Huskers Win 14 Events at Rain Soaked Nebraska Invitational

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Lincoln ? The Nebraska track and field team earned 14 event wins on Saturday at the Nebraska Invitational as it competed with Division I foes Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Drake as well as the weather at Ed Weir Stadium.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Keith Lloyd did not let the less then optimal conditions affect him in the men’s hammer throw as Lloyd improved his personal-best and regional-qualifying mark with a throw of 205-2 (62.55). With the throw Lloyd is projected to move from No. 6 in the Midwest Region to No. 4. Lloyd followed his performance in the hammer throw with the winning throw in the men’s shot put at 55-2 (16.81).

 

Ryan Petrocchi was just a meter short of regionally qualifying in the men’s javelin with a new personal-best and first-place throw of 199-00 (60.67). The regional qualifying mark for Division I is 202-1 (61.60).

 

Lehann Fourie and Tyrell Ross finished 1-2 in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. Each posted regional-qualifying times at 14.09 and 14.21, respectively. However, both have recorded faster times this year with Fourie running a13.71 at the Drake Relays on April 26, and Ross running 13.80 at the Ward Haylett Invitational on May 3.

 

For the third time this season freshman Nicholas Gordon posted the top mark in the long jump. He won the Kansas Relays and Nebraska Open with jumps of 24-10 (7.57) at each meet. His jump today of 24-5 (7.45) was just enough to beat out former Husker Daniel Roper, who jumped 24-1 3/4 (7.36). Gordon then carried momentum into the triple jump as his leap of 49-3 1/2 (15.02) earned him another victory.On the women’s side Leandra McGruder won the long jump with a leap of 18-2 1/2 (5.55).

 

Due to the strong winds and heavy rain the men’s pole vault and men’s and women’s high jump were forced indoors to the BobDevaneySportsCenter. Seth Burney won the pole vault with a vault of 16-6 3/4 (5.05), beating out former Husker Gable Baldwin who also jumped 16-6 3/4 on more attempts. Dusty Jonas captured the men’s high jump with a jump of 7-4 1/2 (2.25). Fellow Huskers Paul Hamilton and Sam Haase finished right behind Jonas as 6-8 3/4 (2.05).

 

The Huskers made a clean sweep of the 1,500 meters with Natalja Zarcenko and Jennifer Pancoast finishing 1-2 on the women’s side, while Kyle Custer, Brad Doering, Brian Parr and David Adams in finished 1-2-3-4 on the men’s side. Zarcenko and Custer won with times of 4:31.49 and 3:54.00, respectively.

 

Peter van der Westhuizen captured his first win of the year in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.97. van der Westhuizen finished fourth at the Long Beach Invitational on April 19, and third at the Drake Relays on April 26.

 

The Big Red took the top four spots in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with Adam Dailey finishing first at 52.00, Eric Lund second at 53.01, Nick Makukutu third at 53.26 and Cylend Simmons fourth at 53.44.

 

Freshman Jen Webers continued to show promise in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as she has now won the event all three times she has competed in it this season. Her time of 11:15.99 did not top her season best of 10:59.43. Considering the conditions Webers was dominate as she was nearly 25 seconds faster then second-place finisher Rachel Bell of IowaState, who finished at 11:39.18.

 

The Huskers will now hit the track hard this week for practice before departing for Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday for the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The meet runs from Friday, May 16, through Sunday, May 18. Live results and a recap following each day will be available at Huskers.com.