NU Returns to Lincoln for Big 12 Tune-Up

The Nebraska men's and women's track and field teams, fresh off their first road trip of the season, return to the Devaney Center Indoor Track Friday for the Prairie Wolf Invitational, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan.

Competition begins on the oval with running events at 1 p.m., while field events commence at 2 p.m. A complete schedule and list of NU's entries can be found on page 2 of this week's track and field notes.

Results and a recap of action from the Prairie Wolf Invite will be available on Huskers.com following the meet.

Prairie Wolf Invitational
Sixty-six Huskers will compete at the Prairie Wolf Invitational, including 15 of Nebraska's 19 NCAA qualifiers. This weekend's meet will serve as a tune-up for next week's Big 12 Indoor Championships, when NU will look to defend its 2005 men's and women's team titles.

While some of Nebraska's top athletes, such as Priscilla Lopes, Dmitrijs Milkevics, Nate Probasco and Arturs Abolins, will take the week off from competition, most Huskers will compete with the intentions of earning or improving on existing NCAA qualifying marks.

The Prairie Wolf Invitational will feature squads from nearly 30 colleges and small universities. While NU will be the only Division I school featured, five teams appearing in the latest USTFCCCA Division II men's (Nebraska-Kearney, 12th; Chadron State, 15th; Emporia State, 18th; and Wayne State, 17th) and women's polls (Nebraska-Omaha, 5th; Nebraska Kearney, 7th; Emporia State, 14th; Chadron State, 16th; and Augustana, 18th) are scheduled to compete.

Huskers Post NCAA-Leading Marks at Tyson Invitational
Several Huskers posted amazing performances during the two-day Tyson Invitational last weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. The meet was hosted by the University of Arkansas at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center, the site of this year's NCAA Indoor Championships.

Four Huskers?Dmitrijs Milkevics, Priscilla Lopes, Arturs Abolins and Dusty Jonas?recorded marks that rank among the top three for all NCAA athletes in their respective events this season.

Milkevics notched the most notable performance with his school-record setting time of 1:47.54 that won the Invitational section of the men's 800-meter run. The time, which ranks No. 1 in the NCAA, broke Milkevics' own Nebraska men's record of 1:47.82.

The first NCAA automatic-qualifying bid of the season for the NU men's team came from the legs of Abolins, who earned runner-up honors in the Championship division of the men's long jump with a career-long leap of 25-9 1/2. The Riga, Latvia, native also moved into second place on the NCAA performance list with the jump.

Jonas joined Abolins and Milkevics as an NCAA automatic qualifier after clearing 7-3 3/4 during the men's Championship high jump. The sophomore finished fourth during the competition while tying his indoor personal-best height, which ties for third-best nationally in 2006.

Lopes clocked the fastest time in the nation for the women's 60-meter hurdles with her second-place mark of 8.01 in the event finals. While she finished second in the race to pro Michelle Freeman (Puma), Lopes did manage to hit the auto standard in the hurdles for the second consecutive meet. Her previous season-best time of 8.06 had already qualified for a share of the national lead.

Three members of the Husker men's team also notched their first provisional-qualifying performances of the season in Arkansas. Nate Probasco posted a solid time of 21.18 in his first 200-meter race of the season to finish fourth in the Championship division.

Daniel Roper, competing in only his third meet since returning from ankle surgery, soared 51-4 1/2 in the triple jump, while fellow horizontal jumper LeRon Williams earned the first NCAA qualification of his career with a personal-best mark of 24-6 1/4 in the men's long jump.

Other Huskers Travel to Iowa State
Those athletes not competing in Arkansas last weekend traveled to the Lied Recreation Center in Ames, Iowa, for the annual Iowa State Classic.

Becky Breisch led the way with her third career-best performance of the season, a winning throw of 57-10 1/2 in the women's shot put. The mark was good for her fourth straight NCAA automatic qualifier of the season.

Other notable Husker performers included Demea Carter, who reached a personal-best 23-10 in the men's long jump; Nathan Kumm, who finished fourth in the men's 600-yard run with a career-low time of 1:11.72; Elizabeth Lange, who clocked a lifetime-best time of 2:10.60 in the women's 800 meters; and Joslyn Dalton (5:03.74) and Jennifer Pancoast (5:10.12), each of whom finished under their career bests in the women's mile.

Pentathlete Kim Shubert also notched a pair of personal records in the women's high jump and 200-meter dash events at Iowa State.

