Husker Men Ranked No. 17 in Outdoor Preseason Rankings

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln- The USTFCCA (United State Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) released its outdoor preseason rankings on Wednesday, March 26, with the Nebraska men's track and field team ranked No. 17 with 116.07 points. FloridaState came out on top of the men’s poll with 259.17 points.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

The men's squad returns 12 athletes who competed at the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional, including six NCAA Championship qualifiers. The returnees are led by senior team co-captain Dusty Jonas, a seven-time All-American and 2008 NCAA indoor high jump national champion. Jonas is currently ranked second nationally in the high jump and No. 10 in the long jump, earning the team an impressive 27.06 points. Of the 197 teams ranked, Jonas alone would rank No. 70.

Other Huskers to keep an eye on this spring include All-Americans Scott Wims, Lukas Hulett, and Dan Christensen along with senior Peter van der Westhuizen, sophomore Dax Danns and freshman Paul Hamilton.

Hulett, Wims, Christensen and Danns will team up to form a solid relay core that competed in both the 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay at the regional meet and 4x400 relay at the national meet last year.

The Husker women came close to making the top 25 as they are ranked No. 30 in the preseason rankings with 75.08 points. The women return 11 athletes who competed at the 2007 NCAA Midwest Regional with six of them advancing to the NCAA outdoor meet. LSU is ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll with 323.74 points.

The Husker women are led by team co-captain Kayla Wilkinson, who redshirted in 2007 due to injury. Wilkinson will look to return to her 2006 form, as she earned All-America honors in the javelin with a runner-up finish at the NCAA outdoor meet. Wilkinson hold's the NU record in the javelin at 181-2.

Senior co-captain Kim Shubert, two-time indoor All-American Epley Bullock, junior Rachel Carrizales and sophomores Megan Wheatley and Chantae McMillan will be counted on to be strong competitors for the Big Red.

The majority of Husker track and field team will kick off the 2008 outdoor season at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Ariz., while a small group of distance runners will travel to the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. Both meets will begin on Friday, April 4, and continue on Saturday, April 5.