Huskers to Host Last Chance NCAA Qualifier

Lincoln - With less then two weeks until NCAA Indoor Nationals in Fayetteville, Ark., the Husker track and field team will look to qualify more athletes this week. The Huskers will play host to the Nebraska Last Chance on Thursday, March 6, before also sending athletes to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday, March 8, for the Iowa State Last Chance. Husker distance runner Peter van der Westhuizen will also be making a trip to Seattle, Wash., on Saturday, March 8, for a last chance meet hosted by the University of Washington. van der Westhuizen will be running the one mile at 1:55 p.m. CST.

On Thursday the Nebraska Last Chance will start out at 2 p.m. with the women’s weight throw and 3,000-meter run. On Saturday in Ames the field events will begin at 10:30 with the women’s weight throw and the running events will start at 11:35 a.m. with the men’s 60-meter hurdle preliminaries.

Tickets for the Nebraska Last Chance can be purchased at Huskers.com, the Husker Athletic Ticket Office, by calling 800-8BIGRED or the day of the meet at the Devaney Center. 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.

- Morgan and Bullock Bring Home Big 12 Titles
Senior Sheryl 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."

Sophomore Epley 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."

- Men and Women Finish Runner Up at Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships
The Husker men’s and women’s team both came away with a runner-up finish on Saturday, March 1, at the Big 12 Track and Field Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Nebraska at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track. 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.

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.

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.

On Friday, the Husker pentathlon group of Megan Wheatley, Chantae McMillan, Kim Shubert, Erin Hannon and Rachel Butler powered the Husker women to the top of the standings after day one of the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships as the Husker women posted 49.50 points as a team.

Wheatley led the group with a runner-up finish, while McMillan finished third with a new personal-best and NCAA provisional-qualifying score of 3,827. Shubert finished in fourth and Hannon finished sixth as both finished with new personal bests and Shubert’s score earned her an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark. Butler rounded out the group in seventh place. All five lost out to defending champion Julianne Kennedy of Texas Tech. As a whole the Husker multi-eventers posted 23 points on the board for the Husker women.

Three young Husker pole vaults made their mark at the conference meet as freshman Natalie Willer finished runner-up to defending champion Kate Sultanova of Kansas. Willer finished at 13-0 3/4, a new personal best for her and an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark. Sophomore Lindsey Maher and freshman Rachel Birtles also put points on the board for the Huskers as both finished in eighth place at the mark of 12-0 3/4 (3.68). Afterwards, Willer was ecstatic with her finish.

"Coming out here as a freshman and finishing runner-up to one of the great vaulters in the nation was awesome. You can’t put in to words what it is like to win a medal at the conference meet."

Pole Vault Coach Kris Grimes was impressed with the freshman.

"(Natalie) Willer came in and looked like a pro today. She came out and made the 13-0 1/4 bar on her first jump when everyone else was struggling. She came out and took the bull by the horns today."

Lara Crofford continued to run very well as the freshman from Newville, Pa., placed third in the women’s 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:45.23, scoring six points for the Big Red. Crofford has already posted and NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 16:28.08 in the 5,000 meters this year at the Iowa State Classic.

Another group scoring well for the Husker women was the long jump team of Leandra McGruder, McMillan and Zarinah Suluki-Drakes. McGruder finished in fifth at 19-4 1/4 (5.90) with McMillian posting another personal best on the day with a sixth-place finish at 19-2 1/2 (5.85). Suluki-Drakes just jumped into the scoring with an eighth-place finish at 18-7 1/4 (5.67). In total the three Husker jumpers scored eight team points.

Senior Tamara Solari rounded out the field events as she finished seventh in the women’s weight throw with a toss of 60-8 1/2 (18.50). Solari lost out to defending champion Loren Groves of Kansas State who set a new Big 12 record with a throw of 70-3 (21.41).

The women’s DMR team of Jennifer Pancoast, Sheryl Morgan, Lynsey Kreikemeier and Joslyn Dalton finished in seventh place with a time of 11:43.11 and scored two points the Huskers.

The men were led in scoring by a pair of long jumpers in freshman Nicholas Gordon and senior Dusty Jonas. Gordon continued his impressive freshman season with a third-place jump of 24-9 (7.54). Jonas, who is tied for the No. 1 ranking in the conference and the nation in the high jump, set a new personal best with a fourth-place jump of 24-4 1/4 (7.42).

