%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Nebraska_N'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%20163%20152'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%20163%20152;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill:%23FFFFFF;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M159.1,144c-2.3,0-4.1,1.8-4.1,4s1.8,4,4,4s4-1.8,4-4S161.2,144,159.1,144z%20M159,151.2c-1.8,0-3.2-1.4-3.2-3.2%20s1.4-3.2,3.2-3.2c1.7,0,3.2,1.5,3.2,3.2C162.2,149.8,160.8,151.2,159,151.2z'/%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M157.4,145.6h1.4c0.6,0,0.8,0,1.1,0.2c0.4,0.2,0.6,0.6,0.6,1.1c0,0.4-0.1,0.7-0.3,1c-0.1,0.2-0.3,0.2-0.6,0.4%20h-0.1l1.1,2.1h-0.8l-1-2h-0.6v2h-0.8L157.4,145.6L157.4,145.6z%20M158.6,147.7c0,0,0.3,0,0.4,0c0.4-0.1,0.6-0.3,0.6-0.8%20c0-0.3-0.1-0.5-0.4-0.6c-0.1,0-0.1,0-0.6,0h-0.4v1.4L158.6,147.7L158.6,147.7z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M147,0H93h-5v5v35v5h5h5v24.8L55.2,2.3L53.7,0H51H5H0v5v35v5h5h5v62H5H0v5v35v5h5h54h5v-5v-35v-5h-5h-5V82.2%20l42.8,67.5l1.5,2.3h2.7h46h5v-5v-35v-5h-5h-5V45h5h5v-5V5V0H147z%20M150,5v35v3h-3h-7v66h7h3v3v35v3h-3h-46h-1.6l-0.9-1.4L52,75.3%20V109h7h3v3v35v3h-3H5H2v-3v-35v-3h3h7V43H5H2v-3V5V2h3h46h1.7l0.9,1.4L100,76.7V43h-7h-3v-3V5V2h3h54h3V5z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M103,87L103,87L51,5H5v35c0,0,7.8,0,10,0c0,3.3,0,68.7,0,72l0,0c-2.2,0-10,0-10,0v35h54v-35c0,0-7.8,0-10,0l0,0%20c0-2.6,0-47,0-47l52,82h46v-35c0,0-7.8,0-10,0l0,0c0-3.3,0-68.7,0-72c2.2,0,10,0,10,0V5H93v35c0,0,7.8,0,10,0%20C103,42.6,103,87,103,87z'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
Nebraska Track and Field Meet Day Information
NU Track and Field Blog NU Track and Field Weekly Notes NU Track and Field Media Guide Big 12 Outdoor Performance List NCAA Division I Performance Lists USTFCCCA Division I Rankings Ed Weir Stadium Free NU Track and Field Videos Free NU Track and Field Photo Galleries Free NU Track and Field Wallpapers
2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships
Fayetteville, Ark. (John McDonnell Field)
Wednesday, June 10 - Saturday, June 13
10:30 a.m / 10:30 a.m. / 9:30 a.m. / 10 a.m.
Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
ArkansasRazorbacks.com | NCAA.com
Meet Information | Schedule | Heat Sheets
Live Results | Live Web Stream
Visiting Fayetteville | Fayetteville Weather
- all times Central
20 Huskers Travel South for NCAA Championships
The Nebraska track and field team will have 20 athletes competing in 23 events at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships this week on June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. After the 13 Huskers earned automatic bids to the championships via a top-five finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Norman, Okla., last weekend, the Huskers’ had six more athletes earn at-large bids. Prior to the regional meet, sophomore Megan Wheatley had already automatically-qualified for the outdoor championships with a personal-best score of 5,800 points at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.
Bjorn Barrefors and Skyler Reising will kick off the meet for the Huskers on Wednesday morning at 11:30 a.m. with the first event of the decathlon, the 100-meter dash. The Huskers are projected have at least one athlete competing on every day of the four-day meet. Day four is expected to be wrapped up by Kirkland Thornton at 12:59 p.m., with the finals of the 110-meter hurdles.
Fans unable to make the trip to John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark., can keep up on the team by checking out Huskers.com, where updates will be posted on the track and field blog. Live results will also be available at FlashResults.com. CBS will be airing live from the meet on Friday and Saturday. CBS College Sports will have live coverage from 6-9 p.m. (Central) on Friday, June 12, while CBS will go live from 12-2 p.m. on Saturday, June 13. A live web stream will also be available at NCAA.com and ArkansasRazorbacks.com, but it will only be active when CBS is not on the air.
