Huskers Sweep adidas Classic Team Titles

Lincoln ? The No. 4 men’s and No. 11 women’s Nebraska track and field teams showed on Saturday at the Devaney Center Indoor Track that they are performing well early in the season, as NU swept the team titles at the adidas Classic. The Huskers combined for 14 wins, while also recording nine NCAA provisional and one NCAA automatic-qualifying marks.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

On the men’s side, NU scored 206 points, downing Kansas State (86.5). The NU women also held off the Wildcats, 167-106.

 

Four-time All-American Epley Bullock put on one of the top performances of the meet, as she cleared a personal best and NCAA automatic-qualifying height of 6-1 1/2 in the women’s high jump, moving her to the No. 2 spot on the 2010 NCAA list. Bullock passed on the first three heights, before she entered at the 5-6 bar and cleared on her first attempt. The Allen, Texas, native then had first-attempt makes at 5-8 and 5-10, before the bar moved to 6-0. With only one try left at 6-0, Bullock cleared and took the bar to 6-1 1/2, where she also built the suspense, as she used a three attempts to clear the new personal-best height.

 

Natalie Willer continued NU’s success in the field, as the junior made her season debut in the pole vault with a winning jump of 13-7 1/4, moving her into the top ten on the NCAA list. The NU indoor and outdoor school-record holder in the pole vault, Willer ended the meet with attempts at the NCAA automatic standard of 13-11 1/4.

 

With the Huskers dominating the field events, the duo of Arna Erega and Karyn LaCour did their part on the track, as the pair finished 1-2 in the 60-meter hurdles. The two hurdlers ran neck-and-neck the entire race, with the finish coming down to one-hundredth of a second. Erega’s personal best of 8.37 topped LaCour’s time of 8.38, but each added their name to the NCAA provisional list.

 

On the track for the men, Lehann Fourie was unable to top his nation-leading time of 7.77 in the hurdles from last weekend’s Holiday Inn Invitational, but did win his second straight race with a time of 7.81. Fourie’s teammate, Tyrell Ross, added his name to the NCAA provisional list with a third-place time of 7.91. Dax Danns then put together a solid showing with a sweep of the 60 and 200 meters, running 6.82 in the 60 and 21.39 in the 200.

 

Back in the field, Brett Suckstorf, Bobby Carter and Nate Polacek captured wins for the NU men. After tossing a personal best of 66-6 1/2 to win last weekend, Suckstorf surpassed the weight throw provisional-qualifying standard again with a throw of 64-8. Carter then added his name to the long jump NCAA provisional list with a leap of 24-7 3/4, a personal best for the freshman from Lee’s Summit, Mo. Polacek concluded the night with a personal-best vault of 17-0 3/4, which bettered his previous best of 16-10 3/4 and provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships.

 

Other Huskers earning wins on Saturday included: Alyssa Vierregger (400m ? 57.87), Adam Dailey (600y ? 1:10.38), Ashley Miller (1,000m ? 2:51.97), David Adams (3,000m ? 8:09.67), Leandra McGruder (LJ ? 19-8 1/4) and Chris Nuttelman (TJ ? 48-10 3/4)

 

The Huskers will now focus on next weekend, when they host two meets. The Huskers start with the Multi Challenge, kicking off on Friday night at 5 p.m. and then starting again on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Huskers will then host Texas Tech for a dual, with the two Big 12 schools squaring off at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, check out Huskers.com.

 

Men’s Team Scores
Nebraska ? 206
Kansas State ? 86.5

Missouri ? 83

Colorado State ? 59

Wichita State ? 52.5

Air Force - 40

Women’s Team Scores

Nebraska ? 167

Kansas State ? 106

Missouri ? 86

Wichita State ? 79

Air Force ? 47

Colorado State - 41

Attendance ? 1,821