Bryan Bell also rounded out his Husker indoor season on a high note with a sixth-place throw of 62-1 3/4 in the men’s weight throw. Bell lost out to three-time defending champion Egor Agafonov of Kansas (74-4 1/2; 22.67) and Chris Rohr of Missouri (73-6 3/4; 18.94). The pair of top throwers posted the top-two throws in the nation this year at the meet.

The men’s DMR finished day one with an eighth-place finish at 10:09.67. Texas and Texas Tech beat out the Big 12 meet record at 9:45.39 and 9:45.93, respectively.

- Women’s Multi-Eventers Pour in the Points
The Husker multi-event group of Megan Wheatley, Chantae McMillan, Kim Shubert, Erin Hannon and Rachel Butler were the driving force behind the Husker women finishing runner up at the 2008 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships. The group accounted for 23 points, which was almost a quarter for the team’s 95 total points.

Wheatley led the group with a runner-up finish. She has already posted an NCAA automatic-qualifying score in pentathlon at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. She was very excited with her finish and happy to help out the team any way she could.

"Julianne (Kennedy) is a great competitor and I am very excited with my finish. It was awesome that all five of us could score and help out the team. Scoring 23 points for the team was fantastic."

Multi-Events Coach Kris Grimes was very impressed with the effort his athletes put on the track today.

"All of the girls came out and competed and left it all out there today. Megan (Wheatley) is a real trooper and she has had to modify training a bit lately and came out and scored a bunch of points for us. It was great to see us come out and put big points on the board for the team."

- Huskers Hit the Books
The Nebraska track and field team earned an amazing 89 spots on the 2007 Big 12 Fall Commissioner’s Honor Roll, released by the Big 12 Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

The men’s team contributed 52 athletes to the list, with the women adding another 37. Nine athletes produced perfect 4.0 grade-point averages. On the men’s side, Anthony Oberle, Ben Schutter, Bryce Somer and Issar Yazhbin produced 4.0 grade-point averages in the fall, while Joslyn Dalton, Betsy Miller, Kim Shubert, Kayla Ubel and Natalie Willer added perfect semesters on the women’s side.

Overall, an impressive list of 298 Nebraska student-athletes across all sports claimed spots on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall Academic Honor Roll. Among the 298 student-athletes who achieved 3.0 or better grade-point averages during the semester, 35 Huskers posted perfect 4.0 GPAs.

Nebraska’s approach to recruiting the nation’s finest student-athletes yielded a remarkably diverse contingent of fall academic honorees that included representatives of 31 U.S. states and 16 foreign countries, including honor roll members from four Canadian provinces. Husker honor roll members also came to Nebraska from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, Latvia, Mexico, Scotland, South Africa and Sweden.

The Huskers’ Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall Academic Honor Roll class also carried a distinct state flavor with 114 native Nebraskans among the 298 award winners.

- T&F Adds 12 New Huskers
The Nebraska track and field team has announced 12 signees to its 2008 class. The men’s team will welcome four athletes while the women’s team adds eight. The class includes five Nebraska natives, two athletes from Iowa, one from Kansas, two from Canada, one from South Africa and one from Panama. Check out Huskers.com for a full bio on all the signees.

Men
- Alonso Edwards (Sprints)
- Adam Mitteis (Distance)
- Pieter Smith (Sprints)
- Adam Wolkins (Javelin)

Women
- Blaire Dinsdale (Distance)
- Brooke Dinsdale (Distance)
- Jessica Furlan (Distance)
- Roxi Grizzle (Javelin)
- Erica Jamik (Distance)
- Tara Korshoj (Jumps)
- Katie White (Distance)
- Morgan Wilken (Throws)

- Husker Trio Pushes the Bar
A group of Husker high jumpers continue to push the bar in the women’s high jump as sophomores Epley Bullock and Erin Hannon along with senior Kim Shubert own three of the top five spots on the Big 12 Conference performance list. Bullock leads the pack and the conference with a jump 6-0 1/2 (1.84), which was her winning jump at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Hannon and Shubert have jumped 5-8 3/4 (1.75) this year, which has them tied with Kelsey Erb of Kansas and Tiffanie Synacek of Iowa State for second in the conference. Hannon achieved the mark at the Conference Challenge and Shubert reached the height at the Prairie Wolf Invite.

- Go the Distance
Husker distance runners posted three NCAA provisional-qualifying times this year at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. Peter van der Westhuizen (4:01.49) and Natalja Zarcenko (4:47.94) each reached the magic time in the one-mile run and Lara Crofford’s second-place finish at 16:28.28 earned her a provisional mark in the 5,000-meter run. All three saw their fastest time of the year on the 300-meter oversized track.

