Nebraska Women Lead After Day Two; Huskers Up and Down In Big 12 Championships

Austin, Texas - Nebraska had three athletes crowned conference champion Sunday evening at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, but fell short in a few areas the Huskers had hoped to do well in.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The Husker women are leading the way after day two with 75 points, followed by <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Missouri (48) and Kansas State (34).  The NU men are currently fourth with 29 points, following Missouri (51), Texas A&M (38), and Kansas State (30). 

 

"We had a really inconsistent day today," head coach Gary Pepin said.  "We didn't do as well as we had hoped in a lot of areas, but we had some individuals that had a really good day."

 

Ineta Radevica collected her third Big 12 title in as many tries, when she won the conference outdoor long jump crown with a mark of 20-9 1/4.  Radevica also won the indoor titles in the long and triple jumps this year.

 

The Huskers had four competitors score in the women's long jump, including Authea Chambers' fourth-place finish with a leap of 20-5 3/4.  Krisztina Kovesi and Vesna Kostic both leaped 19-8 3/4 for sixth-place finishes.

 

"The women did a nice job in the long jump," Pepin said.  "Ineta jumped pretty well and Authea did a nice job, but she got hurt and that is going to hurt us tomorrow."

 

Carl Myerscough added his fifth Big 12 crown to his collection Sunday when he posted a win in the men's discus throw with a mark of 196 feet.

 

"Today my technique was really off and I threw pretty lousy," Myerscough said.  "I'm glad to get the win because it means point for the team and that's what this meet is all about.  By the time of finals, everyone seemed to be out of energy and lethargic."

 

Becky Breisch improved her resume Sunday with her first Big 12 Outdoor title in the shot put.  Breisch threw a mark of 55-11 to take the gold after struggling in the shot put as a freshman.  Teammate Leann Boerema took a fifth-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 49-7 3/4, while Dani Wendell finished seventh, posting a mark of 46-10 3/4.

 

"I'm satisfied with my mark today but I know that there's more left in me for the rest of the season," Breisch said.  "The competition here was really great and it really motivated me."

 

Freshman Ashley Selig came through big again for the Huskers winning the silver in the women's heptathlon with a score of 5,549 points in her first Big 12 Outdoor Championship.  Selig's score improved her career best by 369 points and missed first place by a mere 34 points, coming short of Missouri's Fiona Asigbee.  The Lincoln native's mark is also currently the third best mark in the nation and is a strong provisional qualifier for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif., June 11-14.

 

"Ashley had a great meet today," Pepin said.  "She also got hurt and that is not good, but she had a really great day in the heptathlon."

 

Sara Jane Baker also scored in the heptathlon for NU, finishing eighth with 5,065 points.

 

Senior Casey Thom pulled off a solid third-place finish in the men's decathlon with a career-best 7,522 points.  Thom's score was 230 better than his previous career-best mark.  Teammate Chris Richardson was not far behind him, after the pair finished first and second, respectively, in the 1,500-meter run.  Richardson took fifth place with 7,236 points.

 

Sophomore Christi Lehman won the silver in the women's pole vault, clearing a height 12-10.  Alissa Koerner took fifth with a leap of 12-0, despite fighting illness.

 

NU had a hard day in the men's high jump, with Aaron Plas and Shaun Kologinczak tying for fourth place with a height of 6-11 1/2.  Kyle Odvody tied for 10th with a height of 6-7 1/2.

 

The Huskers placed three athletes in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles, led by David Davis Jr., who clocked a time of 13.75.  Nenad Loncar won his heat, but was third overall with a time of 13.84, while Courtney Jones took the eighth spot with a time of 14.25.  Shelley-Ann Brown secured a place in the 100-meter hurdle finals, finishing eighth in the preliminaries in a time of 13.72.

 

"We qualified really well in the hurdles," Pepin said. "David and Nenad did what they needed to do.  In the 100 meters we had hoped to get two qualifiers and we only got one, so that was disappointing."

 

John Kelley made the finals of the 400-meter dash, running a time of 46.84 to make it to the finals.  Kelley finished fifth in the same event in 2002.  Shelldon Simpson qualified for the finals in the 100-meter dash, clocking a time of 10.61, and finishing sixth overall.

 

Chris Burns finished second in the preliminaries of the 800-meter run with a time of 1:49.13.  Lucas Bauman made it into the finals with a ninth-place finish in a time of 1:50.21.

 

The Huskers had an extremely successful day in the men's 400-meter hurdles, qualifying three and finishing 4-5-7.  Danny Hill led NU with a time of 52.45, followed by Andy Nelson in 52.75.  Mark Harrison was seventh in a time of 52.82.

 

The Big 12 Championships will wrap up Monday evening in Austin, Texas.