Six Huskers Add Big 12 Outdoor Crowns

WACO, Texas?Six Nebraska track and field athletes won conference titles Sunday, as the Big 12 Outdoor Championships concluded at Baylor’s Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex. The Husker men’s squad earned runner-up honors in the race for the team title with 90.50 points, while the NU women finished third with 100.50 points.

Priscilla Lopes wowed the crowd with another brilliant performance in the women’s 100-meter hurdles that featured the Husker junior posting the world’s fastest time for 2006. She broke her own school record to win her second straight hurdles crown with a time of 12.63. The mark, which fell just 0.02 shy of the collegiate record of 12.61 held by the great Gail Devers (UCLA, 1988), bettered Lopes’ previous best time of 12.64 that earned her runner-up honors as a freshman at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

"I felt like I got out good and in between (hurdles) I was clean," Lopes said. "Yesterday I hit at least four hurdles, maybe five. It felt amazing, almost like I was in the zone. I wanted to come out and maybe run a 12.70. When I looked at the time I kind of had to take a double-look. I surprised myself. I was pushed by a really good field."

The Huskers’ seven-time All-American earned her fifth career conference title with the blazing performance in the hurdles, while she followed with a fourth-place time of 11.52 in the women’s 100-meter dash.

Much like teammate Sara Jane Baker did yesterday in the women’s heptathlon, senior Mark Harrison captured his first career Big 12 title in his final opportunity with a personal-best time of 50.46 in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Harrison trailed at the halfway point of the race before kicking into another gear through the final curve. He held off Texas A&M’s Nick Robinson (50.96) down the backstretch for the victory and moved into fourth place on the Huskers’ all-time 400-meter hurdles list. The time also ranks 10th this season among all NCAA athletes, while Harrison became the first Husker men’s athlete to win the event in the 10-year history of the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.

"I couldn’t see anyone (from lane six) and I didn’t want to run all out, so I just stayed relaxed and when I felt them coming I just started running," Harrison said. "It feels good (to win) after getting second (in the 600-yard run) indoors last year. I knew it would come if I got another chance. I just kept working and it happened."

Senior Becky Breisch powered the Huskers to a 1-2 finish in the women’s discus along with junior teammate Dace Ruskule. Breisch registered a winning, Big 12 meet record throw of 194-1 while becoming the first woman to record three Big 12 titles in the discus. The victory was her ninth career Big 12 title. Ruskule, who was the defending champion, notched a runner-up mark of 181-2 to edge third place D’Andra Carter (Texas Tech) by almost two feet.

"It was good to win, especially since this is my last year," Breisch said. "I had the previous record, so being able to break that again is just leaving something behind, which I really enjoy."

Wilkinson successfully defended her 2005 Big 12 outdoor title with a throw of 177-7 in the women’s javelin. She stood in fourth place entering her sixth and final attempt, but came up with a clutch throw to win the event over Kansas’ Denita Young (168-3). With the victory, Wilkinson became the second repeat winner in Big 12 history, joining Texas A&M’s Katy Doyle (2003-04). She also registered NU’s first repeat performance since Nora Rockenbauer accomplished the feat at the 1990 Big Eight Championships.

"I had just seen (Texas A&M’s Michelle Inocencio) throw (50) meters, and that really made me made because it put me in fourth place," Wilkinson said. "I got back there and got into the mindset that I’m going to do it on the last throw. I had to give it all I had. I fixed one minor detail and it really worked."

Despite her early struggles on Saturday, Wilkinson’s final throw marked her fourth-best career performance.

"I’m just so happy that I threw 177, but I’m happier that I won the competition," Wilkinson said. "I didn’t care what I had to throw to win, I just wanted to repeat as Big 12 champion. I’m very excited that I did throw well, because the last few weeks have been kind of a struggle."

Another Husker, junior Daniel Roper, also overcame some adversity to win his first outdoor conference gold medal in the men’s triple jump on his final attempt. While Roper owned an early lead in the competition, Kansas State’s Stelios Kapsalis overtook the top spot on his final attempt by only two centimeters. The Husker All-American followed with his winning leap of 52-0 ? to edge Kapsalis (51-3) by nearly nine inches and set a new outdoor personal best. Roper moved into 10th place on Nebraska’s all-time outdoor event chart with the mark.

"I was talking to (2000 NU Big 12 indoor champion) Sheldon Hutchinson and he told me, "You can do it. Just go out there, stay calm and stay relaxed," Roper said. "The last two jumps, Coach Pepin was coaching me really good, I felt good on the runway and just took care of business."

The win marked Roper’s third career triple jump title, matching his 2005 and 2006 indoor crowns. He also rebounded from last year’s eighth-place finish outdoors, which concluded an injury-riddled 2005 season for the Plantation, Fla., native.

"I learned last year that it’s harder to repeat (indoors and outdoors). It just felt good to go from eighth place to first place," he said.

Junior Nate Probasco matched the Big 12 indoor crown he won in 2005 with a season-best time of 20.86. Probasco pulled away from Texas A&M’s Chris Dykes (20.97) down the homestretch while becoming the first Husker to win the event at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The last Husker to win a Big Eight outdoor conference 200-meter title was Tamas Molnar in 1990.

"I knew going in that it was going to be tight," Probasco said. "I figured that if I could be ahead at the corner I’d be in good shape, because I’m usually strong at the end. (The win) feels great. I wasn’t really pleased with the time, but any time you come out with a victory against this tough of competition you know you did something right."

In addition to Nebraska’s six event champions, several others chipped in top placings to help boost the Husker team scores. Senior Oliver Williams Jr. earned sixth place in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 11.51, while junior Sheryl Morgan clocked in at 54.35 to claim seventh in the women’s 400-meter dash. The Nebraska men’s 4x100-meter team of junior Arturs Abolins, Williams, Probasco and Roper added third-place honors with a time of 39.94. Sophomore Keith Lloyd broke his previous career best in the men’s shot put by nearly two feet while earning fifth place (59-7 ?). Meanwhile, senior Kayte Tranel claimed the seventh-place spot in the women’s 5,000-meter run (16:53.27).

The men’s pole vault and women’s high jump were two particularly successful events for NU, as each featured multiple Huskers earning All-Big 12 honors. Junior Gable Baldwin led Nebraska in the men’s vault with a third-place height of 17-0 ?, while senior Ray Scotten tied for fourth (16-6 ?). Junior Nic Petersen and senior Patrick Southern added sixth- and seventh-place finishes, respectively. Redshirt freshman Kim Shubert led the NU women’s high jumpers in sixth place, while Baker and junior Ashlee Dickinson claimed respective placings of seventh and eighth. All three cleared 5-7.

Nebraska’s men’s 4x400-yard relay team finished fifth (3:10.29).

"I thought with the athletes we had here, we really competed hard and did a great job," Head Coach Gary Pepin said. "We had some great individual championships, and I’m really proud of the kids that we had here."

Nebraska takes next weekend off from competition before resuming the championship schedule May 26-27 in Austin, Texas, at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Final Team Scores
Women
1. Texas ? 131
2. Texas A&M ? 111.50
3. Nebraska ? 100.50
4. Kansas State ? 91
5. Baylor ? 83

Men
1. Texas ? 135
2. Nebraska ? 90.50
3. Missouri ? 79
4. Colorado ? 78
5. Oklahoma ? 74