Nebraska Has Its Eyes Set on NCAA Regional Hardware

The Husker track and field team travels to College Station, Texas, to compete in the second annual NCAA Midwest Regional Championships Friday and Saturday, May 28-29. The Huskers will not only be in search of a repeat regional title by the Nebraska women and an inaugural championship for the men, but will also be looking to qualify a large number of individuals and relays for the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships June 9-12, in Austin, Texas.

 

The regional meet, hosted by Texas A&M, will begin at 12 p.m. on Friday and Saturday with field events. The action on the track will get underway at 4 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday with the 4x100-meter relay (prelims and finals, respectively). The meet will conclude with the 4x400-meter relay, run in sections, beginning at 9 p.m. on day two.

 

Nebraska will be represented in the regional by 48 athletes, 21 women and 27 men, in 30 events.  Athletes can automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships by finishing in the top five in their event or in the top three in relay events.

 

The Huskers played host to the inaugural Midwest Regional in 2003, where the women won the title, 103-96, over the Texas Longhorns. The men’s team tied for third place with Texas Tech, finishing behind Minnesota and Texas A&M. The Husker squads went on to crown two national champions each and finished fifth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships two weeks later.

 

The Huskers will look for similar success in 2004. Going into the regional meet, Nebraska has 24 marks ranked in scoring positions and 20 marks ranked in the top five of an event.

 

The Midwest Regional is made up of 11 of the 12 schools in the Big 12 Conference, not including Missouri. The region spans schools in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.

 

Nebraska is coming off a solid performance two weeks ago at the Ward Haylett Invitational. The Husker men are fresh off their second Big 12 title run of the season, claiming the outdoor crown May 1, in Norman, Okla. The women finished second at the outdoor conference meet, but together the two teams won 11 event titles, six for the women and five for the men.

 

Carl Myerscough was named the Big 12 Most Valuable Performer, scoring 20 points for the men by winning both the shot put and the discus. Ineta Radevica completed a clean sweep of the past four Big 12 Championships (indoor and outdoor), by winning the long and triple jumps.

 

Radevica and Breisch both claimed dual titles in the 2003 NCAA Midwest Regional to be named Co-Midwest Regional Athletes of the Year. Both also went on to claim gold at the NCAA Championships, with Breisch in the shot put and Radevica in the triple jump.

 

Where to Find Results

Texas A&M will provide live results throughout the meet which can be found at AggieAthletics.com as well as http://flashresults.com/flashtexas/. Full results as well as Nebraska recaps will be available after each day’s action at Huskers.com.

 

NCAA Championships Up Next for Huskers

The Nebraska track and field team has three weeks remaining on its 2004 schedule. The Huskers will compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional this weekend in order to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

 

The Huskers can qualify for the national meet by finishing in the top five in their individual events or the top three in relay events to win automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. The NCAA will also use the descending order list following the NCAA Regional to fill the final spots, so that 544 men and 544 women are accepted into the 2004 meet. The NCAA will release a final list of competitors for the NCAA Outdoor meet at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 30.

 

The Huskers will take next week off before traveling to Austin, Texas, for the NCAA meet June 9-12.

 

Huskers Use Ward Haylett as Final Regular-Season Tune-up

Carl Myerscough and Ineta Radevica came up with NU school-record performances to close out the regular season May 15 at the Ward Haylett Invitational in Manhattan, Kan.

 

Myerscough tossed the discus 213-7 to rewrite his previous record and notch the top mark in the NCAA.

 

Radevica, competing in only her second meet of the outdoor season, leaped 46-0 3/4 to tie her previous school record in the triple jump.

 

Dmitrijs Milkevics and Ann Gaffigan set R.V. Christian Track records in the 800 and 1,500 meters, respectively. Milkevics clocked a time of 1:48.04 in the 800, while Gaffigan posted a career-best 4:27.73 in the 1,500.

 

Issar Yazhbin improved his personal-best mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 204-2.

 

Priscilla Lopes set the only new NCAA Regional-qualifying mark with a time of 23.73 in her first 200-meter race of the season. Lopes will not compete in the 200 at the regional meet, however.

 

2003 Husker Regional Recap

The Nebraska women won the inaugural NCAA Midwest Regional, defeating Texas by seven points, while the men’s team finished in a tie for third place with Texas Tech. Minnesota captured the men’s inaugural title.

 

The team, as a whole, earned 19 automatic bids to the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Becky Breisch and Ineta Radevica were named the Mondo Co-Midwest Regional Athletes of the Year for their accomplishments in the regional.

 

Breisch clinched titles in the shot put and the discus, while Radevica claimed gold in both the triple and long jumps.

 

Also claiming regional titles were Kyle Odvody (men’s high jump), Carl Myerscough (men’s shot put), and Christi Lehman (women’s pole vault).

 

Husker Men Sweep Big 12 Titles

The Nebraska men dominated the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, winning the conference title by 65 1/2 points over second-place Texas Tech. The NU women took second place, despite claiming six individual championships.

