NU Qualifies Six for Kansas Relays Finals

LAWRENCE, Kan. ? The Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams qualified six athletes for Saturday’s event finals during Friday competition at the 78th annual Kansas Relays held inside KU’s Memorial Stadium.

 

Justine Roach and Sheryl Morgan swept the top two spots during the preliminaries of the women’s 400-meter hurdles to automatically qualify for Saturday’s finals. Roach won the third heat in 1:00.45 for the first NCAA regional-qualifying time of her career, while Morgan coasted to a first-place time of 1:01.65 during the fifth and final heat.

 

Andy Nelson also advanced to Saturday’s finals by winning his qualifying heat of men’s 400-meter hurdles in 53.50. Nelson’s time was the fastest during the five-heat preliminary round.

 

The Husker women brought out their big guns to help record a first-place finish in the 4x100-meter relay prelims by running two 2004 Olympians, Priscilla Lopes and Egle Uljas, in the second and fourth legs, respectively. Frances Keating, who led off, and Sheryl Morgan, NU’s third leg, also helped the squad record a time of 46.12, which easily paced the heat to reach Saturday’s final.

 

Both the NU men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relays also coasted through Friday’s preliminary rounds by winning their individual heats.

 

While most event finals are reserved for Saturday afternoon, Nebraska was still able to collect some high placings in Friday’s minimal number of finales.

 

Arturs Abolins earned Nebraska’s lone individual event title in the men’s long jump with his winning leap of 24-7 ?. Abolins recorded the regional-qualifying mark, his first of the outdoor season, on the last of three attempts after fouling during the previous two finals chances. He also worked his way into the finals on his last preliminary try.

 

“Abolins really seemed to be struggling in the long jump, but he worked his way through the frustration,” Head Coach Gary Pepin said. “He came up with the key jumps when he needed them.”

                                              

NU gained a shot of momentum early in the morning with the Husker men’s 4x110-meter shuttle hurdle relay team of Richard Davidson Jr., Aaron Ross, Courtney Jones and Nenad Loncar winning gold in 57.79. The mark was only 0.29 shy of Nebraska’s own Kansas Relays record of 57.50, which was set in 2003.

 

Nic Petersen tied for second in the men’s pole vault by smashing his career-best height while reaching 16-10 ?. Petersen’s previous outdoor best was 16-0 ?, while the new mark also earned him the first regional qualification of his career. Gable Baldwin reached the same height, but placed fourth due to earlier misses.

 

Kwonya Ferguson improved on her regional-qualifying mark in the women’s long jump set at last weekend’s John Jacobs Invitational by finishing fourth in 19-8 ?, while Nicole Kadyszewski equaled her personal-best height of 5-5 to earn fifth in the women’s high jump.

 

“It’s always kind of fun for us come down to the Kansas Relays, with all its history and tradition,” Pepin said. “I thought we had some interesting tactics at times with the strong winds blowing, but all-in-all, I think we had a good first day.”

 

Saturday’s finals at the Kansas Relays could prove to be a big day for Nebraska as Huskers are scheduled to compete for top honors in 18 events. Included in the field will be several of the men’s top athletes in the Invitational sections of the pole vault, high jump, 110-meter hurdles, 100- and 200-meter dashes, as well as the 4x100-meter relay.

 

Media Note: For complete results from the Kansas Relays, please visit the University of Kansas athletics web site at kuathletics.com.