Nebraska Announces 2007-08 Team Captains

The <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska track and field team announced its 2007-08 team captains this week as it continues preparations for the program’s 110th season. Leading the men’s team this year will be seniors Dusty Jonas and Patrick Burke, along with junior Skyler Reising, while seniors Kayla Wilkinson and Kim Shubert and sophomore Leandra McGruder will guide the women’s squad.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Under the leadership of Jonas, Burke and Reising, the men’s team is in capable and experienced hands. Jonas, a high jump specialist, returns in 2008 in search of a national title to add to his six All-America awards, including a second-place finish in the high jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships last season.

 

Burke and Reising, both multi-event competitors for Nebraska, both bring a tremendous work ethic and past success to their new roles. Burke is a five-time Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection and owns the eighth-best indoor heptathlon score in NU history. Reising emerged as a solid competitor in 2007, making a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he finished 20th overall. He is also ranked in the top 10 in the Husker record books in both the heptathlon (9th) and decathlon (6th) and is a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

 

On the women’s side, the Huskers feature three diverse and yet equally talented leaders in Wilkinson, Shubert and McGruder. Wilkinson returns for her second chance at a senior season in 2008 after missing 2007 due to injury. Prior to her redshirt season, Wilkinson earned All-America honors in 2006 with a second-place finish in the javelin, making her one of two returning All-Americans for the NU women this season. She is also a two-time Big 12 javelin champion (2005, 2006), a three-time first-team academic All-Big 12 selection and owns the Husker women’s record in the javelin.

 

Shubert began to show her leadership qualities in competition last season, after demonstrating those traits in the classroom and in the community for the last three years. The Lincoln native finished second in the pentathlon at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships before advancing to her first NCAA Championships, where she tied for 19th in the high jump. Meanwhile, she continued to be academically impressive, earning second-team academic All-America honors, as well as earning her sixth-consecutive Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll selection.

 

McGruder is the youngest of the six team captains this season, but in just her sophomore season has shown an early ability to take charge for the Huskers. McGruder finished an outstanding 2007 season as one of seven freshmen on NU's NCAA roster and qualified for the national meet with a clutch performance in the long jump at the NCAA Midwest Regional. She earned fourth place after shattering her previous best in the long jump with a mark of 20-4 ? at the regional in Des Moines with a mark that was nearly six inches further than her previous best. McGruder also earned all-conference honors after registering career-best efforts for both events at the Big 12 outdoor meet, placing sixth in the long jump and eighth in the triple jump.

 

The six captains will start the 2008 indoor campaign along with their Husker teammates at the Nebraska-hosted Holiday Inn Invitational in Lincoln on Jan. 18-19, beginning at Noon and 4 p.m., respectively.