Six Huskers Advance on Day One

Des Moines, Iowa ? Following an early morning lightning delay that lasted nearly two and one-half hours, the sun broke through to open the 88th annual men’s and 28th annual women’s NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. On day one of the four-day meet, 12 Huskers entered into competition, with six moving on to either semifinals or finals.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

After waiting out the delay, true freshman Austin Braman got his first taste of NCAA Championship competition. The <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Buffalo, Kan., native entered the javelin competition seeded No. 19 with a throw of 224-1 (68.30). Braman started off on the right foot as his first toss of 214-2 (65.27) was the fifth-best throw in his flight and the seventh-best throw overall. He will now move onto the 12-athlete final at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

“Today I came in with nothing to lose," Braman said. "I didn’t have a good (Midwest) Regional meet. I am just glad to be in the finals. Now I am going after an All-America honor.”

Senior Dusty Jonas is still in line to win his first NCAA Outdoor Championship after moving on in the men’s high jump. Jonas only needed to clear 7-0 1/4 (2.14) to move on to Friday’s 7 p.m. final. Freshman Paul Hamilton tied did not advance to the final, tying for 20th place with a jump of 6-8 3/4 (2.05). Hamilton made both the indoor and outdoor national meet in his freshman year.

Midwest Regional champion Nicholas Gordon extended his freshman season by qualifying for the finals of the men’s long jump with the ninth-best jump in the preliminaries. His jump of 25-5 1/4 (7.75) came on his second jump, advancing him to the finals on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., where Gordon will look to bring home Nebraska’s third NCAA outdoor All-America honor in the long jump over the last 10 years. The Huskers’ last All-American was Arturs Abolins, who won the national title in 2006. Due to a leg injury during warm-ups, junior LeRon Williams was unable to compete.

Adam Dailey continued his breakout freshman season by qualifying for the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles. His time of 50.90 was the third-fastest in his heat and the 13th-fastest among the 26 competitors. Dailey will now run in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Three-time indoor All-American Lukas Hulett will have a shot at his first outdoor All-American honor after qualifying in the 400 meters. Hulett’s time of 46.32 was the fourth-best in his heat, but would have won two out of the five heats. Overall, Hulett’s time ranked 12th. Hulett will run in the semifinals at 8:25 p.m. on Friday.

In the women’s high jump, two-time NCAA Indoor All-American Epley Bullock advanced to the finals with a jump of 5-9 3/4 (1.77). Bullock will be in search of her first outdoor All-American honor after she finished tied for 24th at the 2007 outdoor meet. Bullock will compete in the finals of the women’s high jump on Friday at 4:45 p.m.

Sophomore Erin Hannon and senior Kim Shubert also competed for the Huskers in the women’s high jump. Shubert missed out on the finals by only one and one quarter of an inch, as she jumped 5-8 1/2 (1.74), tying for 17th place. Hannon went out of the meet at 5-7 (1.70), placing her in a tie for 24th place.

Freshman Natalie Willer and senior Keith Lloyd also competed for the Big Red on day one, but neither advanced to the finals. At her first NCAA Championship event, Willer vaulted 13-1 1/2 (4.00) in the women’s pole vault to just miss out on the finals. The finals qualifying mark was 13-5 1/2 (4.10). Lloyd, who will also compete in the men’s shot put on Thursday, finished 21st in the men’s hammer throw preliminaries with a toss of 197-9 (60.28).

The first Husker action on Thursday begins at 2:15 p.m. Three-time Big 12 champion Kayla Wilkinson will start her final run at a national championship in the women’s javelin. Wilkinson will look to add to Nebraska's total of 71 national champion and 549 All-Americans. The running events are scheduled to start at 4:50 p.m. when Tyrell Ross and Lehann Fourie run in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles.