Huskers Soar on First Day of NCAA Midwest Regional Championship

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln, Neb. - The Nebraska track and field team earned four of the 10 NCAA Midwest Regional individual championships Friday at the Ed Weir Track Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.

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"We had a really good day," head coach Gary Pepin said.  "The weather was great with the exception of the wind gusts.  Our athletes really performed well today.  It was a good start to the meet.   This is a much tougher and deeper competition than our conference, so this is a good test for us."

 

The Nebraska women lead the meet after the first day of competition with 40 points, followed by Texas A&M (19), KansasState (16) and Rice (16).  The Husker men are in fifth place with 15 points.  ColoradoState is in the lead for the men with 21 points, followed by Texas Tech (19), Colorado (17), and Texas El-Paso (16).

 

Christi Lehman soared in the pole vault, clearing a school-record height of 13-2 1/4 to claim her first NCAA Regional title and secure a trip to the NCAA Championship meet.

 

"After today's vault, I feel really comfortable heading to nationals," Lehman said.  I'm right at the point where I think I can go higher and I think I can do more.  I have a little bit of a competitive side and when I am by myself I don't think I'm as aggressive."

 

The women's shot put was one of the most competitive of the day, with Becky Breisch claiming the title, launching the ball 57-6 1/4 for the victory.  Teammate Leann Boerema was in sixth-place going into the final attempt, and her chances at an NCAA automatic bid looked bleak, but she came from behind and hurled the shot put 50-5 1/2 for the fourth-place finish and a final trip the NCAA Championships.

 

"I felt good today and I had some good throws this afternoon," Breisch said.  "You don't ever hold back on one event to try and save something for another (the discus on Saturday).  Hopefully everything goes well tomorrow and I'll be able to come back out strong again."

 

The Huskers were solid in the men's high jump in a very unique way.  Kyle Odvody captured the gold, clearing a height of 7-2 1/4 for the championship.

 

"I'm proud of my jump today," Odvody said.  "I was able to come back from Big 12s and show that I am a better jumper than what I performed at the championships.  I'm looking forward to competing at nationals, and I hope I'll be able to land an All-America title."

 

Odvody was followed by teammate Travis Baker in fourth-place with a career-best performance of 7-1.  All-American Shaun Kologinczak will have to wait for the NCAA to declare a list of athletes who will qualify for the NCAA meet with a wild card after finishing 10th with a height of 6-11 3/4.

 

"I was really impressed with Kyle and Travis," Pepin said.  "Kyle didn't do as well as we would have liked at Big 12's, but he really had a big performance today."

 

Ineta Radevica continued her streak of wins in the horizontal jumps, claiming the title in the long jump with a career-best mark of 21-7 1/4.  Vesna Kostic also had a great series, notching a season-best leap of 20-10 3/4 for a seventh-place finish.

 

"I think the crowd helped play a factor in the way I jumped today," Radevica said.  "I still get goose bumps when they all start clapping together for me.  I'm pleased with the distance I recorded and hope to do as well or better at nationals."

 

Several Huskers also qualified for the final events scheduled for Saturday, including the women's 4x100-meter, who ran a stellar fourth-place time of 44.96 to make it one step closer to qualifying for the NCAA Championships.  Three relay teams will qualify from each region for the national championship meet.

 

David Davis Jr. and Nenad Loncar added two more clutch performances to their list of accolades, finishing second and third overall in the 110-meter hurdles, to solidify a spot in the finals.  Davis ran a lifetime-best mark of 13.68, while Loncar clocked a time of 13.79.

 

Shelley-Ann Brown had one of her strongest races of the outdoor season, clocking a time of 13.23 in the 100-meter hurdles for a third-place preliminary finish.  She will try to keep the momentum through the finals Saturday and guarantee herself a trip to the national meet.

 

James Bowler ran another great race in the 1,500-meters with a time of 3:48.30 for a third-place preliminary finish under very windy conditions.  Bowler won the championship at the Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas, a couple of weeks ago and sailed through the preliminary round of the 1,500 meters.

 

Chris Burns finished in the top five in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.28 and will try to make the national meet with an equally strong race Saturday.

 

The meet will get underway Saturday with field events beginning at 10 a.m.  The finals events on the track will begin at 4 p.m. with the 4x100-meter relay and will conclude with the 4x400-meter relay.  Check www.Huskers.com for results throughout the meet.