Nebraska Splits Squad Between Texas and Emporia State

Lincoln -- The Nebraska track and field team will have a split squad this weekend as a large group will travel to Austin, Texas, for the 77th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, while several others will travel to Emporia, Kan., for the Emporia State Relays.

The Texas Relays opens with multi-events on Wednesday and runs through Saturday afternoon. The Emporia State Relays is a one-day meet, getting underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Athletes had to reach qualifying standards to enter the Texas Relays, which makes it an elite meet with arguably the best competition in the country outside the NCAA Championships.

NCAA indoor hurdle champion Priscilla Lopes will see her first outdoor hurdle action this weekend in the Texas Relays, where she will not compete in the university section, but will compete in the Olympic Qualifying section of the 100-meter hurdles.

Ashley Selig and Sara Jane Baker will compete in their first heptathlon of the 2004 season at the Texas Relays. Both Selig and Baker’s last multi-event competition came at the NCAA Indoor Championships where Selig finished seventh and Baker was 10th in the pentathlon.

The Texas Relays heptathlon will take place Wednesday and Thursday and will include 20 collegiate competitors.

Senior Eric Eshbach will try to continue a string of great performances in the Texas Relays. The Orangefield, Texas, native took fifth place in his home state last season, clearing 17-8 1/2 before going on to win the 2003 NCAA Outdoor national title in the pole vault.

Junior Becky Breisch would also like a repeat performance from the 2003 Texas Relays when she set the Nebraska school record with a mammoth throw of 192-7 in the discus to win the meet. She also took second in the women’s shot put with a toss of 55-7 1/2.

Lopes to Face Great Competition in Hurdles
Priscilla Lopes is taking her race to the next level at the Texas Relays. Lopes is entered in the Olympic Qualifying section of the women’s 100-meter hurdles instead of the university division.

The NCAA Indoor hurdles champion will not face any other collegiate athletes. She will see Joyce Bates, Kim Jones, GiGi Miller, Chitua Ohaeri and Angela Whyte. Bates was the 2000 NCAA Outdoor champion in the hurdles with a time of 12.85. Miller is a distinguished multi-event athlete and Angela Whyte is a fellow Canadian, finishing seventh at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the hurdles for Eastern Washington.

Selig and Baker Set to Compete in First Heptathlon
Ashley Selig and Sara Jane Baker will compete in their only heptathlon competition before the Big 12 Outdoor Championships April 29-May 1.

The multi-events and 10,000-meter run are the only events that qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships by automatic and provisional qualifying marks. Therefore, Selig and Baker only have two opportunities to qualify for the national meet - the Texas Relays and the Big 12 Championships.

Both sophomores had a solid showing in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships with Selig finishing seventh and Baker taking 10th place. Both had strong performances at the Jim Click Shoot-Out last weekend.

Selig placed second in the long jump with a leap of 18-11 3/4. She also clocked a time of 14.41 for an eighth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles. Selig also earned silver in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.87, despite two of her hurdles being set too high.

Baker finished second in the women’s high jump by clearing 5-8 3/4 in Tucson. She also ran a time of 14.90 in the 100-meter hurdles for a 13th-place finish.

Huskers Qualify 24 for Regionals After Two Weeks
In just two weeks of outdoor action, the Huskers have set 24 NCAA Regional qualifying marks, including 10 by the men and 14 for the women. In 2003, Nebraska set 62 qualifying marks during the entire outdoor season. The Huskers already have one-third of the marks they set a year ago after just two weeks of competition behind them.

The Huskers have to move at a faster pace this season, however, since the Big 12 Championships were moved up by two weeks. Nebraska will travel to Oklahoma for the conference meet April 29-May 1. The Huskers will have much less time to prepare for the conference meet, making each meet over the next month a valuable experience. There is also just one meet scheduled between the conference championships and the Regional meet, giving the Huskers only six more weekends to qualify for the Regional meet.

Stamer Out of Blocks Quick
Junior Dusty Stamer took no time getting in the Nebraska outdoor record books, clocking the sixth-best time in school history in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.37 at the Jim Click Shoot-Out last weekend.

Stamer ended the indoor season tied for third place on the Nebraska 60-meter dash charts with a time of 6.65 that he ran in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championships. At the time, it ranked second in school history, before Oliver Williams Jr. tied the school record time of 6.61 at the Last Chance Qualifier.

Husker Relays on Fast Track
The Nebraska 4x100-meter relay teams got off to the right start last weekend. Both the men’s and women’s relay team cruised to regional-qualifying times at the Jim Click Shoot-Out last weekend.

The men’s relay team took second place in its first time out with a time of 40.23, while the women clocked a time of 45.72 for a third-place finish. Both performances were good enough to qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships. Last year, the Nebraska women’s 4x100-meter relay team took third at the regional championships to reach the NCAA Outdoor Championship meet. The men’s team should have the depth to accomplish the same feat this season.

K.T. Woodman Classic Up Next for Huskers
While the Huskers will split ways this weekend for the Texas Relays and the Emporia State Relays, the team will reconvene for the K.T. Woodman Classic next weekend at Wichita State. The K.T. Woodman Classic will begin at 10 a.m. with field events and the action on the oval is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m. The meet is also the Huskers’ first scored competition of the outdoor season. The Husker women won the K.T. Woodman Classic last year, while the men finished in second place.

Shadle Has Solid Season-Opening Steeplechase
Anne Shadle got off to a great start in the steeplechase after setting the Nebraska school record in the same event last season. The South Sioux City, Neb., native ran a season-opening time of 10:40.69 to win the Jim Click Shoot-Out. Shadle took the lead in the third lap and crushed the competition, winning by 17 seconds. Shadle met the NCAA regional qualifying time by more than 17 seconds as well.

Husker Throwers Rolling in Early Season
The Nebraska women’s throwers are moving in the right direction after the first two weeks of the outdoor season. Becky Breisch is leading the team and the nation in the shot put and the discus currently. Breisch won both events at the Jim Click Shoot-Out.

Breisch led a 1-2-3 finish in the women’s shot in Arizona, followed by senior Leann Boerema and redshirt freshman Jennifer Steiner. Boerema and Steiner’s performances were every bit as impressive as Breisch’s winning throw, as they set stellar new personal records.

Boerema’s mark of 53-3 was her first outdoor personal record in the shot since her freshman season. Steiner won bronze with a toss of 51-3 1/2, which dwarfed her previous career best by three and a half feet. All three have qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships two weeks in a row.

Hurdlers Once Again Showing Depth
The Nebraska men’s hurdlers were a deep squad during the indoor season. Competing in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles during the outdoor season, the squad is even deeper.

Three of the four 110-meter hurdlers qualified for the regional championships on their first try last weekend. Nenad Loncar led the way for Nebraska, clocking the best time of the three with a time of 13.82. Courtney Jones was just behind him in third place with a time of 13.98, while Richard Davidson Jr. was fourth in 14.31. Aaron Ross was not far off a regional-qualifying time with his 14.46 clocking for a sixth-place finish.