Six Huskers Punch Ticket to NCAA Championships

Lincoln ? Behind three first-place finishes on the opening day of the 2008 NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, the Nebraska men’s track and field team sits in first place in the team race with 37.50 points, just ahead of 2008 Big 12 Outdoor champion Colorado which has 28 points. Nicholas Gordon, Keith Lloyd and Dusty Jonas all came away with top honors as sunny skies and 2,247 fans welcomed 44 schools from across the Midwest to Ed Weir Stadium on the campus of the <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>University of Nebraska. With only 10 events going final on day one, a total of six Huskers (four men, two women) locked up spots at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 11-14.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Freshman Nicholas Gordon shined in his first regional meet with a personal-best and Midwest Regional record-tying long jump of 25-11 1/2 (7.91). Gordon came into the meet with the third-best mark in the region and now shares the top regional meet mark with Aundre Edwards of Texas Christian who jumped 25-11 1/2 in 2004. Gordon, a Kingston, Jamaica, native, moves up to No. 4 all-time at Nebraska outdoors, trailing only Robert Thomas (26-9), Joe Laster (26-8 1/2) and Arturs Abolins (26-3). On Saturday, May 17, in Boulder, Colo., Gordon came within one-quarter of an inch of winning his first Big 12 title, losing to a fellow freshman, Julian Reed of Texas A&M. On Friday, Gordon got another shot at Reed and came through, defeating the young Aggie by five and one-half inches.

 

“It was tough losing the Big 12 title,” said Gordon when asked about his victory Friday. “I can’t even tell you how happy I am right now. I can’t wait for nationals.”

 

“Nicholas (Gordon) is a kid who puts in the work,” said volunteer coach Nic Petersen following the meet. “It’s great to see him reap the rewards.”

 

Prior to Gordon’s performance, Keith Lloyd had a top performance of his own as the junior won the men’s shot put in dramatic fashion. With a strong contingency of fans and family behind him, Lloyd unleashed a loud roar and personal-best toss on his final attempt of the day to win the shot put with a mark of 61-5 (18.72).

 

“It really helps out having a strong group of fans behind you,” said Lloyd when asked about the home crowd.

 

“Keith Lloyd is someone who just goes out and competes. He may not be the biggest competitor when it comes to size, but he makes up for it in all the intangibles,” stated throws coach Mark Colligan following the shot put.

 

Four jumps was all senior Dusty Jonas needed to earn the top spot in the men’s high jump. Two weeks after clearing 7-8 ? in Boulder, Colo., to post the top mark in the world this season and win his first Big 12 title, Jonas stayed clean through the event and cleared 7-7 (2.31) to win the regional. Jonas and Mickael Hanany were the only jumpers to clear 7-4 1/2 (2.25). After Jonas cleared 7-7 on his first attempt, Hanany missed three times to secure Jonas’ victory.

 

“It felt good today to come out and only take four jumps. I wanted to limit myself today and doing that was a positive,” said Jonas when asked about his performance of clearing 7-1 (2.16), 7-3 1/4 (2.22), 7-4 1/2 (2.25), and 7-7 (2.31).

 

Three other Huskers punched their ticket for the national meet, including Lara Crofford, Natalie Willer and LeRon Williams.

 

Crofford solidified a spot in Des Moines with a fourth-place finish in the women’s 5,000 meters. Crofford’s time of 17:01.28 was less than five seconds behind defending national champion and first-place finisher, Sally Kipyego, who finished with a time of 16:56.34.

 

Willer came into the meet on the outside looking in as she was tied for the No. 6 spot in the regional pole vault rankings. The freshman from Elkhorn, Neb., rose to the challenge as she finished fifth by breaking her personal best with a vault of 13-3 3/4 (4.06).

 

Gordon will not be alone in Des Moines, as his teammate, Williams, will join him in the long jump at the national meet. Williams came into the meet ranked No. 8 in the region and carried momentum from a personal-best jump at the Big 12 Championships to jump just one-half inch less on Friday. Williams’ mark of 24-10 1/2 (7.58) placed him fifth, right at the cutoff mark for making nationals.

 

A multitude of other Huskers will get their shot at the national meet Saturday with 28 events going final. In preliminary action, Tyrell Ross and Lehann Fourie both moved on to the finals in the 110-meter hurdles, Adam Dailey advanced in the 400-meter hurdles, and Lukas Hulett will be busy on day two as he will compete in the 400-meter dash, 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter finals.

 

Day two’s activities are schedule to start at 1 p.m. with the men’s hammer throw, as well as the women’s high jump, javelin and triple jump. The running events get started at 4 p.m. with the finals of the women’s 4x100-meter relay. Live results and a live video stream can be found at Huskers.com.