NU to Make First Road Trip of 2005

The Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams make their first road trip of the 2005 season Saturday when they travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the Northern Iowa Invitational. Field events begin at 10 a.m. with the men’s 35-pound weight throw, while the men’s 60-meter hurdle prelims kick off the running events at 1:30 p.m. Competition is scheduled to conclude at 5:35 p.m. with the men’s 4x400-meter relay.

The Huskers anticipate facing stiff competition on Saturday, as dual men’s and women’s squads from Kansas State, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Northern Iowa will also compete. NU will only take roughly 40 athletes to the UNI Dome, as the majority of its two squads will utilize the weekend to train for next weekend’s Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.

Nebraska will focus much of its attention this weekend on field events. At least two NU athletes are scheduled to compete in each field event, highlighted by the women’s shot put and men’s long jump competitions, in which the Huskers have placed six entries apiece. Most of the runners NU plans to take will be entered in the 60-meter dash and hurdles, while the women’s 200-meter and men’s 400-meter dash also have one entry each.

Meet recaps and results can be found at Huskers.com on Saturday following the conclusion of competition. A complete event-by-event schedule can be found at UNI’s athletic website, located at www.unipanthers.com.

Huskers Claim Four NCAA Qualifiers at adidas Invite
Nebraska faced its first NCAA Division I competition last Saturday when it hosted the adidas Classic at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track. NU gained four NCAA provisional qualifiers against a field comprised of Drake, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma State (W) and Wichita State. Division II Lincoln (Mo.) University also competed.

Sophomore Priscilla Lopes became NU’s first automatic qualifier when she posted a season-best time of 8.14 in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. Lopes also provisionally qualified in the 60-meter dash when she handily won the event in 7.38. Junior Jessie Graff reached her first provisional-qualifying standard in the women’s pole vault for 2005 by winning with a height of 12-11 1/2.

Senior Dusty Stamer claimed his first provisional-qualifying mark in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.71, which earned him first place. Junior Courtney Jones also reached the provisional standard with his race-winning 7.91 in the men’s 60-meter hurdles.

Other Huskers posted a number of impressive performances, including freshman Dusty Jonas, who nearly reached the automatic-qualifying standard in the men’s high jump. Jonas recorded the seventh-best mark in school history when he cleared 7-3 to win the event. Sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics made his 2005 season debut in the men’s 1,000 meters and nearly set the school record. Milkevics’ personal-best time of 2:22.82 was merely 0.70 off of teammate Aaron Nasers’ school-record 2:22.12 that was set at last year’s Big 12 Indoor Championships.

NU Adds Four to Roster
The Husker coaching staff went international in their search for the finest athletes during the past year, and four impact athletes were added to Nebraska’s roster for the 2005 season during the past week, two each to the men’s and women’s squads.

The most accomplished athlete of the group, freshman Egle Uljas, hails from Tallinn, Estonia. Uljas, also a renowned concert pianist, reached the semifinal round of the women’s 400-meter dash at the 2004 Olympics after recording a career-best time of 51.91 in the quarterfinals. That mark would rank No. 1 on NU’s all-time indoor charts, ahead of former Husker Ximena Retsrepo’s school record of 52.12. Uljas is the reigning Estonian national indoor champion in the 400, while she holds national records in the 300 meters (38.71), 400 meters both indoors (54.25) and outdoors (51.91) and the indoor 600-yard run (1:20.65).

Another addition to the women’s ranks, freshman Chanelle Olivier, also owns a career-best mark that would rank at the top of the Huskers’ record books. The Springs, South Africa, native owns a time of 2:06.80 in the 800-meter run, a mark that would be a Nebraska women’s indoor record, while also settling in among the top-10 outdoor performances. Olivier, who is also an accomplished cross country runner, is the defending South African School Under-19 1,500-meter champion and 800-meter runner-up.

Like the women’s team, the Husker men also landed a top-level athlete from South Africa. Sophomore Peter van der Westhuizen, from Kempton Park, South Africa, has recorded personal-best times of 1:50.35A over 800 meters and 3:44.0 over 1,500 meters. Van der Westhuizen’s 1,500-meter mark would place seventh on NU’s all-time performance list. He placed second in the 1,500 at the 2003 South African Junior (Under-20) Championships, as well as third in 2002.

Freshman Gatis Spunde, Nebraska’s final addition to the men’s squad, hails from Smiltene, Latvia. Specializing in the 400-meter hurdles, he won the 2004 Latvian national championships in the event, while also earning the Balkan Championships title the same year. Spunde owns a personal-best clocking of 51.31.