 

The Husker men won five events and tallied 172 points for the meet. The Nebraska 4x100-meter relay team pulled off the only win of the meet on the track for the men, while Eric Eshbach (pole vault), Carl Myerscough (shot put, discus), and Issar Yazhbin (hammer throw) each contributed victories in the field.

 

On the women’s side, Ann Gaffigan won the 3,000-meter steeplechase to claim the women’s first individual outdoor title on the track since the 1996 season when NU still competed in the Big Eight. In the field, Nebraska claimed gold in five of the eight events, including wins by Na’Tassia Vice (high jump), Jenny Green (pole vault), Ineta Radevica (long jump, triple jump) and Becky Breisch (shot put).

 

Huskers Rank Among Top Regional and National Performers

Nebraska athletes currently have five nation leading marks going into the regional meet and nine marks that lead the Midwest Region. Eric Eshbach holds the national lead in the pole vault with his vault of 18-8 1/4 at the Nebraska Quadrangular. Carl Myerscough leads the NCAA in both the shot put (67-10 3/4) and the  discus (213-7). Ineta Radevica holds the top spot in the triple jump with her leap of 46-0 3/4 at the Ward Haylett Invitational, and Becky Breisch leads the women’s discus with a throw of 205-5.

 

Nebraska also boasts 20 marks (12 women and eight men) that rank in the top five of the Midwest Region.

 

Jenny Green and Jessie Graff are ranked first and second in the pole vault in the region. Green cleared 13-11 1/4 at the Texas Relays, while Graff jumped 13-8 1/4 at the Nebraska Quadrangular. Christi Lehman won the regional as a sophomore, and comes into the meet ranked eighth with a height of 13-1 1/2.

 

Nenad Loncar is ranked second in the 110-meter hurdles in the region, with a time of 13.74.  Artur Wszelaki is third in the midwest with a throw of 237-6 in the javelin.

 

Ann Gaffigan and Anne Shadle are in good shape in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. Gaffigan ranks first in the region with her time of 10:17.92 at the conference meet, which is 13 seconds faster than the next best time. Shadle is ranked fourth going into the meet. She qualified for the national meet in the steeplechase in 2003, where she placed 20th after finishing third at the regional meet.

 

Priscilla Lopes is third in the 100-meter hurdles, behind Nichole Denby and Ashlee Williams of Texas.  Na’Tassia Vice is also tied for third place in the women’s high jump with a height of six feet.

 

Husker Women Fall One Spot in Rankings

The Nebraska women fell one spot from fourth to fifth in the most recent TrackWire Rankings released Tuesday, May 18. After being ranked fourth for six straight weeks, the Huskers dropped a spot to the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks, who won the SEC title. The Nebraska men remained sixth, despite several strong performances by teams competing at the conference championships two weeks ago.

 

UCLA has taken over the lead in the women’s poll with 64 points, ahead of 2003 NCAA Champion Louisiana State (57 points). The Arkansas men widened the gap even further, leading the men’s rankings with 74 points, followed by Auburn (43) and Louisiana State (42).

 

After leading the men’s team power rankings, the Huskers dropped to fourth place, behind Brigham Young, Minnesota and Florida.

 

The women remained in second place behind UCLA for the fourth week. UCLA has an extensive lead on the field with 460.87 points, followed by the Huskers with 422.93. Brigham Young is third with 420.02 points.

 

MyerscoughRewritesSchool Record

Carl Myerscough established school and Big 12 meet records in the discus with a winning toss of 208-0 at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Norman, Okla.

 

Myerscough’s winning throw outdistanced the field by nearly 10 feet. The Hambleton, England, native notched his third consecutive conference title in the discus with the win.

 

He rewrote that record when he tossed the discus 213-7 at the Ward Haylett Invitational May 15 in Manhattan, Kan.

 

He also regained his Big 12 shot put title, winning the meet with a throw of 67-9 1/2, dominating the field by more than four and a half feet.

 

Radevica Undefeated in Big 12 Meets

Ineta Radevica has gone eight-for-eight in the horizontal jumps over the last two seasons in Big 12 Conference Championships. Radevica wrapped up her final two titles in dramatic fashion in Norman, Okla.

 

It took two winning marks in the long jump for Radevica to actually claim the title. Radevica and Texas’ Marshevet Hooker both leaped 21-3 ? on their final attempts of the preliminaries to lead the competition. Radevica set the same mark on her final attempt of the competition to take the win over Hooker. Hooker’s second-best mark was a leap of 21-0 on her second attempt of the preliminaries to take second place.

 

Radevica provided more drama the following day as she trailed Chaytan Hill by one centimeter in the triple jump until her next-to-last jump when she set a mark of 45-0 1/4. She finished the competition with a winning leap of 45-8 ? on her last jump.

 

Gaffigan Cruises to Big 12 Meet Record

Senior Ann Gaffigan made a statement with her performance at the Big 12 Championships with an incredible run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

 

Gaffigan notched a Big 12 meet and Nebraska school record by clocking a time of 10:17.92. The Springfield, Ill., native defeated the field by more than 20 seconds, as she was followed in second place by teammate Anne Shadle.

