LaCour Leads Husker Trio to Hurdles Victory as Huskers Win Five Events

Lincoln - On the final day of the 33rd Annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, 2,227 track and field fans showed up to see the Husker men's and women's track teams win five events to bring their two-day total to seven wins. During the two-day meet the Huskers reached one NCAA automatic qualifying mark and eight NCAA provisional marks.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

In the 60-meter hurdles freshman Karyn LaCour led a trio of Huskers to a 1-2-3 finish. LaCour continued to excel in the hurdles as she won the event with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 8.39. LaCour has won the hurdles in all three meets this year and increased her personal best at each. LaCour's time moved her up to fifth all-time on the Husker chart. LaCour was followed by fellow freshman Arna Erega, who came in at 8.47, good enough for eighth all-time on the career indoor list. Nikita Eades rounded out the group of Husker hurdlers at 8.56. Eades, the veteran of the group, sees something special in the two freshmen.

“I believe they are both very outstanding athletes. I think they’re very competitive and we push each other a lot in practice. At least for me, I’m not very good at sprint speed and they have that. It’s really good to actually have somebody this year because last year I was by myself, “ said Eades.

The two freshmen, along with Eades, have the same goal: to sweep the hurdles at the Big 12 indoor meet. 

“I’m happy because every meet we’re running faster and faster; not just me, but each of us," said Erega. "The Big 12 is very competitive, but we have confidence. Our goal as a group is to sweep the hurdles at the Big 12 Meet,” said LaCour.

Jennifer Pancoast also pulled in a win for <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska with a time of 2:55.72 in the women's 1,000 meter run. Pancoast's time was only 5.33 seconds off the meet record.

 

Senior Sheryl Morgan’s time in the women’s 400-meters propelled her to the second-fastest time in Division I, with a new personal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 53.79. Morgan was only beat out by Division II national leader, Pinar Saka of Nebraska-Omaha. Even with a runner-up finish, Morgan was very upbeat about her and her teammate’s performances.

 

"I’m very excited because this is my second race of the season and the first time I have ever run a 53 (seconds), so I am very happy. I think everybody did very well, especially the hurdlers. I think <?xml:namespace prefix="u1"?>Nebraska is in good shape for the Big 12," said Morgan.

Freshmen pole vaulters Natalie Willer and Rachel Birtles continued to improve on the season as they moved into a tie for 10th all-time on the Husker indoor list. Each reached a new personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying mark with vaults of 3.95m (12-11 1/2). Willer was awarded second place over Birtles due less misses. Both finished behind defending champion Kate Sultanova of Kansas who was the Outstanding Women's Performer of the meet and vaulted a nation's best 4.20m (13-9 1/4).

 

The Husker men were led by No. 1 nationally ranked high jumper Dusty Jonas, distance runner Peter van der Westhuizen and sprinter Andrew Pearson. Jonas beat out teammate Paul Hamilton to win the high jump with Jonas jumping 2.20m (7-2 1/2) to beat out freshman teammate Paul Hamilton, who jumped 2.09m (6-10 1/4). Pearson ran a personal-best time of 1:10.37 to win the 600-yard run.

 

The final Husker winner was van der Westhuizen, who once again delivered an exciting performance as his time of 8:07.50 in the men's 3,000-meters shot him up to third all-time on the Husker indoor list. Last week at the Conference Challenge, van der Westuizen ran an amazing race in the 5,000-meters at a time of 14:20.65, which also placed him third on the Husker indoor record book.

 

Following the meet, Head Coach Gary Pepin was pleased with his team's performance, but knows improvement can be made.

 

"There were events where we expected to do better, but at the same time we had some very strong performances and reached a lot of personal bests," said Pepin.

 

"With us starting class a week later we are about one week behind everyone else in conference. The conference is very tough, but we have time and we have been very strong in certain events so hopefully we can build on that," said Pepin. 

 

At the end of the meet, Outstanding Performance Awards were given out to the top male and female collegiate athlete. As previously mentioned, Kate Sultanova of Kansas won the award on the women's side as she won the pole vault with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark and the top mark in Division I with a vault of 4.20m (13-9 1/4). On the men's side, Russ Winger of Idaho returned to defend his title in the shot put as he won with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 19.85m (65-1 1/2). 

 

A meet and DevaneyCenter record also fell on Saturday as Darius Draudvila, formerly of KansasState, competing unattached, scored 5,878 points in the heptathlon. Draudvila's score was only two points higher than previous DevaneyCenter record holder Donovan Kilmartin of Texas, who set the record in 2006.

 

The Huskers will once again be at home next weekend when they play host to the adidas Classic on Friday, Feb. 8 and Saturday, Feb. 9. Friday night will only see competitors in the men's and women's weight throw and 5,000-meter run with the weight throw staring at 5 p.m. and the 5,000-meters at 7 p.m. Action will start up again on Saturday with both field and running events starting at 11 a.m.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at Husker.com, the Husker Athletic Ticket Office or the day of the meet at the DevaneyCenter. Reserved seats are $7 while general admission tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. University of Nebraska students get in free with a valid ID.