Gordon Clears 50 Feet in Triple Jump at Nebraska Open

Lincoln ? On Sunday the Nebraska track and field team hosted its first home meet of the outdoor season with the running of the Nebraska Open at Ed Weir Stadium. The meet is the first of three home meets for the Huskers as they will play host to the Nebraska Invitational on Saturday, May 10, before hosting the NCAA Midwest Regional on May 30-31.

 

Freshman Nicholas Gordon was the star for the Huskers on Sunday as the Kingston, Jamaica, native won the men’s triple jump with a new personal best leap of 50-5 1/2 (15.38). The mark is projected to move Gordon from No. 14 to No. 9 in the Midwest Region. Earlier in the day he also took top honors in the men’s long jump. For the third time during the outdoor season Gordon jumped 24-10 (7.57). He is ranked No. 3 in the Midwest Region and defeated former Huskers Demea Carter and Daniel Roper on his way to victory.

 

A pair of Husker freshmen pulled a clean sweep in the high jump as Paul Hamilton (Sidney, Neb.) and Audrey Svane (Tioga, Texas) netted top honors for the Big Red men and women, respectively. Hamilton recorded an outdoor personal-best with a leap of 7-0 1/2 (2.15). The mark improves Hamilton’s regional standing as he is projected to move from No. 12 in the Midwest Region to No. 4. Svane followed with her own regional-qualifying jump as she tied her personal best at 5-8 3/4 (1.75). Svane will now join fellow Huskers Kim Shubert, Erin Hannon and Epley Bullock at the Midwest Regional meet.

 

The trio of Eric Lund, Nick Makukutu and Andrew Pearson took the top three spots in the 400-meter hurdles as each recorded a personal best. Lund was the top Husker at 52.62, followed by Makukutu at 53.28 with Pearson rounding out the group at 53.43.

 

Lisa Minnick continued her improvement in the hammer throw with a personal-best winning toss of 168-6 (51.36). Minnick’s winning throw marked the fourth time during the 2008 outdoor season that she improved her personal best. On the men’s side, Keith Lloyd earned his first hammer throw win of the season with a throw of 195-6 (59.60).

 

In the hurdles, Tyrell Ross barely held off fellow Husker Kirkland Thornton, who was competing unattached, in the 110-meter hurdles. Ross finished first at 14.17 while Thornton came in just behind at 14.27. The women’s 100-meter hurdles also included a battle between two Huskers with freshmen Karyn LaCour and Arna Erega racing to the finish line. LaCour’s time of 14.09 was just fast enough to defeat Erega, who finished at 14.28.

 

Dax Danns brought home his second win of the year in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 10.87. Danns’ other victory in the 100 meters came at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Ariz., on April 5.

 

Zarinah Suluki-Drakes and Leandra McGruder teamed to finish 1-2 in the women’s long jump. Suluki-Drakes narrowly edged McGruder with a jump of 18-11 1/4 (5.77), while McGruder jumped 18-10 3/4 (5.76).

 

The women’s relay squads won the 4x100 meters at 47.96 and 4x400 meters at 3:58.20 while the Husker men’s 4x400-meter team also finished first at 3:20.03.

 

In their next action, the Huskers will hit the road on Saturday, May 3, for the Ward Haylett Invitational in Manhattan, Kan. Senior distance runner Peter van der Westhuizen will also compete away from Lincoln as he will run the 1,500 meters at the Payton Jordan Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sunday, May 4.