Nebraska Gunning for Big 12 Outdoor Titles

Lincoln -- The NU track and field team will travel to Columbia, Mo., this weekend for the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, which begin Friday at 11 a.m. at Audrey J. Walton Stadium. The Husker men are looking to win their first outdoor conference title since 1998, while the NU women are aiming for their first outdoor championship since 1995. Nebraska swept the Big 12 Indoor Championships in February. Texas, meanwhile, has won every Big 12 men's and women's outdoor conference title - with the exception of NU's victory in 1998.

Individually, the Nebraska women are led in part by senior Dalhia Ingram, who owns two conference titles in the long jump (1998 and 1999). Ingram won both the long jump and triple jump at the 2000 Big 12 indoor meet, and currently leads the conference in both events outdoors. Only seven Huskers have ever claimed three or more outdoor conference titles in one event.

The NU men will likely be helped by junior Chris Chandler and sophomore Sheldon Hutchinson. Chandler won both the 60- and 200-meter dashes at the 2000 indoor conference championships. Hutchinson claimed 2000 indoor conference titles in both the long jump and triple jump.

In his 20th year at the helm of the Husker squad, Head Coach Gary Pepin has claimed 15 outdoor conference titles on the women's side, while his men's teams have won six.

The outdoor conference meet will air on FOX Sports Midwest on Thursday, May 25, at 1 p.m.; Friday, May 26, at 3 a.m.; and Saturday, May 27 at 3 p.m. It can also be seen on FOX Sports Rocky Mountain on Thursday, May 25, at 2 p.m.; Saturday, May 27 at 3 a.m.; and Sunday, May 28, at 4 p.m.

NU women sit second in USTCA Team Power Rankings
The Nebraska women's track and field team currently sits in second - behind UCLA -in the USTCA Team Power Rankings (http://tower.isu.edu/power). UCLA tops the chart with a score of 389.46, while the Huskers check in at 382.29. On the men's side, Nebraska remained in eighth place with a score of 355.62.

Husker athletes rank among nation's top 10 in 10 events
Melissa Price, a junior, still owns the nation's best mark in the hammer throw this season. Price took the nation's lead at the USTCA Team Championships on April 22, with a winning toss of 213-1. The mark tied her personal best - which was the top throw by a collegian in 1999. SMU's Florence Ezeh, who posted a mark of 212-5 at the Texas Relays on April 6, ranks second this season. Price also recorded a Drake Relays record on April 29, winning the hammer at 206-11 in a competition that included four of the nation's top eight throwers.

Cassi Morelock, a senior, owns the third-best throw in the javelin this season with an NCAA automatic qualifying heave of 181-0, recorded at the USTCA Team Championships on April 21. UTEP freshman Angeliki Tsiolakoudi, who improved her nation-leading mark to 197-8 on May 7, finished second to Morelock at the meet with a mark of 179-6. Tsiolakoudi's top mark this season is a collegiate record.

Dalhia Ingram, a senior jumper, recorded the third-best triple jump in the nation on May 7, winning the event with her season-best mark of 44-4 1/4. Ingram also ranks 15th in the long jump (20-9). Ingram posted a wind-aided mark of 21-6 1/4 on April 22, in Austin.

Carrie Braness, a junior, leaped into the No. 3 spot in the nation on May 7, winning the high jump at 6-0 3/4. The effort was her first provisional mark of the outdoor season. Texas' Erin Aldrich still leads the nation with her mark of 6-4 3/4, recorded at the Texas Relays on April 7. Braness topped Aldrich on April 22, at the USTCA Team Championships, with a winning mark of 5-10 1/2. Aldrich cleared 5-8 1/2 to finish fourth.

The Nebraska women's 4x400-meter relay team (sophomore Cheryl Harmon, sophomore Jelena Stanisavljevic, junior Lesley Owusu and senior Stella Klassen) claimed the Drake Relays title on April 29, posting the nation's fourth-fastest mark this season (3:33.84). Klassen, an All-America sprinter, won the 400 meters 52.66 on May 7, moving her to 12th in the nation in the event. Owusu ran a personal-best time of 53.47 in the 400 last Saturday, putting her in a tie for 22nd in the nation.

Leann Boerema, a redshirt freshman, cracked the nation's top five when she recorded an automatic qualifying mark of 53-0 1/4 in the shot put on May 7. Boerema, who sits at No. 5 in the nation, ranks third in school history, behind Tressa Thompson (61-7 3/4) and Paulette Mitchell (55-1).

Cory Lehman, a senior, currently sits at No. 6 in the nation with an Ed Weir Stadium-record mark of 236-8 in the javelin on May 7. Lehman, who has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, ranks second behind Scott Warren (251-5) on NU's all-time chart. The Newton, Kan., native also ranks second in the Big 12.

Chris Chandler, a junior, sits at No. 8 in the nation in the 100 meters with his school-record mark of 10.16. Chandler recorded the mark at a quadrangular with LSU, North Carolina and USC in Los Angeles on April 1. At that quadrangular, Chandler, who automatically qualified for the NCAA meet, shattered the Husker school record of 10.25, set by Riley Washington in 1994. Chandler also ranks 14th in the nation in the 200 meters with a school-record time of 20.60, recorded April 22, at the USTCA Team Championships in Austin, Texas. The previous NU record was set by Tom Fish (21.06) in 1997.

Shaun Kologinczak, a sophomore, ranks ninth in the nation, after posting a career-best high jump of 7-3 1/4 on May 7. Kologinczak, a 2000 indoor All-American won the event at the quadrangular, bettering his previous career-high mark of 7-3.

Jessica Thompson, a junior, who cleared 6-0 at the Husker Open on April 8, ranks at No. 8 nationally in the high jump. Thompson was a 2000 indoor All-American.

Eric Eshbach, a freshman ranks 12th in the pole vault with his mark of 17-8 1/2 at the Texas Relays on April 8. Eshbach was a 2000 indoor All-American.