Suckstorf Makes Most of Final Indoor Home Meet of 2010

Lincoln ? The No. 8 men’s and No. 14 women’s Nebraska track and field teams concluded their 2010 home slate on Friday afternoon at the Devaney Center Indoor Track with the Nebraska Tune-Up. With the Big 12 Indoor Championships next weekend, the Huskers continued to improve as they set their sights on a run at the conference titles.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Senior Brett Suckstorf made the most of his last home indoor meet in a Husker uniform, as the Pierce, Neb., native tossed a personal best of 67-2 1/4 to win men’s weight throw and shatter his previous best of 66-6 1/2. With the throw, Suckstorf moved from No.3 to No. 2 on NU’s all-time indoor performance list and now trails only school-record holder Joe Erdkamp in the records books, with Erdkamp tossing 68-10 1/2 at the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championships. Suckstorf also moved one step closer to his own appearance at the national meet, as he improved from 16th to a tie for 12th on the 2010 NCAA list with Brad Millar of DePaul.

 

Cami Jiskra and Tyler Hitchler then added their name to the NCAA list with provisional-qualifying marks in the pole vault and shot put, respectively. Jiskra cleared the first four heights of the women’s pole vault on her first attempt, before taking three tries at the 13-1 3/4 bar. The vault was a new personal best for Jiskra, betting her previous best of 12-9 1/2. Hitchler then destroyed his previous best of 57-4 3/4 by exactly one foot with a toss of 58-4 3/4. Hitchler placed second to teammate Luke Pinkelman (58-7 1/2), who has been forced to compete as an unattached athlete in 2010 after transferring to Nebraska from Iowa State prior to the start of the indoor season.

 

On the men’s side of the vault, Nate Polacek added one-quarter inch to his personal best with a winning vault of 17-1. Already a provisional qualifier in the vault, Polacek moved up one spot from 29th to 28th.

 

In the jumps, the Huskers made a clean sweep on the women’s side with wins in the high, long and triple jumps. Rachel Butler started the day for NU with a win in the long jump, clearing 19-5 1/2, one-half inch short of her PR. Epley Bullock then concluded her final meet in a Husker uniform at the Devaney Center with a winning clearance of 6-0 3/4 in the high jump. Bullock tried to break her personal best of 6-1 1/2, which she cleared earlier this year at the adidas Classic, with three attempts at 6-2, but was unable to clear. Fellow senior Leandra McGruder followed with a season-best jump of 41-10 in the triple jump, the top jump by a Husker this season.

 

The duo of Victoria Zimmerman and Amanda Latsch also combined for a sweep of the women’s throws. Zimmerman started the sweep with a winning toss of 56-10 in the weight throw. Latsch then finished the sweep by contributing a victory in the shot put with a season-best throw of 48-7 1/4.

 

Moving to the middle and long distance events, the Huskers added wins in the 600 yards, as well as the 800, 1,000 and 5,000 meters. Elizabeth Marsh started with a personal-best time of 18:34.46 in the 5K, which topped her previous best of 18:42.36 by nearly eight seconds. Blair Dinsdale then improved on her previous best of 1:23.41 in the 600 yards with a winning time of 1:23.13. Ashley Miller and Tommy Brinn followed with a sweep of the 800 meters, with Miller running a personal best of 2:10.87 and Brinn crossing the finish line at 1:52.84. David Adams added the group’s fifth win in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:26.52.

 

In other action at the Devaney Center, former Husker Dusty Jonas thrilled the crowd with a winning jump of 7-6 1/2 in the men’s high jump. Jonas then tried his luck at 7-8, which would have been a new facility record, but the 2008 indoor high jump national champion was unable to clear.

 

The Huskers will now prepare for next weekend’s Big 12 Indoor Championships in Ames, Iowa, on the Lied Center’s 300-meter oval. The Huskers will be looking to add to their 100 conference titles and 21 titles during the Big 12 era. The two-day meet will begin on Friday 10 a.m. and continue on Saturday at 11 a.m.

 

Attendance ? 1,553