Jonas Closes Career With Eighth All-America Honor

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Des Moines, Iowa ? In front of 11,282 avid track and field fans, senior Dusty Jonas earned his eighth NCAA Indoor All-America honor with a second-place finish in the finals of the men’s high jump on Friday night.

Jonas came into the meet with high expectations, but was never able to get into a rhythm as he was only able to clear 7-5 (2.26). After Jonas defeated Mikael Hanany of UTEP at the Midwest Regional with a jump of 7-7 (2.31), Hanany bounced back to take the national title with a leap of 7-7 1/4 (2.32). Jonas leaves a strong footprint on the Nebraska record book with the end of his four-year career. He owns both the indoor and outdoor school record with jumps of 7-7 (2.31) and 7-8 3/4, respectively. Jonas also won the 2007 indoor national title, 2008 Big 12 title and was an eight-time All-American. He still leads the world list in 2008 with his jump of 7-8 3/4 at the 2008 Big 12 Championships.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

“Everyone has days when they are on and off, and today I was off,” stated Jonas following the high jump. “I am still very proud of what I have accomplished at Nebraska. I’ve grown so much under Coach (Gary) Pepin.”

Freshman Austin Braman ended his rookie year with a 12th-place finish in the men’s javelin with a toss of 205-2 (62.55). The Buffalo, Kan., native will enter next season with the seventh-best throw all-time at Nebraska. He threw 224-1 (68.30) at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Ariz., on April 5.

“I was disappointed I wasn’t able to earn All-America honors, but I am very pleased to make the NCAA Championships in my freshman year,” stated Braman when asked how it felt to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships. “My goal now is to get stronger and faster for next year so that I am among the top-eight finishers.”

“Austin (Braman) had a great year for us and adapted well in his freshman year,” said Throws Coach Mark Colligan following the completion of the javelin. “This is the first time he has had to throw twice in a span of three days. When he gets stronger he will be someone who can qualify in the preliminaries by only having to go 80 percent and then bounce back and go 100 percent in the finals.”

Two-time NCAA Indoor All-American Epley Bullock advanced past Wednesday’s high jump preliminaries in hope of her first outdoor honor. Bullock improved on her 24th-place finish from the 2007 NCAA Championships by finishing in 11th place Friday with a jump of 5-9 3/4 (1.77), just missing All-America honors.

Three-time NCAA Indoor All-American Lukas Hulett’s sophomore season came to a close Friday night in the 400-meter dash semifinals. The Bellevue, Neb., native finished 10th with a time of 46.29, just over three-tenths of a second off of making the finals. Hulett will also win his first outdoor All-America honor by finishing in the top eight among American cometitors.

Following day one of the women’s heptathlon, Megan Wheatley sits in ninth place with a score of 3,324 and Chantae McMillan is in 21st place with 3,139. Only 95 points separate Wheatley and fifth-place competitor Jillian Drouin of Syracuse.

The Huskers return to Drake Stadium on Saturday for the fourth and final day of the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Wheatley and McMillan will start the second day of the women’s heptathlon at 11 a.m. with the long jump, followed by the javelin and 800 meters. Senior Kayla Wilkinson will take one last shot a spearing a national championship in the finals of the women’s javelin at 2:45 p.m.