Huskers Sweep Nebraska Quad Team Titles

Lincoln ? The No. 11 men’s and No. 18 women’s Nebraska track and field teams capped the 2009 home slate on Saturday afternoon at Ed Weir Stadium with the Nebraska Quad. A team-scored meet, the Huskers battled Kansas State, Wichita State and Northern Iowa, with the Huskers winning both team titles.On the men’s side, Nebraska scored 225 points to down Northern Iowa (149), Wichita State (138.5) and Kansas State (126.5). The Husker women battled with Wichita State all afternoon, getting the best of the Shockers 208-196.5, while Kansas State (123.5) finish third and Northern Iowa (85) fourth.

 

Junior Lisa Minnick started the meet for the Huskers with a runner-up finish in the women’s hammer throw, adding seven points to the women’s score. After tossing a personal best of 179-4 last weekend at the Drake Relays to record the first regional-qualifying mark of her career, Minnick added nearly three feet to her PR on Saturday with a toss of 182-3. The toss moved Minnick to No. 7 on the NU all-time outdoor performance list. Keith Lloyd then won the men’s hammer with a season-best toss of 199-7, bumping him from No. 5 to No. 2 in the Big 12 rankings.

 

Chris Phipps and Scott Jorgenson added big points to the men’s score early by taking the top-two spots in the long jump to score 16 points. Phipps cleared a regional-qualifying jump of 24-9 1/4 to win, topping Jorgenson’s mark of 24-0 3/4. Both Phipps and Jorgenson have posted better jumps this season with leaps of 25-0 3/4 and 25-2 3/4, respectively.

 

Natalie Willer then led a 1-2 finish in the women’s pole vault, with Willer clearing 13-11 1/4 and Rachel Birtles jumping a regional-qualifying mark of 12-10 3/4. The Husker hurdlers followed with a clean sweep as Arna Erega won the women’s 100-meter race (13.84) and Tyrell Ross won the men’s 110-meter race (14.02). Following the hurdles, the Husker men were up 73-52 on Northern Iowa, while the Husker women’s 61 points gave them a 5.5 point lead over Wichita State.

 

Next in the sprints, Lukas Hulett improved his season-best and regional ranking in the 400-meter dash with a first-place time of 46.14. Saturday was only the second time this season Hulett has run the 400 meters, with the first coming at the opening meet of the outdoor season, where he ran 46.87 at the Jim Click Shootout. The Bellevue, Neb., native’s time Saturday moved him from No. 43 in Division I to No. 10. Scott Wims followed with a runner-up finish in the 100-meter dash, running 10.55. Wims fell to 2009 NCAA indoor 60-meter national champion Mike Myer of Kansas State, who ran 10.45. After Wims’ race, the Husker men pushed their point total to 98, with Northern Iowa in second (72), Wichita State in third (69) and Kansas State in fourth (65).

 

The Husker 800-meter runners followed with two Huskers recording regional-qualifying times for the first time in their careers. First, true freshman Erica Hamik won the women’s race with a personal-best time of 2:09.63, the sixth-best time in the Big 12 this year. Blaise Rewaka followed with a runner-up finish in the men’s race, shattering his previous best of 1:52.6 with a time of 1:49.66.

 

Kirkland Thornton, Adam Dailey and Nick Makukutu each dropped their season-best times in the 400-meter hurdles, with Thornton running a personal best of 50.63 to win, followed by Dailey at 50.82 and Makukutu with a personal best 50.99. Thornton, Dailey and Makukutu stand 1-2-3 on the Big 12 performance list, while Thornton ranks No. 12 on the Division I list, with in the Dailey No. 15 spot and Makukutu ranked No. 18.

 

With 14 of the 19 events scored, the Husker men were cruising to a first-place finish with 163 points, ahead of Northern Iowa (119), Kansas State (100) and Wichita State (98). The Huskers women were in a tight race with Wichita State, trailing the Shockers 153.5-141, while Kansas State was third with 91.50 points and Northern Iowa fourth with 72 points.

 

After falling into second place, the Husker shot putters and high jumpers responded, as the Huskers took back the lead from the Shockers 186-176.50, with 17 of the 19 events scored. Kacie Sharp and Jade Hodson finished 1-2 in the shot put with Sharp throwing 49-1 and Hodson 45-6 1/4. Epley Bullock then cleared six feet in the high jump for the second straight week, jumping 6-0 to win the event after clearing 6-1 1/4 last weekend at the Penn Relays. Audrey Svane finished second with her first regional-qualifying jump of the season, clearing 5-8 3/4.

 

The Husker men ended the meet with the discus and pole vault. True freshman Tyler Hitcher won the discus with a personal-best toss of 177-1, moving him to No. 4 in the Big 12. It also marked the second straight week Hitchler has recorded a PR and regional-qualifying throw. Nate Polacek then finished runner-up in the pole vault with a personal-best leap of 16-10, topping his previous best of 16-6 3/4.

 

Leandra McGruder and Tara Korshoj ended the women’s side of the meet, as both posted personal-best jumps. McGruder won the meet with a wind-aided personal-best jump of 42-8 1/4, marking the first time in her career she has cleared 13 meters, moving her to fourth in the Big 12 and 12th in Division I. Korshoj came in second with a personal-best leap of 41-6 1/2, improving her national ranking from No .39 to a tie for the No. 34 spot.

 

The Huskers will now head back on the road next weekend as they travel to Manhattan, Kan., for the Ward Haylett Invitational. The one-day meet is schedule to start on Saturday, May 9 at 11 a.m., check Huskers.com later this week for more information.