NU Athletes Rank Among the Big 12’s Best
Nebraska athletes own the top spot in four events on this week’s edition of the Big 12’s conference performance list, which will be updated every Tuesday during the 2005 indoor and outdoor seasons. Overall, 31 Husker athletes rank among the conference’s top-5 in their respective events.

The Husker women lead the way for NU with three top-ranked individuals, most notably Priscilla Lopes in the 60-meter hurdles. Lopes also sits second in the 60-meter dash, as well as third in the 200 meters. Egle Uljas earned the top spot in the 600-yard run after winning the event in her first appearance of 2005 at the adidas Classic. Uljas’ time of 1:20.65 leads second-place Shunte Thomas (1:22.97) of Kansas State by more than two seconds. The women’s distance medley relay team (12:00.59) also leads the Big 12 over second-place Missouri (12:03.06). NU women ranked in multiple events include senior Anne Shadle, who sits in third place in both the 800 and 1,000, and junior Kwonya Ferguson, who has earned the No. 2 spot in the high jump and triple jump events. Sophomore Sheryl Morgan ranks third in the 600-yard run, as well as fourth in the 200.

While only one member of the NU men’s squad, Dmitrijs Milkevics in the 1,000, ranks at the top of an event, several appear to be within striking distance. Huskers own the No. 2 position in eight events, including Dusty Stamer (60 meters), senior Paul Wilson (5,000 meters), Courtney Jones (60-meter hurdles), Dusty Jonas (high jump), junior Ray Scotten (pole vault), sophomore Daniel Roper (triple jump), junior Tom Donlin (20-pound weight throw) and sophomore Lee Martin (pentathlon).

Huskers in the "Dandy Dozen"
Twelve Nebraska athletes appear in this week’s ranking of the "Dandy Dozen," a power ranking of the men’s and women’s top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.

Priscilla Lopes is the only NU athlete to rank in two separate events, as she is ranked No. 1 in the 60-meter hurdles and No. 6 in the 60-meter dash. Juniors Ashley Selig (No. 6) and Sara Jane Baker (No. 8) both appear in the pentathlon rankings, while Kwonya Ferguson is the No. 9-rated triple jumper. Jessie Graff, who ranks as the No. 9 pole vaulter, is the final women’s individual event athlete, while the NU distance medley relay is slated at No. 11.

Five Husker male athletes appear in the D12, lead by No. 6 rankings for Dmitrijs Milkevics in the 800 meters, Ray Scotten in the pole vault and Dusty Stamer in the men’s 60 meters. Milkevics remained idle in the ratings, while Scotten and Stamer both made jumps from last week. Scotten moved up one spot, while Stamer rocketed six spots from No. 12. Dusty Jonas makes his first-ever appearance in the high jump rankings this week at No. 9, and sophomore Arturs Abolins remained at the No. 8 spot in the long jump.

The factors used to build the D12 include values that measure performances in past major competitions (such as conference championships, national championships and Olympic competition), freedom from injuries, demonstrated ability to compete well in multiple rounds of competition, ability in other events, head-to-head competition with other athletes and personal or seasonal bests.

The D12 is compiled by track & field statistician Gary Verigin.

Lopes Earns Weekly Big 12 Honor
Priscilla Lopes, the defending Big 12 champion in the 60-meter hurdles, was named the Big 12 Female Track and Field Athlete of the Week on Jan. 18 for her performance at the Holiday Inn Invitational. Lopes received indoor recognition for the first time in her career.

The Whitby, Ontario, Canada, native won both the 60-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash at the invitational hosted by NU at the Devaney Center. Lopes reached the NCAA provisional-qualifying mark for the hurdles in each of her three heats, posting times of 8.37, 8.33 and 8.18. She recorded a time of 24.18 in the 200.

In her first season as a Husker in 2004, Lopes claimed the NCAA title in the 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 7.96 at the NCAA Indoor Championships. She later added a silver-medal performance in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships, while later representing Canada in the 100-meter hurdles a the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Fabrice Lapierre from Texas A&M garnered the men’s weekly award after provisionally qualifying for the NCAA meet in the long jump.

All-Americans Headline 2005 Captains
The NU track and field team elected eight athletes to serve as captains during the 2005 season. The group of four men and four women have accounted for a total of seven All-America honors and three individual Big 12 championships through their careers.

Husker women appointed captains included two seniors, Christi Lehman and Anne Shadle, one junior, Ashley Selig, and one sophomore, Priscilla Lopes. Lehman (2003 indoor pole vault) and Shadle (2004 indoor 1,000 meters) are both former Big 12 champions, while Lopes (sprints/hurdles), Selig (pentathlon/heptathlon) and Lehman have each earned All-America honors over the course of their careers. Lopes won the 2004 indoor national title in the 60-meter hurdles.