 

Gaffigan’s time ranks 16th in the NCAA this season and leads the Midwest Region by more than 11 seconds.

 

U.S. Olympic Hopefuls Flourish at Nebraska

Nebraska has had 13 women and 20 men qualify for the Olympic Games since 1912, including four in the most recent Summer Games in Sydney in 2000. 

 

Becky Breisch hopes to become the first female Husker to compete for the U.S. since Linetta Wilson in 1996 at the Atlanta Games. Breisch, who ranks 12th in the world in the discus, has continued to reset the Nebraska and Big 12 Conference records throughout the outdoor season and has automatically qualified for the Olympic Trials.  If she makes the U.S. team, Breisch would be just the third field event athlete from Nebraska to compete in the Olympics and only the second thrower behind Denise Thiemard (Switzerland, javelin, 1988).

 

On the men’s side, Eric Eshbach has also automatically qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials with his monumental leap of 18-8 1/4 on April 17. Eshbach leads the collegiate performers list and is tied for fifth in the world during the outdoor season. If he makes the U.S. team, he would be the first Husker jumper to compete at the Olympics since Lennox Burgher (Jamaica, triple jump) in the 1968 Mexico City Games.

 

International Athletes Look to Olympics

Senior Ineta Radevica has already clinched a trip to Athens, Greece, to compete in the 2004 Olympic Games, August 18-29. Ineta has qualified in both the long and triple jumps for her native Latvia, setting the A standard in the long jump and the B standard in the triple jump.

 

Nenad Loncar also looks to compete for Serbia & Montenegro in the 110-meter hurdles, after running a B standard time of 13.60 at the European Under-23 Championships last summer.

 

Sophomore Priscilla Lopes will also attempt to qualify for Canada, but must go through similar trials to the U.S.  Lopes ran a time of 13.12 last season in the prelims of the Canadian Championships, which is one-hundredth of a second off the B standard for the 100-meter hurdles. Her best time this season is 13.17 at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, and she will look to improve that time in the regional and national meets. She is ranked behind World Indoor champion Perdita Felician and Angela Whyte in Canada.

 

Eshbach Prevails After Series of Miscues

Eric Eshbach came in as a freshman and won his first career Big 12 crown in the pole vault at the 2000 Big 12 Outdoor Championships. Despite winning the conference indoor titles in 2002 and 2003, Eshbach was unable to win the outdoor meet over his next two seasons.

 

In back-to-back conference meets in 2002 and 2003, Eshbach did not clear a bar and failed to record a mark at the outdoor event.  He redshirted in 2001.

 

The Orangefield, Texas, native put that behind him in Norman, when he captured the crown in the final Big 12 meet of his career by clearing 17-9 for the win.

 

The defending NCAA Outdoor champion, Eshbach holds the school record in the pole vault indoors (18-3 3/4) and outdoors (18-8 1/4).

 

Freshman Full of Expectations

Freshman Issar Yazhbin met and exceeded expectations when he collected his first Big 12 title in the hammer throw in Norman.

 

Yazhbin came to Nebraska from Yavne, Israel, after the fall semester. Yazhbin immediately contributed to the Huskers’ title chances with a personal-best throw of 203-8 to win the Big 12 crown.

 

The freshman could make the NCAA Championships with a big day at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Yazhbin’s personal best ranks eighth in the Midwest region and 30th in the NCAA this season.

 

4x100 Full Steam Ahead

The men’s 4x100-meter relay team made a name for itself at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, when it clinched the title and put itself into contention to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor meet.

 

The conference team was made up of Shelldon Simpson, Oliver Williams, Jr., Nate Probasco and Dusty Stamer. Simpson and Williams are the only two returnees from a year ago. Stamer has put this squad over the top, overtaking Texas on the anchor leg to claim the Big 12 title in a time of 39.76, which currently ranks fifth in the Midwest Region and 17th in the NCAA.

 

Gaffigan Named Student-Athlete of the Year

Ann Gaffigan was honored at the 2004 Student-Athlete Banquet on April 19 by being named the NU Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

 

Gaffigan competes for both the cross country and track teams, and carries a 3.88 GPA in computer science as a member of the J.D. Edwards Honors Program.  A three-time academic All-Big 12 selection, she has claimed a spot on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll five times as well as being named to the NCAA Division I Track Coaches Association All-Academic Team in 2003. She was recognized as a WICCCA Academic All-American in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

 

During the 2004 indoor season, Gaffigan earned her first trip to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. She ran the 1,600-meter leg on the Husker distance medley relay squad that broke the Nebraska school record with a time of 11:34.38. She also scored in three events for NU at the 2004 Big 12 Indoor Championships.

 

During the cross country season, Gaffigan led the Huskers to an NCAA Midwest Region championship with her second-place finish to garner All-Midwest Region honors. A four-time All-Midwest Region selection, she led Nebraska to a 30th-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2003 - the Huskers’ first trip to nationals since 1999. Gaffigan is the fifth track athlete to earn the honor, but only the second in the last eight years. Janet Dutton won the award in 2000.