NU Out of the Blocks (USTFCCCA Ranking: Men - No. 9 / Women - No. 19)
2009 NCAA Outdoor Championship Participants: 20
(14-Men / 6-Women)
2009 Division I Outdoor Top-10: 7
(4-Men / 3-Women)
2009 Big 12 Athlete of the Week: 4
(2-Men / 2-Women)
Thunder Thornton
Senior Kirkland Thornton will have a chance to make Huskers history at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as he can became the first Husker ever to earn All-America honors in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles at the same meet. Thornton will enter the meet ranked third in the 110 hurdles and fifth in the 400 hurdles. He is also the only hurdler that will be competing in both events. David Davis Jr. in 2003 was the last 110-hurlder to earn All-America, while Mark Jackson in 1992 was the last 400-hurlde All-American. No Husker on the men’s side has ever won a national title in the outdoor hurdles, Jeff Lee in 1977 won the indoor 60-yard hurdle championship.
Vaulting into History
Sophomore pole vaulter Natalie Willer will look to become the first Husker on the women’s side in school history to win an indoor or outdoor pole vault title at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Willer will enter the meet ranked No. 2 in the country, with her vault of 14-4 1/2. Willer will have an uphill battle, as the event leader, Katie Stripling (14-5 1/4), will be competing on her home track.
Willer will also be in search of her first NCAA All-America honor. With a top-eight finish, Willer would become just the third Husker on the women’s side to earn All-American honors in the pole vault since the outdoor championships started in 1976. Willer would join Jenny Green (2004) and Brysun Stately (2007), who each finished third.
Third Time’s a Charm
With three indoor high jump All-America honors under her belt, junior Epley Bullock will be in search of her first outdoor honor this year. Bullock, who has competed at the outdoor championships the previous two seasons, will look to jump into the top eight at the 2009 meet and add her fourth overall All-America honor. Previously, Bullock tied for 24th as a freshman and then jumped all the way to 11th last season. The Allen, Texas, native enters the meet with the credentials to get the job done as she is tied for third in the nation with a leap of 6-1 1/4, topping the 6-foot bar three times this season. Na’Tassia Vice was the last Husker to earn All-America honors at the outdoor meet, when she placed 10th overall and eighth among American jumpers in 2003.
Automatic Aussie
For the second straight year Perth, Australia, native Megan Wheatley has automatically qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The now two-time defending Big 12 champion in the heptathlon, Wheatley posted a personal-best score of 5,800 points at the conference meet, ranking fourth in the nation. After finishing ninth in the event in 2008, Wheatley will look to climb into the top eight and earn her second All-America honor after finishing fourth at the 2009 indoor championships. The last woman to earn All-America honors both indoors and outdoors in the multi-events was Ashley Selig in 2005, when she won the indoor pentathlon title and placed third in the heptathlon.
Doublin’ Up
Three Huskers will have their work cut out for themselves at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as Kirkland Thornton, Chris Phipps and Leandra McGruder will all be competing in two events. Thornton is set to run in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles, which will have him running six races overall, including two on Thursday and Friday. Phipps and McGruder will each compete in the long and triple jumps. With each horizontal jump having a preliminary and final, the two jumpers will be competing on all four days. The long jump takes place on Wednesday and Thursday, with the triple jump to follow on Friday and Saturday. The last time a Husker earned All-America honors in two events at the outdoor championships was 2004, when Becky Breisch won the discus and placed third in the shot put.
Triple Threat
The Husker long jumping trio of Nicholas Gordon, Chris Phipps and LeRon Williams will look to become the first group of Huskers on the men’s side to earn three All-America honors in the same individual event at the same meet. Gordon leads the way as the fifth-ranked jumper in the nation, while Williams is next at 15 and Phipps at 21.
Outdoors the feat has only be achieved once in Husker history, as Carrie Braness, Jody Doetker and Kerry Doetker were All-Americans in the women’s high jump in 1997.
Indoors, Merlene Ottey, Angela Thacker and Marcia Tate went 1-2-3, respectively, in the 55-meter dash in 1984. The 1984 trio was unable to top the 1982 foursome though, as Ottey, Janet Burke, Alicia McQueen and Debra James placed 1-2-3-5, respectively, in the 60-yard run.
Carrizales Back with a Splash
After making her first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a sophomore in 2007, senior Rachel Carrizales will be making a return trip in 2009. The Morrill, Neb., native is set to compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, where she is ranked 12th in the country. Carrizales, who ranks No. 2 all-time at NU, posted a personal-best time of 10:09.69 at the Stanford Invitational, topping her previous best of 10:17.26, which she set at the 2007 outdoor championships. Carrizales will look to become the first Husker on the men’s or women’s side since 2004 to earn All-America in the event, when school-record holder Ann Gaffigan finished fifth.
Five Straight
Sophomore Paul Hamilton will look to make it the fifth straight year that a men’s high jumper has brought an All-America honor back to Lincoln and the groups’ sixth honor in five years. After Aaron Plas and Dusty Jonas each became All-Americans in 2005, Jonas went on to earn three more honors in 2006-07-08. A 2008 qualifier, Hamilton will look to earn his first career All-America honor, improving on his tie for 20th last season.
