NU Dominates Day Two of Holiday Inn Invite

LINCOLN?The Holiday Inn Invitational concluded Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track, as the Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams once again posted dominant performances. Eight Huskers notched individual titles Saturday to run NU’s two-day total to 12 event crowns.

 

Junior Priscilla Lopes recorded one of NU’s two NCAA provisional-qualifying performances during the final session by winning the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.40. The six-time NCAA All-American joined sophomore Jenny Green, who reached provisional status Friday in the women’s pole vault, as a Husker NCAA qualifier.

 

Senior Becky Breisch also reached provisional status with her second-place finish in the women’s shot put. The 2003 NCAA outdoor champion threw a mark of 51-11 3/4 in her first shot put competition in a Husker uniform since 2004 to finish behind former teammate Leann Boerema (52-5 1/4), who was competing unattached. Sophomore Jeni Steiner placed third (50-4).

 

One of Nebraska’s finest performances of the weekend came from junior Nate Probasco, who won the men’s 400-meter dash in a personal-best time of 47.68. While the mark cut nearly one second off Probasco’s previous career low, it also was the seventh-best performance in the long history of the Husker men’s team. Sophomore teammate Andrew Pearson, who missed the entire 2005 season due to a knee injury, finished runner up (48.10) in his first official race in nearly 1 ? years.

 

“Nate’s performance was good, but it didn’t surprise me,” Head Coach Gary Pepin said. “With the kind of speed he has, that’s a good event for him. I don’t know if its his best event (Probasco was a 2005 NCAA All-American in the 200 meters), but he does compete very well in it.”

 

The NU men also earned sweeps of the top two spots in the 60-meter hurdles and high jump events.

 

Senior Courtney Jones barely edged out fellow senior Aaron Ross in the hurdles with his season-best time of 8.00. Ross’ 8.02 clocking marked his second career-best time in two days.

 

Senior Aaron Plas cleared 6-11 to win the high jump over sophomore Pat Burke, who recorded a height of 6-9 and almost reached 6-11 on his final attempt. Plas’ season-opening performance was nearly three inches better than any other season opener of his career.

 

“We’re still training pretty hard, so I thought Aaron did a nice job,” Pepin said. “He jumped the same height in warm-ups, too, so he actually made it a couple of times. He also had some nice attempts at 7-1. We’re pretty happy with where he’s at.”

 

The Huskers claimed the top three places in the men’s pole vault, as junior Gable Baldwin opened the 2006 campaign with a first-place clearance of 16-4 3/4. Seniors Nic Petersen and Ray Scotten each reached 15-11, but Petersen finished second due to number of misses. NU freshman Sam Ogden also made 15-11 to place fourth while competing unattached.

 

The Nebraska women’s jumpers also experienced a successful day by winning titles in the high jump and triple jump.

 

Freshman Zarinah Suluki returned to the runway strong one day after earning fifth place in the women’s long jump. Suluki won the triple jump competition Saturday after tying her personal best mark of 39-10.

 

“That was a great effort for Suluki,” Pepin said. “She had a good series and came back after jumping yesterday, so that was good.”

 

Senior Sara Jane Baker teamed with sophomore Amanda Benson and junior Ashlee Dickinson to go 1-2-3 in the high jump. Baker cleared 5-7 1/4 to win the event, while Benson and Dickinson tied for second at 5-4 1/4.

 

The women’s distance medley relay team of senior Kim Pancoast, freshman Natalja Zarcenko, sophomore Betsy Miller and redshirt freshman Joslyn Dalton added NU’s final win with a time of 11:59.52.

 

Nebraska returns to the Devaney Center Indoor Track next Saturday, Jan. 21, when it hosts the adidas Classic. Competition begins at 1 p.m.