- van der Westhuizen Rockets up Distance Charts
Peter van der Westhuizen ranks third all-time in the Husker indoor record book in the one-mile, 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs after winning the one mile at the adidas Classic, 5,000 meters at the Conference Challenge and 3,000 meters at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. van der Westhuizen has been using the longer races as building blocks for the one mile.

"It is a grueling schedule and you have to train very hard to stay at the top. Running the 3,000- and 5,000-meter races help me build stamina and reach my goal of 3:59.50 or better in the mile," said van der Westhuizen, referencing that 3:59.50 is the NCAA automatic qualifying mark for the one-mile run.

- Husker Legend Earns Honor
In the latest issue of Track and Field News, the publication celebrated its 60th birthday with a list of the best track and field athletes over the past six decades. Under the "Best College Woman" section, former Husker Merlene Ottey was named the best collegiate woman sprinter.

Ottey is easily the most decorated track and field athlete in Nebraska history as she won 14 national championships from 1980 to 1984. Ottey also competed in seven straight Olympic Games from the 1980 games in Moscow to the 2004 games in Athens. Over her seven Olympics, Ottey was runner-up three times and also earned five bronze medals, including earning the silver in the 100- meter dash (1992 Barcelona), 200-meter dash (1996 Atlanta) and 4x100-meter relay (Sydney 2000). Ottey still holds 13 school records, including four relay marks.

Ottey earned indoor national championships in the 55-meter dash (1984), 60-yard dash (1982), 300-yard dash (1982), 4x220-yard relay (1982), 60-meter dash (1981) and 300-meter dash (1980-81). Outdoors she won titles in the 100-meter dash (1983), 200-meter dash (1983), 1982 (100-meter dash), 4x100-meter relay (1982), 100-meter dash (1981) and 200-meter dash (1980-81).

- Jonas Named Big 12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week
Senior team captain Dusty Jonas was honored as the Big 12 Men’s Track and Field Athlete of the Week for his performance at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, the league office announced Tuesday, Feb. 5.

The La Vernia, Texas, native won the meet with a mark of 2.20m (7-2 1/2) in the high jump. Jonas has already posted an NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the high jump this year as his winning mark of 7-5 (2.26) at the 2008 Prairie Wolf Invite guaranteed him a spot at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Jonas’ mark at the Prairie Wolf currently has him ranked No. 2 in the nation.

In the Husker record books, Jonas currently is ranked fifth indoors. Outdoors he is tied for second at 7-5 3/4 with Shaun Kologinczak. Both trail Shane Lavy, who jumped 7-6 1/2 in 1999.

Jonas is a six-time NCAA All-American in the high jump, earning the honor three times each in the indoor and outdoor seasons. He also has won the U.S. Junior High Jump Championship, Pan American Junior High Jump Championship and has finished as high as second at the NCAA Championships.

- Freshmen Continue to Shine Early
So far this season 17 events have been won by Husker freshmen. Leading the pack for the men are Paul Hamilton of Sidney, Neb., and Nicholas Gordan of Kingston Jamaica. Hamilton achieved a NCAA indoor provisional mark in the high jump with a leap of 2.19m (7-2 1/4) in his first collegiate meet. Gordon has won both the triple jump or long jump at every meet he has competed in and earned an NCAA provisional-qualifying jump in the long jump at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. Other winners for the men include Adam Dailey (800m), David Adams (3000m) and Mikel Thomas (mile run).

The women are carried by NCAA provisional qualifier Karyn LaCour, who has posted the top collegiate time in the 60m hurdles in four of the six collegiate meets she has competed in. NCAA provisional-qualifiers Lara Croffod (5,000-meter run) and Arna Erega (60-meter hurdles) have also posted wins, with Crofford also posting wins in the mile run while Natalie Willer has also won the pole vault.

- Pepin Leads Husker Squad for Record Tying 28th Season
Nebraska Head Coach Gary Pepin is coaching the Husker women’s team for the 28th year leads and the men’s team for the 25th year. With this year, Pepin will tie former Husker coach Frank Sevigne as the longest-tenured track and field coach in school history. Sevigne logged 28 seasons leading the NU men’s program from 1956 through 1983.

Pepin has helped the Husker women combine for 38 of their 40 conference titles, while also notching 20 of the program’s 21 top-five NCAA team finishes, including each of Nebraska’s three indoor national championships.

Pepin has led the men's team to 26 of its 58 indoor and outdoor conference crowns, while also notching two NCAA top-five placings. The Huskers' second-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships ranks as the squad's highest at an NCAA meet.