Throwers, Multi-Event Athletes Travel to Texas A&M Multis

Eighteen Nebraska track and field athletes will travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the Texas A&M Multis and Relays on Thursday through Saturday, March 18-20.

 

The travel squad will include throwers, multi-event athletes and Eric Eshbach in his first meet of the season in the pole vault.

 

The decathlon and heptathlon will take place Thursday and Friday, while the rest of the events will get underway on Saturday.

 

The Huskers are coming off the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. The women are coming off a stellar third-place finish, while the men were tied for 19th. Two of the 18 athletes competing at Texas A&M this weekend competed at the national championships.

 

No Rest for the Weary

Two Huskers who competed in the NCAA Indoor Championships will travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the Texas A&M Multis and Relays Thursday through Saturday.

 

Leann Boerema and Becky Breisch both had busy weekends at the national meet in Fayetteville, Ark., and will open the outdoor season immediately.

 

Breisch was the most successful of the three at the NCAA meet, winning silver in the women’s shot put with her toss of 56-10 1/4. Boerema took 16th place overall with her toss of 50-1 ? on her final throw of the day.

 

Breisch will pick up the discus for the first time this season and Richardson will take on the decathlon.

 

Eshbach Returns to the Lineup

2003 NCAA Outdoor pole vault champion Eric Eshbach will compete for the first time this season for the Huskers at the Texas A&M Relays. Eshbach did not have any remaining eligibility for the indoor season, but will be a valuable addition to the men’s team outdoors.

 

Eshbach won the national title last season outdoors and should contend for the title again this season. The Orangefield, Texas, native has won four All-America honors and is a three-time Big 12 Champion.

 

Javelin Throwers Make Season Debut at Texas A&M Relays

All-American Artur Wszelaki, Colin Damas and Kayla Wilkinson will all compete for the Big Red in the javelin for the first time this season this weekend in College Station. Wszelaki is coming off a season where he won the Big 12 title and qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but did not make the finals of the national meet.

 

Damas is coming off the best season of his career, where he threw a career-best 213-0 at the Texas Relays and finished sixth at the Big 12 Championships.

 

Freshman Kayla Wilkinson will make her collegiate debut at the Texas A&M Relays this weekend. The Deshler, Neb., native comes in with lofty expectations as the Huskers’ lone female  competitor in the javelin.

 

Jim Click Shootout Up Next

While a large contingent of Husker track and field athletes are taking time off this week, a large sized group will make the trip to Tucson, Ariz., next weekend to compete in the Jim Click Shootout.

 

The Jim Click Shootout will feature Arizona, Oregon, Kansas State, California State at Northridge and California State at Los Angeles.

 

The meet will get underway at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday, March 27, and will wrap up at 5:20 p.m. with the men’s 4x400-meter relay.

 

Husker Women Take Best Finish in 20 Years

Behind the efforts of national champions Priscilla Lopes and Ineta Radevica, the Nebraska women took third place in the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships, marking the best finish since the Huskers won the title in 1984.

 

The women came within 6.5 points of winning their first national championship since the 1984 season. En route to the third-place finish, the Huskers claimed two individual titles, one silver and two bronzes.

 

Out of the 15 Husker women that traveled to the NCAA Indoor Championships, 10 claimed All-America honors, and seven scored in the meet.

 

The men tied for 19th place with 13 points in the national meet. Carl Myerscough led the way with a second-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 66-3, while four other Huskers claimed All-America status.

 

Lopes, Radevica Claim NCAA Titles

Sophomore Priscilla Lopes and senior Ineta Radevica brought home the gold at the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend. Lopes won her first career title in the 60-meter hurdles with her time of 7.96 to dominate the field. The Whitby, Ontario, native took the top spot after the preliminaries with her time of 8.03, and dropped that time significantly to win the national title.  Lopes also took eighth place in the 60-meter dash in 7.45 for her second All-America honor in as many days.

 

Radevica claimed her first-career indoor title in the triple jump with a leap of 44-10 3/4 on the second day of competition. Radevica was disappointed in her third-place showing in the long jump in day one of the national meet, but came back with a vengence, leaping to her winning mark on the first attempt of the day in the triple jump.

 

All-America Honors Galore

The Huskers claimed 14 All-America honors between the men’s and women’s teams at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships. The Nebraska women claimed 10 honors, which was the most since the 1996 season when the 4x400-meter relay team finished eighth and claimed four honors alone.

 

The NU men earned four All-America honors, which is the most in an indoor season since the Huskers claimed six during the 2000 campaign.

 

The women’s All-Americans included Becky Breisch (Shot Put-2nd), Angela Dies (Long Jump-7th), Jenny Green (Pole Vault-3rd), Christi Lehman (Pole Vault-t9th/8th American), Priscilla Lopes (60m Dash-8th; 60m Hurdles-1st), Ineta Radevica (Long Jump-3rd; Triple Jump-1st); Ashley Selig (Pentathlon-7th), and Na’Tassia Vice (High Jump-8th).

 

The Husker men earning All-American status included Dmitrijs Milkevics (800m Run-6th); Carl Myerscough (Shot Put-2nd), Aaron Nasers (800m Run-9th/5th American), and Brad Teeple (Pole Vault-8th).

 

NU Returns Four National Champs in 2004

Nebraska is the only Division I university that returns four 2003 NCAA individual national champions to its 2004 squad. The Huskers return Carl Myerscough (indoor and outdoor shot put), Eric Eshbach (outdoor pole vault), Ineta Radevica (outdoor triple jump) and Becky Breisch (outdoor shot put).

 

North Carolina comes the closest to Nebraska, returning three individual national champs from the 2003 season.

 

The Huskers also return the services of seven All-Americans, including Kyle Odvody (high jump), Na’Tassia Vice (high jump) and Arturs Wszelaki (javelin) in addition to the four national champions.