Thornton and Bullock Shine at Penn Relays

Philadelphia, Pa. ? After not traveling to Philadelphia, Pa., last season for the Penn Relays, the Nebraska track and field team made its return to the prestigious meet at Franklin Field on Friday morning. Senior Kirkland Thornton and junior Epley Bullock shined for the Huskers, as Thornton anchored a school-record relay and tied an individual school record, while Bullock jumped to No. 2 in the country in the women’s high jump.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Tyrell Ross, Lehann Fourie, Eric Lund and Kirkland Thornton combined to set the school record in the men’s 4x110-shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 54.90, finishing second to Florida’s time of 54.30. The four Huskers, who have all regionally qualified in the open 110 hurdles, broke the previous school record of 55.12, set by Richard Davidson Jr., Courtney Jones, Nenad Loncar and Tyrell’s older brother, Aaron, at the Penn Relays in 2005.

 

Thornton then returned less than 30 minutes later to tie a 12-year old school record in the 110-meter hurdles, posting a time of 13.50 in the preliminaries. Thornton’s time placed him runner-up in the prelims to South Carolina’s Jason Richardson, who posted a time of 13.44. The South Holland, Ill., native is now tied for No. 1 on the Husker outdoor list with Willie Hibler, as Thornton and Hibler are the only Huskers in school history to run below 13.60 without be aided by wind.

 

“It was great to get out and run against some great competition,” Thornton said. “I am not worried about my time tomorrow, I just want to win.”

 

Thornton and Richardson, who each ran in the first of three heats, now rank No. 2 and 3 in Division I. The two trail Texas Tech’s Omo Osaghae (13.42), who finished fourth in the prelims with a time of 13.65.
 

Kirkland Thornton: 110-meter hurdle preliminaries
 

After struggling early in the outdoor season to only have cleared 5-8 3/4 going into Friday, Bullock exploded with a personal-best jump of 6-1 1/4 to win the meet, breaking her previous best of 6-0.  The jump moves the Allen, Texas, native to No. 3 on the Husker all-time outdoor charts, trailing school-record holder Cris Hall (6-2 1/4) and Tammy Thurman (6-2). Bullock also leaps from being tied for No. 28 in Division I to holding sole possession of the No. 2 spot. The Big 12 Conference now owns the top-two women’s high jumpers in the nation, with Texas’ Destinee Hooker holding the top jump with a mark of 6-3 1/2 on April, 2 at the Texas Relays.

 

“I’ve never been to this meet before,” Bullock said. “I didn’t know how much people love it. Our next big meet is our conference meet, so I am going to try and maintain whatever I did today. I will try and remember what I did today and keep working so I can get to the 6-2 bar.”

 

Nicholas Gordon finished second in the championship division of the men’s long jump with a season-best non-wind-aided jump of 25-6. Last weekend at the John McDonnell Invitational, Gordon leapt a season-best 25-6 3/4, a +2.6 m/s wind-aided jump that tied him for fifth in the country. Jeremy Hicks of LSU, who Gordon defeated for the 2009 NCAA indoor title, took top honors on Friday with a leap of 26-3.

 

In other hurdling action, Sophomore Adam Dailey opened the meet at 8 a.m. for the Huskers with a third-place finish in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. The Wahoo, Neb., native’s time of 50.91 was just off his season-best time of 50.88 and personal-best time of 50.33.

 

The Huskers will return to Franklin Field tomorrow for the men’s triple jump. Gordon and Chris Phipps are schedule to compete at 8 a.m. (Central).