Suckstorf Snags Second Best Throw in NCAA

Lincoln ? The Nebraska track and field team opened the 2010 season on Friday at the Devaney Center Indoor Track with the first day of the Holiday Inn Invitational. On the day, the Huskers won six events, broke one school record and posted one NCAA provisional-qualifying mark.

 

Senior Brett Suckstorf started the meet on the right foot for the Huskers as the Pierce, Neb., native recorded NU’s first NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of the 2010 season. Suckstorf not only made the NCAA list, but recorded the second best weight throw mark in the country, as he tossed 66-6 1/2, which also ranks as the No. 3 performance all-time indoors at NU. Suckstorf, who entered the meet with a previous best of 64-9 3/4, set a personal best on back-to-back throws as he cleared 65-2 on his fifth throw, before improving to 66-6 1/2 on his sixth and final throw. The Huskers finished 1-2 in the event, as Eric Peterson directly followed Suckstorf with a personal-best toss of his own at 61-9 1/2, bettering his previous best of 58-8.

 

While Suckstorf was the star in the field events, David Adams ended the meet in dramatic fashion on the track by breaking a 15-year old school record. Adams blazed to a time of 14:12.47 in the 5,000 meters, breaking David Iteffa’s 1995 record of 14:17.35, while Adams also topped his previous best of 14:38.75 by over 26 seconds.

 

Back in the field, Leandra McGruder captured her first victory of the year in the women’s long jump with a leap of 19-11 3/4. McGruder was jumping at a different level than the rest of the field, as she was the only jumper over 19 feet. The eight-time All-Big 12 performer would have won the meet with any of her four legal jumps, as her worst jump came in at 19-4 3/4. True freshman Bobby Carter completed the Huskers’ sweep of the long jump with a personal-best clearance of 24-6 1/4 on the men’s side, just one inch short of the NCAA provisional-qualifying standard of 24-7 1/4.

 

Ashley Miller and Jen Webers added to the distance squad’s success by combining to sweep the 3,000- and 5,000-meter races. Miller lapped all but two of the runners in the 3K field on her way to a 9:48.09, as she was the only runner in the 36-athlete field to run below 10 minutes. Webers then posted a time of 17:43.42 in the 5K, just under four seconds away from her personal best of 17:39.63

 

The Huskers will be back in action tomorrow during the second and final day of the Holiday Inn Invitational. Action is set to begin at Noon and it set to conclude at around 4 p.m. with the men’s 4x400-meter relay. Fans can purchase tickets on Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8BIGRED. For more information and a complete meet schedule, as well as information about the rest of the 2010 season, log on to Huskers.com.

 

Attendance ? 2,193