Milkevics Earns Weekly Big 12 Honor
Nebraska junior Dmitrijs Milkevics was named Big 12 Conference Men’s Track and Field Athlete of the Week Tuesday for his performance during last weekend’s Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. He broke his own Husker men’s indoor 800-meter run school record with a personal-best time of 1:47.54.

Milkevics, the reigning NCAA men’s outdoor 800-meter champion, became the third NCAA automatic qualifier this season for the NU men’s team while recording the nation’s fastest time for the 800 meters with his win during the men’s Invitational section on Friday. He broke his former school record of 1:47.82, which he set as a freshman during preliminary sections of the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships. The Riga, Latvia, native currently ranks 10th in the world this season with the time.

The 2004 Olympian in the 800 meters for Latvia became only the second Husker to win an NCAA title in the 800 meters (Peter Scott, 1966) when he recorded his current personal best and Nebraska outdoor record-time of 1:44.74 last season. A three-time NCAA All-American in the 800, he also owns several other school records, including the 600-yard and 600-meter run marks. His 600-meter mark of 1:15.60 is the collegiate record.

Milkevics is the second Nebraska track and field athlete to earn Big 12 weekly honors this season, joining his 800-meter counterpart, sophomore Egle Uljas, who won the women’s award last week.

Abolins, Jonas Add NCAA Auto Marks
Along with Milkevics, Arturs Abolins and Dusty Jonas helped the Nebraska men earn three NCAA automatic-qualifying marks at last weekend's Tyson Invitational.

Abolins, a four-time qualifier to the NCAA Championships, leaped a career-best distance of 25-9 1/2 in the long jump to finish second in Arkansas and earn his first-ever automatic-qualifying mark. His performance trails only 2006 NCAA indoor and outdoor champ Fabrice Lapierre's (Texas A&M) mark of 26-1 3/4 this season, while Abolins also currently ranks 26th in the world with the jump.

Jonas, a two-time All-American as a freshman last year in the high jump, equaled his indoor personal best with a clearance of 7-3 3/4 in Arkansas. The La Vernia, Texas, native previously reached the same height to finish second during the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships. Similar to Abolins, the NCAA automatic qualification was a first for Jonas.

Team Rankings Hold in Coaches Poll
In conjunction with the launch of its new web site this season, the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has begun organizing a Division I USTFCCCA Coaches Poll. Nebraska is one of five programs to have both its men's and women's teams appear among the poll's top 10 this week.

The NU women remained in fifth place this week behind South Carolina (first), Texas (second), Stanford (third) and LSU (fourth). Texas A&M (16th) is the only other Big 12 school in the rankings.

The Husker men were voted as the No. 7 team by the coaches for the fourth straight week. Texas stayed on top this week after replacing defending NCAA indoor and outdoor champion Arkansas, which is ranked second. Other ranked conference squads include Texas A&M (11th), Kansas (13th), Baylor (14th) and Texas Tech (19th).

NU Men Gain Ground in Trackwire 25
Nebraska's men's and women's squads were listed among the nation's top 10 in the weekly Trackwire 25 Monday. Both teams have been ranked in the top 10 during each of the poll's five weeks this season.

The women's team stayed at No. 4, the same spot it placed at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships, for the fifth straight week. The Huskers closed the gap on the No. 1 spot to a projected season-low nine points last week, but that deficit now sits at 17. NU is one of two Big 12 Conference schools included among the top 10, along with No. 1 Texas. No other league school earned a top-25 ranking this week.

The Husker men jumped three spots into a tie for No. 6 this week after sitting in ninth last week. NU gained a projected six points in the standings and now trails No. 1 LSU in the projection by 20 team points. The poll predicts a talented Big 12 men's field in 2006, as five teams appear in the rankings: Texas (tie-No. 2), Baylor (No. 8), Kansas (No. 12), Texas A&M (tie-No. 18) and Texas Tech (tie-No. 19).

The Trackwire 25 attempts to predict team scores for the NCAA Championships based on individual athlete rankings for each event?nicknamed the "Dandy Dozen"?that are updated weekly by track and field statistician Gary Verigin.

Nebraska is the hot name in the Dandy Dozen for 2006, as the program leads all NCAA teams with 14 different individual athletes selected this week. Texas ranks second with 12 individual athletes, followed by LSU (11) and Michigan (10).

