<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln, Neb. ? Senior Eric Eshbach and junior Becky Breisch exploded for Nebraska and Ed Weir Stadium records, as well as setting automatic qualifying standards for the U.S. Olympic Trials, in their only home meet Saturday at the Nebraska Quadrangular.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
Eshbach cleared 18-8 ? in the pole vault, destroying the previous stadium record by nearly eight inches, and his previous career best and Nebraska school record of 18-4 ? set just two weeks ago at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.
“The conditions were just perfect today,” Eshbach said. “Normally the wind is swirling around here, but it was just the right day for it. Pole vault and high jump are the only two events where you end on a negative every meet, so I wanted to go out on a good note and just decided to stop at that point.”
Becky Breisch had been nothing less than spectacular the first five weeks of the outdoor season, and she continued to roll Saturday, crushing her previous school record in the discus, launching it 204-7. Breisch’s previous school record was 192-7, set at the 2003 Texas Relays.
The Edwardsburg, Mich., native also won the women’s shot put with a throw of 56-10 ?, and began the day with a new event, taking eighth place in the hammer throw with a mark of 160-7.
“This day altogether has been excellent,” Breisch said. “I am happy with the entire competition. It hasn’t sunk in yet what I was just able to do.”
In his first meet of the outdoor season and his final meet at Ed Weir Stadium as a Husker, Carl Myerscough confiscated the NCAA leading mark in the shot put, launching it 67-10 ? for the win. Myerscough also won the discus throw with a mark of 203-4.
Redshirt freshman Jessie Graff moved into second place on the Nebraska pole vault charts, jumping 13-8 ? to win her first outdoor event of the season. Graff defeated teammate Jenny Green, who cleared 13-5 ?, despite having the flu. Green set the school record at 13-11 ? at the Texas Relays two weeks ago. Junior Christi Lehman was third in the pole vautl, clearing 13-1 ?.
Senior Na’Tassia Vice also took full advantage of her final meet in Lincoln, moving up to sixth on the all-time Nebraska charts, clearing 6-0 to win the women’s high jump. Sara Jane Baker tied for second, making 5-6 ?.
The men’s 4x100-meter relay team put together their best race of the season, anchored by Dusty Stamer, who played a substantial role in the winning time of 39.93. The 4x400 relay squad won the meet in 3:11.37. The women’s 4x100-meter relay team also won, posting a time of 46.16. The women’s 4x400 relay was third in 3:51.73.
Priscilla Lopes won the 100-meter dash (11.73) as well as the 100-meter hurdles (13.49) in a solid day on the track for the sophomore. Stamer clocked the fourth-best time in NU history with his time of 10.28 in the 100-meter dash to win the race. Oliver Williams won bronze in 10.52.
The Huskers turned in a 1-2-4 finish in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, led by Nenad Loncar’s time of 13.90. Courtney Jones was second in 14.07, while Aaron Ross came in at 14.34.
Artur Wszelaki claimed gold in the javelin, tossing it 222-9 for the win. Colin Damas was fourth with a mark of 195-6.
Jason Thompson won the men’s triple jump with a mark of 49-2 ?, followed by Daniel Roper in second at 47-4 ?. Arturs Abolins claimed the title in the men’s long jump, leaping 24-5 ?. Roper was third with a leap of 22-6 ?.
Freshman Kayla Wilkinson won the women’s javelin throw, throwing it 136-6 on her final attempt of the preliminaries. Sara Jane Baker, Casie Witte and Ashley Selig finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Danute Ceika made a great improvement on her season-best time in the 800 meters, clocking a winning time of 2:09.84. Dijana Kojic was third in 2:13.09.
Freshman Andrew Pearson won the men’s 400-meter dash, crossing the line in 47.39. Shelldon Simpson took second in the men’s 200 meters registering a time of 21.36. Dmitrijs Milkevics won the 800-meter run in 1:51.83. Andy Nelson was second in the 400-meter hurdles with his first NCAA regional-qualifying mark of 52.35. Danny Hill was third in 53.68.
Angela Dies won silver in the women’s long jump, leaping 19-11 ? on her first jump of the day to qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships in her first meet of the season.
Issar Yahzbin improved his career-best mark to 200-9 to take second place in the men’s hammer throw.
Leann Boerema had an excellent day in the women’s shot put, winning bronze with a significant improvement to her personal-best mark with a throw of 53-11 ?.
Aaron Plas took second in the men’s high jump, clearing 6-10 ?, while teammate Yoav Shuster cleared the same height, but took third on misses. Brad Teeple won silver in the pole vault, but was overshadowed by Eshbach’s phenomenal performance. Teeple cleared 17-0 ? to take second place.
Dana Carne ran to a second-place finish in the men’s 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:53.85. Kyle Doperalski finished second (9:19.66) and Paul Wilson was third (9:27.31) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The Huskers will travel to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, next weekend, before traveling to Norman, Okla., for the Big 12 Outdoor Championships on April 29-May 1.