Nebraska Women Take Silver, Men Take Bronze at Big 12 Outdoor Championships

Austin, Texas - The Nebraska track and field team claimed four Big 12 Champions Monday, but it wasn't enough for either team to bring home a conference championship at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

The Texas Longhorns swept both titles, taking the women's title with 188 points and the men's crown with 132 points.  The Nebraska women posted 130.66 for second place, while Kansas State was third with 83.33.  The Texas A&M men edged out the Huskers with 115 points while NU scored 113 for the third-place finish.

"The men's side was most disappointing because going into the meet I felt like we had a bona fide chance to win it," head coach Gary Pepin said.  "We needed more of a team effort on both sides.  We had some good competitive efforts but we had too many leaders not do what they needed to and it took us out of it."

Junior James Bowler upset defending champion Jorge Torres from Colorado for the title in the 1,500 meters, clocking a time of 3:43.43, for a great boost to the Husker scoreboard.   Torres led until the final 100 meters, where Bowler turned on his kick and pulled away for the first NU win in the 1,500 in Big 12 history.

"I knew he (Torres) won it too easily last year, and I wasn't going to let him do that again," Bowler said.  "The first lap felt the worst, but as it went on I knew that I could win it.  When I heard the bell, I knew that I still had my kick and I would win.  It feels good to finally get a championship."

Junior Ineta Radevica conquered her second conference title in as many days, leaping 45-0 1/2 in the triple jump for the gold and notching the second-best collegiate mark in the country this season.

Teammate Krisztina Kovesi wasn't far behind in third place with a mark of 44-0 3/4.  Radevica and Kovesi both recorded their best mark of the day on their second attempt.

Becky Breisch defended her Big 12 discus title with a throw of 180-10 on her second launch of the finals, only a day after taking the gold in the women's shot put.  Breisch set the Big 12 meet record in the discus as a freshman in 2002 with a mark of 182-8.

"I'm just glad I was able to throw far enough for the win," Bresich said.  "I'm really going to need to improve if I'm going to be successful at regionals and nationals."

Jennifer Cowher added a valuable three points in the discus with a sixth-place finish, notching a throw of 152-11 on her first attempt of the competition.

"Our two women who won two events had great performances," Pepin said.  "We had kids that fought really hard, but we just had too many subpar performances to get it done."

Artur Wszelaki defended his title in the men's javelin throw, saving his very best throw for last.  Wszelaki's mark of 236-10 improved his season best mark by a foot and captured the title by seven inches.  Colin Damas finished in sixth in the javelin with a throw of 210-2.

"I'm definitely glad to finish first, but I still wasn't happy with my performance," Wszelaki said.  "I felt a lot of pressure at the end but I focused and I think my adrenaline helped me get the best mark.  I'm really glad to get the win because it means points for my team."

Jason Thompson had one of the most surprising performances of the meet, winning the silver in the men's triple jump with a career-best leap of 51-1.  Thompson posted his best mark on his last attempt of the preliminaries.

Three Huskers put their stamp on the scoreboard in the men's 110-meter hurdles, finishing 2-3-7, for 16 NU points.  Nenad Loncar led the way for the Huskers, running the second-best time in school history with a time of 13.65. The time is a Yugoslavian national record and qualifies him for the 2004 Olympic Games. David Davis took the bronze in 13.94, while Courtney Jones grabbed the No. 7 spot with a time of 14.24.

 

Carl Myerscough was not able to defend his shot put title, falling to Missouri's Christian Cantwell by an inch and a half.  Myerscough tied his season best mark of 68-10 1/2 for the second-place finish, after he won the discus title Sunday night.  Jess Kirchhoff took the fifth-place spot with a throw of 59-10 1/4.

The women put up a solid front in the high jump, with Na'Tassia Vice and Sara Jane Baker tying Kansas State's Morgan High for second place, clearing a height of 5-8 3/4.

Danny Hill had one of the best performances of his career, taking third place in the 400-meter hurdles with a career-best time of 52.13.  Andy Nelson finished in seventh with a time of 53.95.  Mark Harrison was in third place, but was disqualified for a trail leg violation.

The men's 4x100-meter relay got the meet started with a fourth-place finish, running a time of 40.42, with a team of Oliver Williams, John Kelley, Le'Var Norris, and Shelldon Simpson.

Chris Burns took a fifth-place finish in the men's 800-meter run with a time of 1:49.69, after coming in second in the preliminaries.  Lucas Bauman finished in eighth, running a time of 1:50.76.

Senior Shelley-Ann Brown made a vast improvement from her performance in the100-meter hurdles Sunday, notching a time of 13.57 for a fifth-place finish.  Brown went 13.72 in the preliminaries and was eighth going into the finals.

Maggi Escudero ran to an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.46, while Ann Gaffigan finished in sixth place in a time of 11:08.91 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

John Kelley added two points with his seventh-place finish in the 400-meter dash.  Kelley looked strong for the first three quarters of the race and then quickly lost momentum over the last 100 meters to fall to seventh place.

The 2003 Big 12 Outdoor Championships will be televised on tape-delay basis by Fox Sports Net for a two week period, beginning Friday, May 23.  It can be seen the first time on Fox Sports Midwest in Lincoln on Friday at 11 a.m.

The Huskers return home to host the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, May 30-31, at the Ed Weir Track Stadium.  Nebraska has qualified over 60 athletes for the regional meet.