13-3 1/2. The All-America finish helped rebound from a disappointing NCAA debut, when she no-heighted during her first career appearance at a national meet last March in Fayetteville.

With most of the top threats from last year's national field gone, Stately appears to possess a solid chance of earning Nebraska's first national title in the women's pole vault. Only three athletes have reached the 14-foot barrier this season, and Stately's season- and career-best height of 13-8 1/2 trails Arizona State's top-ranked April Kubishta by less than six inches.

Stately is continuing a tradition of excellence in the pole vault at Nebraska. She has helped the women's program extend its streak of consecutive meets with an NCAA competitor to 11.

> Hulett Makes Early Mark at NU
Lukas Hulett made his presence known very early in his career as a Husker by running the program's third-fastest all-time mark in the 400 meters in his very first race.

Hulett clocked in at 47.03 to win the event at the Holiday Inn Invite while also earning an NCAA provisional qualification. He later shattered that indoor personal best with a time of 46.71 during the prelims of the Big 12 indoor meet, placing his name atop the Husker record books for the 400 on an oversize (over 200 meters) track.

A Bellevue, Neb., native and state prep record holder in the 400, Hulett also has been the driving force behind NU's young, but successful, 4x400-meter relay. He has run anchor for the squad in each of his six races this season and owns a team-best 400-meter split time of 45.5.

> Wims Keys Huskers' Big 12 Title Run
Scott Wims picked an important weekend to have his breakthrough efforts in a Husker uniform, as he earned all-conference honors in three events to help push NU to a share of the Big 12 men's indoor team title with Texas.

Wims set personal-best times in both the 60- (6.77) and 200-meter dash (21.06) events while earning third and fourth place, respectively, for the events, in addition to running a leg on Nebraska's bronze-medal 4x400 relay. Wims entered the weekend ranked outside the Big 12's top eight for the 60 and only seventh in the 200.

A native of Fort Wayne, Ind., Wims was the lone Husker on this year's team?men or women?with three all-conference finishes.

> Bullock Prepared for Tough Field
Epley Bullock appears well on her way to a productive Husker career after qualifying for the NCAA Championships in her first season in Lincoln. Bullock reached the 6-0 mark?the final height selected for the national indoor meet?during a fourth-place effort at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.

The Allen, Texas, native should be ready for the high level of competition she will see this weekend, having already squared off against several of the nation's top competitiors this season. Among the NCAA qualifiers Bullock has already faced are top-ranked Destinee Hooker (Texas), No. 7 Kaylene Wagner (Kansas State), No. 12 Caroline Wolf (Texas A&M) and No. 14 (tie) Peaches Roach (Iowa) and Lacy Wilson (Texas Tech).

Bullock has put together a consistent freshman season by reaching at least 5-7 in every meet. She also has jumped at least 5-10 during three competitions.

> Schutter a Late Add to Heptathlon Field
Nebraska received word on Tuesday afternoon that Ben Schutter had been chosen as an alternate selection for the men's heptathlon. Schutter previously had been the last athlete left out of the competition, and he will make his first appearance at the NCAA Championships.

The meet will serve as a second chance this season for Schutter to compete in the heptathlon. Following his personal-best score of 5,474 at the Husker Invite, he was unable to participate at the Big 12 indoor meet due to family matters.

> NU Holds Five Spots in "Dandy Dozen"
Despite not ranking in either Trackwire 25 poll this week, several Husker athletes still managed to earn top-12 individual rankings in the "Dandy Dozen"

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.

Nebraska athletes among this week's "Dandy Dozen" include:
Women
Brysun Stately, Pole Vault?6th
Epley Bullock, High Jump?9th

Men
Dusty Jonas, High Jump?4th
Nebraska, 4x400-Meter Relay?9th
Nate Probasco, 200m?11th

> 73 Huskers Named to Big 12 Honor Roll
Seventy-three members of the Nebraska men's and women's track and field team were named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll, the conference office announced earlier this month. Among the group were 13 Huskers who posted perfect 4.0 grade-point averages during the past semester.

Athletes must earn a 3.0 grade-point average to qualify for the award.

Nebraska placed 39 women on the honor roll, including five student-athletes with 4.0 GPA's, while 34 Husker men were recognized, including eight with perfect GPA's. Overall, a total of 270 Nebraska student-athletes earned recognition on the Big 12 Fall Honor Roll, with 33 having a 4.0 semester GPA.

> Four Athletes Added 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)?while the NU men's team added Jamie Klages (Coronado, Calif.) a former member of the Nebraska soccer team.

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.

Klages served as a two-year starter at goalie for the Husker soccer program before turning her attention to the track this winter. A former standout high jumper in the California prep ranks, she owns a personal-best height of 5-10 1/4, a mark that ranked her ninth among all U.S. high school athletes in 2005. Klages placed fifth as a junior at the California state meet in 2004.

> 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 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.