Both individual Husker teams rank near the national lead in numbers of athletes selected. The nine men's picks lead the nation over second place Texas (seven) and Arkansas (seven), while NU's five women's selections trail only Michigan (seven), LSU (six), South Carolina and Stanford (six).
Husker athletes among this week's "Dandy Dozen":
Women
Priscilla Lopes, 60m Hurdles, 1st
Ashley Selig, Pentathlon?2nd
Becky Breisch, Shot Put?2nd
Sara Jane Baker, Heptathlon?3rd
Egle Uljas, 800 Meters?5th

Men
Dmitrijs Milkevics, 800 Meters?1st
Arturs Abolins, Long Jump?2nd
Gable Baldwin, Pole Vault?6th
Dusty Jonas, High Jump?6th
Daniel Roper, Triple Jump?6th
Nate Probasco, 200 Meters?7th
Ben Schutter, Heptathlon?10th
Courtney Jones, 60m Hurdles?12th
Aaron Plas, High Jump?12th

Huskers Rank Among Nation's Best
Eleven NU athletes sit among the top 10 for their respective events on the latest NCAA performance list. Two Huskers own the nation's best performance for their respective events, while three others rank second.

Topping the charts is Priscilla Lopes , who possesses the nation's No. 1 time in the women's 60-meter hurdles of 8.01, which she recorded last weekend. Dmitrijs Milkevics notched the top NCAA time of 1:47.54 in the 800 meters on the same day as Lopes' outstanding performance.

Two Huskers, Becky Breisch and Ashley Selig, own No. 2 rankings for the women's shot put and pentathlon, respectively, while Sara Jane Baker is the third-ranked pentathlete. Egle Uljas owns the sixth-best time in the women's 800 meters with her school-record performance.

Aside from Milkevics' leap up the listings, other Nebraska men's NCAA rankings experienced major shakeups this week. Arturs Abolins jumped from eighth to second in the long jump thanks to his NCAA auto mark at the Tyson Invite, Dusty Jonas now ranks in a tie for third in the high jump after his auto qualification. Two-time NCAA All-American Nate Probasco entered the men's 200-meter top 10 after clocking 21.18 in his first attempt this year. Ben Schutter (heptathlon) and Courtney Jones (60-meter hurdles) cling to respective positions of Nos. 9 and 10 nationally.

Huskers Lead Seven Big 12 Events
With the 2006 Big 12 Indoor Championships only one week away, several Huskers find themselves leading the league rankings in events that will be held at this year's indoor conference meet. Six Huskers (four women) rank No. 1 among all league athletes for seven events this week.

Dmitrijs Milkevics is the lone Husker to own No. 1 rankings for two events, the men's 600-yard and 800-meter run events. Daniel Roper, who shot up the charts with a big performance in the triple jump last weekend, currently is the only other Husker men's athlete with a top rating, although multiple others rank in the top 10.

For the NU women, Priscilla Lopes tops the women's 60-meter hurdles field with her NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 8.01, while Egle Uljas owns a lead in the 600 yards (2:05.30). Becky Breisch has earned an edge of more than four inches in the shot put with her automatic-qualifying mark of 57-10 1/2. Sara Jane Baker and Kim Shubert help No. 1-rated Ashley Selig form an impressive Husker women's pentathlon crew that ranks 1-2-4 for the second consecutive week.

NU Multis Open Season In High Gear
Nebraska's combined events athletes posted impressive performances in their first multi-event competitions of the season during the Husker Invite Feb. 4-5. Huskers Ashley Selig (pentathlon) and Ben Schutter (heptathlon) posted wins for the NU men and women.

Selig and teammate Sara Jane Baker each earned NCAA automatic qualifications while finishing 1-2 in the women's pentathlon. Selig won her second straight Husker Invite title with a score of 4,107, while Baker smashed her previous best by more than 100 points with her 4,088 point total. The two seniors currently possess the Nos. 2 and 3 national rankings for the event thanks to their efforts.

Schutter hit the provisional mark while completing his first-ever heptathlon for the NU men with a career-best score of 5,363. The sophomore transfer from Doane College set individual career bests for five of the seven events (long jump, shot put, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters) during the two days of competition.

For the weekend, six of eight Huskers totaled lifetime best scores for their respective combined events.

Breisch Back and Better than Ever
Becky Breisch has continued her remarkable comeback from career-threatening elbow and shoulder injuries with some of her finest performances in the indoor shot put this season.

The eight-time NCAA All-American set an indoor personal best of 57-10 1/2 to win the shot at last week's Iowa State Classic by more than one foot. The mark erased her previous best of 57-6 1/2, which she set two weeks ago at the Husker Invite.

