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Lincoln ? With the release of the accepted entries into the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships on Monday night, 13 Nebraska track and field athletes officially found out they will be making the trip to College Station, Texas, this coming weekend for the national meet. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
Before the list was released, seven Huskers already had their bags packed as they had previously reaches NCAA automatic-qualifying marks in their respective event, including Natalie Willer (pole vault), Epley Bullock (high jump), Megan Wheatley (pentathlon), Chantae McMillan (pentathlon and long jump), Paul Hamilton (high jump), Nicholas Gordon (long jump) and Bjorn Barrefors (heptathlon).
The seven automatic qualifiers will be joined by 400-meter specialist Lukas Hulett, pole vaulter Seth Burney, 60-meter hurdlers Lehann Fourie and Kirkland Thornton, as well as long jumpers LeRon Williams and Chris Phipps.
Of the 13 athletes, Hulett, Bullock and Hamilton have previously qualified for the indoor championships, while everyone but Barrefors, Phipps, Burney and Thornton competed at last year’s outdoor championships. Hulett and Bullock are the only athletes with NCAA All-America honors already in their trophy cases, with Hulett holding three indoor honors and Bullock earning All-America her previous two seasons.
The 13 qualifiers more than doubles the number of athletes the Big Red qualified last season. However, the 2008 squad made a big impact as the Huskers came away with four All-America honors and a national championship in the high jump with Dusty Jonas’ school-record leap of 7-7.
The 2009 meet is set to start on Friday, March 13, at 10 a.m. and will continue on Saturday, March 14, at Noon. ESPN360.com will be providing a free live feed of the entire meet. For more information, check Huskers.com. Weekly notes will be released sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday after the latest USTFCCCA team rankings are released, a full schedule of the meet will be included in the notes.