Husker Men Dominate Big 12 Outdoor Championships

Norman, Okla. ? Senior Carl Myerscough led the Husker men to their first Big 12 indoor and outdoor sweep since 2002 and their fourth in conference history on Saturday, while the women won silver at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships at John Jacobs Field in Norman, Okla.

Myerscough won his third consecutive Big 12 championship in the discus throw on his second attempt of the day, with a Nebraska school-record toss of 208-0. His winning mark was only one of two legal marks on the day, as he fouled on four of his six attempts.

The Hambleton, England, native also won the shot put on Friday giving him 20 points for the team and making him the Big 12 most valuable performer for the outdoor season.

The Nebraska men won the title with 172 points, ahead of Texas Tech (106.5) and Texas A&M (104.5). The Husker women took second with 139.5 points, behind Texas’ 151 points and ahead of third-place Texas A&M with 84.5 points.

"The men had a wonderful meet," head coach Gary Pepin said. "We just had outstanding performances up and down the line. It is certainly one of the best conference meets ever on the men’s side. It was a real team effort. On the women’s team, we had a very good meet, and we had an opportunity to win, but we had three events where we made silly mistakes and it cost us a chance to win the title."

Senior Ineta Radevica wrapped up her Big 12 career, going eight-for-eight over the last two seasons in the horizontal jumps after winning the triple jump on Saturday with a leap of 45-8 ?.

Radevica provided more drama for the Husker coaches as she trailed Chaytan Hill by one centimeter until her next-to-last jump when she set a mark of 45-0 1/4 and then finished the competition off with her winning leap of 45-8 ?.

"It always does (come down to the end)," Radevica said. "I am getting used to it. This is a nice finish for my career in the conference. It feels good to be unbeaten in the Big 12. I still couldn’t get on the board again today, so I will just have to wait to regionals to try and get better."

The Kraslava, Latvia, native had not competed in the triple jump since she won the NCAA indoor title in March. She won her second consecutive Big 12 outdoor title in the event, despite not hitting the board during the competition.

Authea Chambers claimed the eighth-place spot in the triple jump, leaping a season-best mark of 41-1 ?.

Ann Gaffigan ran an outstanding race to win the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a Big 12 meet and Nebraska school record time of 10:17.92. Gaffigan improved her school record by more than six seconds. She also took eighth place in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:00.97.

"I felt awesome today," Gaffigan said. "I was worried because I felt tired, but I am learning that that usually means that I am really nervous. I knew that I had done the work to be confident. I got in there and felt great and the pace felt in control. I’m glad it worked out the way it did. That’s the very best way it could have turned out."

Anne Shadle completed the one-two finish for the Huskers in the steeplechase with her second-place time of 10:38.06.

The men’s 4x100-meter relay team got the Huskers off to a phenomenal start, winning with a time of 39.76. Shelldon Simpson got the team off with a solid start, handing off to Oliver Williams Jr. Nate Probasco held the second position, passing the baton off to Dusty Stamer, who caught up to Baylor’s Jamen Saziru and overtook him for the lead over the last 10 meters.

"Coming into this race we knew we could win because we had the third-best time entering the meet," Stamer said. "Once I saw Texas drop the baton, and I got our baton before Baylor did, that was it because I ended up catching him. I knew we had it won right when I crossed the finish line and it feels great to be a Big 12 Champion."

Becky Breisch clinched the women’s shot put title with a throw of 56-9 ? on her final throw of the day. Teammate Leann Boerema claimed fourth place with a mark of 52-4 3/4 on her last attempt of the preliminaries.

The Nebraska women’s pole vaulters dominated the Big 12 championships with a 1-2-4-7 finish. Freshman Jenny Green won her second conference title in as many tries, tying the Big 12 meet record with a clearance of 13-5 ?. Christi Lehman took second with a leap of 13-1 ?, while Jessie Graff was fourth with the same mark. Alissa Koerner came in seventh, clearing 12-9 ?.

The men’s 4x400-meter relay team put the finishing touches on the title with a second-place finish behind Baylor, clocking a time of 3:08.02.

Priscilla Lopes ran her season-best time of 13.17 in the 100-meter hurdles to finish second to Texas’ Nichole Denby. Lopes time was the second-best in Nebraska school history behind Merlene Ottey’s time of 12.85. Lopes was disqualified from the women’s 100-meter dash with a false start.

Nenad Loncar won silver after getting off to a great start in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.74. Richard Davidson Jr. turned in a third-place finish with a career-best time of 14.08. Courtney Jones came in fifth in a time of 14.31.

Oliver Williams Jr. led a 3-4-7 finish for NU in the men’s 100-meter dash. Williams ran a time of 10.67, just edging Dusty Stamer’s 10.68 clocking with a -3.7 wind reading. Shelldon Simpson came in seventh in a time of 10.80. Williams also won bronze in the men’s 200-meter dash, in 21.23. Probasco claimed the seventh-pace spot in 21.69 in the 200 as well.

Dmitrijs Milkevics took second in the men’s 800 meters with a time of 1:48.07. Danute Ceika claimed a fifth-place showing in the women’s 800-meter run, crossing the line in 2:09.08.

Jason Thompson and Daniel Roper put up a stellar performance in the men’s triple jump, finishing second and fourth, respectively. Thompson leaped a career-best 51-11 ? on his first attempt of the finals. Roper claimed fourth place with his personal-best mark of 50-5 ?.

Andy Nelson and Danny Hill crossed the line second and third, respectively, in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Nelson ran the best race of his career with a time of 51.52, while Hill also posted his personal-best time of 51.75. Maggi Escudro ran to a fourth-place finish in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.39, followed by Justine Roach in sixth place with a time of 1:01.57.

Yoav Shuster cleared seven feet for the first time this season to claim fourth place, jumping 7-0 ? in the high jump. Travis Baker was right behind him in fifth place with a leap of 6-10 ?, while Aaron Plas was seventh (6-8 ?).

Artur Wszelaki claimed the fifth-place spot in the men’s javelin throw, on his final toss of the day with a toss of 203-9.

Dana Carne ran to a fourth-place finish in the men’s 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:30.39. Kyle Doperalski picked up the sixth-place finish in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal-best time of 9:13.75.

Kim Pancoast landed a sixth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run, running a time of 4:30.78. Kathryn Handrup also scored in the 1,500 meters with an eighth-place showing and a time of 4:31.77.

The women’s 4x400-meter relay team took seventh place to wrap up the meet, setting a time of 3:47.84.

The women’s 4x100-relay team did not get off to a good start, when freshman Angela Dies took off too early on the first handoff and Maggi Escudero was unable to get the baton to her in the exchange zone, disqualifying NU from the race on the second leg.

Nebraska will take next week off and will return to the track May 15 in Manhattan, Kan., for the Ward Haylett Invitational.