25 Feet
Redshirt freshman Tyler Hitcher has seen big improvement from 2008 to 2009 in the men’s discus, tossing a personal-best 187-10 to finish second at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. “Big” may not be good enough when talking about Hitcher’s growth over the last year, as the Fremont, Neb., native has improved his personal best by over 25 feet. Hitchler, who entered 2009 with a best of 162-7, has cleared 170 feet six times this year, including 180 feet at his past two competitions. Hitchler will enter the NCAA meet ranked 22nd out of 26 throwers.
Go the Distance
Sophomore Lara Crofford will be making her second straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10,000-meter run. Crofford, who enters the race ranked 17th out of 26 runners, ranks second on NU’s all-time list with a time of 33:56.46.
Nebraska Natives Know How to Steeple
Sophomore David Adams and junior Brian Parr will both make their NCAA Championship debuts when they compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Adams, a native of York, Neb., will enter the race ranked 12th, while Parr, a Fremont, Neb., native, is ranked 23rd out of 25 runners. Each will be looking for a top-eight finish. The last Husker on the men’s side to earn All-America honors in the steeplechase was Kevin Miiller in 1995, when he finished eighth.
Back-to-Back
For the second straight year sophomore Adam Dailey and junior Tyrell Ross will both be competing at the national meet in the hurdles. Dailey is set to run in the 400 hurdles, where he ranks tied for 16th and made the semifinals in last season. Ross, who enters the meet ranked 21st in the 110 hurdles, finished 22nd last year and will look to escape the preliminaries after he failed to last season.
Burneying up the Runway
Following the first All-America honor of his career during the 2009 indoor season, sophomore Seth Burney will look to add an outdoor honor next week. If Burney can hold up his eight-place ranking entering the meet, he will be the first Husker on the men’s side to pull of the sweep since Ray Scotten did so in 2006, finishing fifth outdoors and 11th overall/eighth American indoors.
Home-Grown Huskers
Of the 20 athletes competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, exactly half of them are Nebraska natives. On the men’s side, David Adams (York), Brian Parr (Fremont), Adam Dailey (Wahoo), Paul Hamilton (Sidney), Seth Burney (Beatrice), LeRon Williams (Omaha), Tyler Hitchler (Fremont) and Skyler Reising (Lincoln) will all represent NU as a home-grown Husker. For the Husker women, Rachel Carrizales (Morrill) and Natalie Willer (Elkhorn) will also represent the home of the “Good Life”.
Jeff City Jumper
Team co-captain Leandra McGruder will have a full meet as the Jefferson City, Mo., native will plan on jumping all four days of the meet. First, McGruder will have the preliminaries and the finals of the long jump on Wednesday and Thursday, before pulling off the same two-day task in the triple jump on Friday and Saturday. McGruder will look to be the first Husker on the women’s side since Ineta Radevica in 2004 to earn All-America honors in both horizontal jumps at the same meet.
Swedish Sensation
True freshman and Stockholm, Sweden, native Bj?rn Barrefors is on his way to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon, adding to his indoor appearance in the heptathlon where he finished third. Barrefors will enter the meet ranked No. 13 in the nation after posting a score of 7,448 early in the outdoor season on April 3 at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Ariz.
Barrefors’ teammate, Skyler Reising, will be making his third straight appearance at the meet, ranked 20th in the country with a score of 7,325. The pair has a shot at becoming the first Husker since Casey Thom in 2003 to earn All-America honors in the decathlon. Thom finished 10th overall, but eighth among American competitors.
Looking for One More Foot
Not since Carl Myerscough won the national title in 2004 has a Husker male earned All-America honors in the shot put outdoors. Trey Jordan will look to end that streak, as the junior enters the meet ranked 16th in the nation. Jordan, who tossed a personal-best 60-8 3/4 this season, will most likely need to add at least one more foot to his personal best to get into a top-eight spot. A native of Troy, Texas, Jordan has already added over five feet to his personal best this season.
Husker Men Hoist No. 100 in Lubbock
Following a dominating 148-point performance at the 2009 Big 12 Outdoor Championships on May 15-17, the No. 7 Nebraska men’s track and field team brought home its 60th and the overall program’s historic 100th conference crown. The win marked the men’s fifth Big 12 outdoor title and 14th overall title in the Big 12’s 13-year era. The men took the team lead on Friday, May 15 following the fourth event of the meet, the men’s high jump, taking a 31-30 lead over Kansas State. The Huskers would continue to add points over the next 17 events, never relinquishing the lead, even with runner-up Texas A&M making a strong push on day three, finishing with 126 points.