Huskers Add Three to 2009 Squad

Lincoln ? With the start of the spring semester on Monday, Jan. 12, the Nebraska track and field team added three athletes to its 2009 squad. The Huskers added two true freshmen in Kempton Park, Guateng, South Africa, native Nandi Meyer (middle distance) and Bj?rn Barrefors (multi-events), a native of Skara, V?sterg?tland, Sweden. Isai, Romania, native Lorena Mengia (high jump) also transferred to Nebraska after using one season of outdoor eligibility at Jacksonville State. The two additions on the women’s side add to a 2008 recruiting class that was already ranked No. 10 in the country by Track and Field News.

 

Lorena Menghia - Fr./So., Isai, Romania (Athletic High School / Jacksonville State)

A native of Iasi, Romania, Lorena Menghia (pronounced laur-AA-nah Men-GEE-uh) transferred to Nebraska after one season at Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Ala., where she was the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference champion in the outdoor high jump with a clearance of 5-6. Menghia set the outdoor school record earlier in the 2008 season with a personal-best outdoor leap of 5-8 3/4 at the Coach O Invitational in Troy, Ala. She placed third in the triple jump at the outdoor conference meet with a school-record and personal-best leap of 40-3 1/4. Menghia cleared a lifetime best in the high jump at the 2006 Romanian indoor championships in Bucuresti, Romania, with a jump of 6-0 1/2 to finish runner-up, ranking her No. 12 on the under-20 world indoor list. She cleared an outdoor personal best of 5-10 3/4 four times between 2005 and 2007, ranking her No. 22 in the world on the outdoor under-18 list in 2005, ranking No. 48 in 2006 and No. 54 in 2007 on the under-20 world outdoor list.

 

Bj?rn Barrefors - Fr., Skara, V?sterg?tland, Sweden (Teknikum)

Bj?rn Barrefors (pronounced Ba-YUHORN BAR-eh-FORSH) joined Nebraska after winning the indoor heptathlon (personal-best score of 5,577) and outdoor decathlon at the 2008 Swedish senior championships, after finishing third in both events the previous year. Barrefors posted a personal-best decathlon score of 7,405 at the 2008 European Cup in Jyv?skyl?, Finland, to finish seventh. He ranked No. 14 on the under-20 world list in 2006 with a decathlon score of 7,012, while also finishing 11th in the junior decathlon at the 2006 IAAF World Junior Championships in Beijing, China, with a score of 7,332.

 

Nandi Meyer - Fr., Kempton Park, Guateng, South Africa (Kempton Park)

Nandi (pronounced NAHN-dee) Meyer joins Nebraska as a middle distance runner from Kempton Park, Guateng, South Africa, South Africa, where she broke onto the track and field scene in 2005 with the top South African under-16 times in the 800 (2:10.16) and 1,500 (4:28.78) meters, ranking No. 10 on the under-16 world list in the 800 meters and No. 11 in the 1,500 meters in 2005. Meyer posted a personal-best 800-meter time of 2:08.10 in 2006, ranking No. 1 on the South African under-18 list and No. 34 in the world. She ran a personal-best 400 meters in Sasolburg, Free State, South Africa, to rank No. 3 on the South African under-18 list in 2006. Meyer recorded 2007 season bests of 56.39 in the 400 meters and 2:08.9 in the 800 meters in Germiston, Gauteng, South Africa, ranking No. 3 in both events on the 2007 South African under-18 list and No. 41 on the 800-meter under-18 world list. Meyer competed in the 800 meters at the 2005 IAAF World Youth Championships in Marrakech, Morocco, and the 2007 championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

 

The Huskers are set to open the 2009 indoor season at home on Friday, Jan. 16, with the Holiday Inn Invitational. Action on Friday will start at 4 p.m. and will start again on Saturday at noon. For more information and a full schedule of events checkout the “Home Meet Information” link of the left side of the track and field page at Huskers.com.