Senior Dusty Stamer leads the men’s quartet of captains after earning 2004 outdoor All-America recognition as a member of Nebraska’s school-record-setting 4x100-meter relay. Seniors Richard Davidson, who claimed third place in the 110-meter hurdles at last year’s Big 12 Outdoor Championships, and Kyle Goerl, who placed eighth in the decathlon at the same meet, were also elected. The lone non-senior to be named a men’s captain, junior Nic Petersen, earned eighth place in the pole vault at last year’s Big 12 Indoor Championships.

Ten Returning All-Americans to be Featured in 2005
A total of 10 NCAA All-Americans return for the Huskers this season, five each for the men’s and women’s squads. Headlining the group will be sophomore sprinter/hurdler Priscilla Lopes, who won accolades in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles indoors, as well as the 100-meter hurdles outdoors. Other women to return after reaching All-America status include junior Ashley Selig, who finished seventh indoors in the pentathlon and third outdoors in the heptathlon, and senior Christi Lehman, who finished ninth (eighth American) in the indoor pole vault. Senior thrower Becky Breisch, the 2004 NCAA discus champion, and sophomore Jenny Green, an All-American in both the indoor (third) and outdoor (third) pole vault, also return for NU, but both are likely to redshirt in 2005 because of injury.

Sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics will aim for NCAA titles in the 800-meter run following an outstanding freshman campaign that saw him earn All-America honors by finishing sixth at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Junior Aaron Nasers, who finished ninth (fifth American) indoors in the 800, adds even more firepower to Nebraska’s middle distance crew. Finally, three members of NU’s eighth-place outdoor 4x100-meter relay quartet return in senior Dusty Stamer, junior Oliver Williams Jr. and sophomore Nate Probasco.

Nebraska: Home to the World-Class Athlete
Nebraska was represented well by both current and former track and field athletes at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, at the end of August. In all, four current and two former Huskers vied for Olympic honors, the 13th straight Games that NU has been represented.

Once again, former Husker Merlene Ottey claimed the highest placing of any NU athlete by finishing 10th in women’s 100-meter dash competition while representing Slovenia. Ottey’s appearance was her seventh straight Olympics, over which time she has earned three silver and five bronze medals. She also competed in the 200, but did not qualify for the finals.

Another former NU athlete, Ineta Radevica, made her first appearance in an Olympics by representing Latvia in both the long jump and triple jump events. Radevica, who concluded her Husker career last spring with an NCAA title in the triple jump, claimed three national titles in the event during her three years at Nebraska. She was unable to reach the finals in either the long jump or triple jump in Athens.

Dmitrijs Milkevics became the first-ever Husker to reach the semifinals of the men’s 800-meter run while also representing Latvia. Milkevics, who earned two All-America honors in 2004 in the 800, won his quarterfinal heat in a time of
1:46.66 before bowing out in the semifinals.

Last year’s women’s NCAA 60-meter hurdle champion, Priscilla Lopes, competed in the 100-meter hurdles for Canada. She finished fifth in heat four of the five-heat first round, 20th overall. Another Husker hurdler, Nenad Loncar, represented Serbia and Montenegro in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, finishing 46th overall in first round competition with a time of 14.02.

One newcomer to the Nebraska track and field ranks also competed in the Games for Latvia. Dace Ruskule, a sophomore thrower in 2005 for NU, earned 14th place in the women’s discus qualifying round after unleashing a throw of 188-5. The mark would have won last year’s Big 12 Championships by more than 18, while earning fourth place at the 2004 NCAA Championships.

Nebraska's NCAA Qualifiers
Women
Automatic
Name Event Mark
Priscilla Lopes, 60m Hurdles, 8.14

Provisional
Name Event Mark
Sara Jane Baker, Pentathlon, 3,707
Kwonya Ferguson, Triple Jump, 42-6 1/4
Jessie Graff, Pole Vault, 12-11 1/2
Christi Lehman, Pole Vault, 13-1 1/2
Priscilla Lopes, 60 Meters, 7.38
Ashley Selig, Pentathlon, 3,770Men
Provisional
Name Event Mark
Tom Donlin, Weight Throw, 62-11 1/2
Dusty Jonas, High Jump, 7-3
Courtney Jones, 60m Hurdles, 7.91
Ray Scotten, Pole Vault, 17-0 3/4
Dusty Stamer, 60 Meters, 6.71