Breisch earned Nebraska's first automatic qualification of the season to the 2006 NCAA meet, where she will attempt to earn her first indoor national title, during the adidas Classic. She has won an NCAA outdoor title in the event, as she claimed the 2003 NCAA title as a sophomore. The Edwardsburg, Mich., native has rewritten her own personal best three times already this season, while she has hit the NCAA automatic-qualifying standard during each of her last four competitions.

Lopes Records Triangular Trifecta
Priscilla Lopes wowed Devaney Center spectators during last month's home Triangular. After winning the women’s 60-meter hurdles and setting a season-best time of 7.39 to place a close second in the 60-meter dash, the six-time All-American avenged her loss in the dash to Colorado State’s Janay DeLoach with a personal-best time of 23.82 in the 200-meter dash.

The time also earned Lopes her third NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of the year, as she became the first Big 12 Conference female athlete to achieve the feat this season. One of the nation’s top all-around athletes, she owns the nation's top time of 8.01 in the 60-meter hurdles, and has yet to lose to a collegiate opponent in the event this season.

Thirteen All-Americans Return in '06
A combined 13 NCAA All-Americans will suit up for the Husker men's and women's squads in 2006. The NU men will feature nine athletes, including 2005 NCAA champion Dmitrijs Milkevics, while four honorees will compete for the NU women. Of the four Husker women's All-Americans, three own NCAA championships in Becky Breisch (2003 outdoor shot put, 2004 discus), Priscilla Lopes (2004 60m hurdles) and Ashley Selig (2005 pentathlon).

Husker NCAA All-Americans (former NCAA champions in bold)
Women
Name; Honors; Event(s)
Becky Breisch; Eight; Shot Put (five), Discus (three)
Jenny Green; Two; Pole Vault
Priscilla Lopes; Six; 60m (two); 60m hurdles (two); 100m hurdles (two)
Ashley Selig; Four; Pentathlon, Heptathlon <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

Men
Name; Honors; Event(s)
Gable <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Baldwin; One; Pole Vault
Dusty Jonas; Two; High Jump
Dmitrijs Milkevics; Three; 800m
Aaron Nasers; One; 800m
Aaron Plas; Two; High Jump
Nate Probasco; Two; 200m, 4x100m
Daniel Roper; One; Triple Jump
Ray Scotten; Three; Pole Vault
Oliver Williams Jr.; One; 4x100m

Three Win USATF Titles
The 2005 season proved to be a banner year for Nebraska athletes competing on the national stage. While Huskers brought home four individual NCAA titles, that success carried into the summer months with three athletes claiming titles at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Carson, Calif.

Becky Breisch became the first Husker to win a USATF title in the women's discus with her final throw of 206-5, securing victory over four-time U.S. champion Seilala Sua (202-10). The win also clinched a spot for Breisch on the U.S. World Championships team, while she fell just short of qualifying in the shot put with a fifth-place finish.

Dusty Jonas and Robert Rands earned respective U.S. junior titles in the high jump and long jump events. Jonas cleared 7-4 1/2, more than five inches higher than the runner-up, to win the high jump, while Rands, who joined the Nebraska men's squad this fall, soared to 24-7 while taking the long jump. Jonas and Rands each qualified for the Pan American Junior Games, where they also claimed titles during the summer.

Huskers Take on the World
Four Nebraska athletes saw their 2005 seasons extend into the late summer to the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, during late August. The elite competition served as the second consecutive world championship competition for Becky Breisch, Priscilla Lopes, Dmitrijs Milkevics and Egle Uljas.

Priscilla Lopes experienced the most successful stay among Huskers with her semifinals appearance in the women's 100-meter hurdles. Competing for Canada, Lopes notched the 10th-fastest semifinal time to fall only two spots shy of her first career final at a world competition.

Becky Breisch finished 18th overall during women's discus qualifying with a throw of 57.16 meters (187-6) on her second of three attempts. Breisch recorded fouls on her first and third attempts to finish 10th in her flight.

Dmitrijs Milkevics, competing for Latvia, ran in the men's 800-meter race, but did not advance out of the qualifying stages. Milkevics finished fifth in the third of six heats with a time of 1:50.44, just .30 seconds off the heat's winning time.

Egle Uljas competing for Estonia, ran a season-best time of 52.94 during women’s 400-meter qualifying to finish seventh in the first of six heats and 32nd overall out of 46 athletes. Uljas competed primarily in the 800 meters as a Husker last spring, but also competed at the 2004 Olympics in the 400.