Husker Men and Women Finish Second at Big 12 Indoor Championships

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln- The Husker men's and women's team both came away with a runner-up finish on Saturday night at the Big 12 Track and Field Indoor Championships. The Husker men came within two points of defending their Big 12 title as the Texas Longhorns were just able to escape the Huskers with 106 points. On the women's side the Huskers continued to feed off their dominant day one performance, but it was not enough to hold off the Aggies of Texas A&M. The Aggies came on strong to finish the two-day event with 119.25 points and the Huskers finished runner-up with 95 points.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

The Husker women earned two Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship titles on Saturday with Sheryl Morgan winning the 600-yard run and Epley Bullock winning the women's high jump.

Morgan capped off her final Big 12 Indoor Championships on a high note as the senior from Kingston, Jamaica won the women's 600-yard run with a time of 1:20.63. Morgan had posted the top time in the Big 12 coming into the event and held on as she defeated two-time Big 12 indoor champion Morgan Bonds of Kansas State. Morgan paced herself until the final turn when she blew away Bonds and Tijahnni Netwon of Oklahoma. Morgan's time was a new personal best and moves her up to No. 11 all time in the women's indoor record book. After the race Morgan was focused strictly on what she could do for the team.

“I am very excited and I was just doing my best for the team. It is great to get this win in my senior season.”

 

Morgan's position coach Mark Devenney knew Morgan would win the event.

 

"Coming in I new Sheryl (Morgan) would win. She had a disappointing race last year as it looked like she was going to win and she got tripped so that motivated her. She gives me a heart attack sometimes when she starts out so slow, but she knows her abilities so well and never lets people get too far away

."

 

Bullock came into the meet with a personal best of 5-8 3/4 (1.75) and left the meet with a new personal best, NCAA provisional- qualifying jump and the seventh-best high jump this year in Division I at 6-0 1/2 (1.84). The returning All-American had struggled throughout the year, but her teammates kept faith in her.

 

"I've had a rough year, but everyone else kept my confidence up. I don't even know how to explain today. Making that bar (6-0 1/2) is something I've been working on forever and making it at the Big 12 meet is unbelievable. This is easily the best meet I have ever been at."

 

Bullock was joined in placing in the high jump by Kim Shubert, Erin Hannon and Audrey Svane. The Husker quartet scored 23.5 points for the women's team. Hannon finished in a tie for second with Katherline Jonhson of Oklahoma at 5-8 (1.73) and Shubert jumped the same height and finished fourth with more misses. Svane rounded out the group in seventh place at 5-6 (1.73).

 

In the men's high jump there was quite a battle between Dusty Jonas and Scott Sellers of Kansas State who were ranked No. 1 in the nation coming in. Sellers came away victorious as he now sets atop the national standing with a jump of 7-6 (2.29). Jonas matched his personal-best jump of 7-5 (2.26) to finish runner-up. The two will square off again in two weeks at the national championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Freshman sensation Paul Hamilton also made a big impact for the men as he finished in fourth place at 6-11 3/4 (2.13). It is highly likely that Hamilton will also be joining Jonas and Sellers in Fayetteville as his season-best jump of 7-2 1/4 currently has him ranked No. 8 in Division I.

 

One of the most surprising stories of the day was Bubba Kramer who was competing as a Husker for the first time all season. Kramer recorded a second-place finish in the men's shot put at 57-5.5 (17.51). Trey Jordan also scored in the shot put as he finished in seventh place with a throw 55-7 3/4 (16.96).

 

Pat Burke and Skyler Reising each placed in the men's heptathlon as both Burke's score of 5,504 and Reising's score of 5,467 were new personal bests and NCAA provisional-qualifying scores.

Seth Burney used a vault of 17-0 3/4 (5.20) to propel himself to a third-place finish. It was a NCAA provisional-qualifying mark, however Burney's previous mark this season of 17-1 at the Prairie Wolf Invite on Feb. 22, is his season best. Zarinah Suluki-Drakes also scored on the women's side in the triple jump with a fifth-place jump of 41-5 (12.62).

 

Distance Coach Jay Dirksen had a strong performance from his athletes as Peter van der Westhuizen once again came very close to a four-minute mile as his time of 4:02.56 earned him a runner-up finish. Natalja Zarcenko finished sixth in the women's mile with a time of 4:49.36. In the men's 1,000-meter run Ethan Luebbe finished sixth at 2:31.32. Lara Crofford ran just fast enough to score for the women's team in the 3,000 meters as her time of 9:43.19 placed her eighth.

 

In the men's 600-yard run Adam Daily and Andrew Pearson teamed up to score seven points for the Big Red as Daily finished in fifth with a new personal-best of 1:10.38 and Pearson finished right behind him at 1:10.74.

 

The Huskers also had strong performances in the hurdles on both sides. Two young Huskers in Lehann Fourie and Tyrell Ross finished in second and third in the men's 60-meter hurdles. Both were NCAA provisional-qualifying times with Fourie running a 7.82 and Ross' time of 7.88 also was a new personal best. The freshman due of Arna Erega and Karyn LaCour both scored for the Huskers with Erega finishing in seventh at 8.55 and LaCour finishing in eighth at 8.60.

 

In the sprints Dax Danns improved his personal best for the second straight day with an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 6.72. Lukas Hulett also pulled in a third-place finish in the men's 400-meter dash with a time of 47.35 and Dan Christensen finished in seventh at 48.18.

The Husker 4x400 relay teams ended the day with the men's team finishing fourth with a season-best and NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 3:08.76 and the women's team finishing in eighth at 3:48.19.

 

The Husker men and women will be back in action on Thursday, March 6, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track as the Huskers host the Nebraska Last Chance Meet. Check Huskers.com throughout the week for updates about the meet. A schedule will be released as soon as it becomes available.