Griva Shines in Husker Debut

Lincoln - The Nebraska track and field team opened the 2011 season on Friday night with the Holiday Inn Invitational in front of 1,683 fans at the Devaney Center Indoor Track. The Huskers captured eight titles on the first day of the two-day meet, including sweeps in the long jump and 1,000 meters.

True freshman Mara Griva started her Husker career out right with a personal-best leap of 20-3 ½ on her first attempt in the women's long jump, which topped her previous best of 20-2 ¼. The mark held up to give the Ventspils, Latvia, native her first collegiate win. Griva led a Husker charge in the event, a she was directly followed by Chantae McMillan (19-9 ¾), Lorena Menghia (19-0), Rachel Butler (18-5 ¾) and Anne Martin (18-1 ¾).

Two-time All-America long jumper Chris Phipps also made the most of his first attempt with a winning leap of 24-7 ¼ in the men's long jump. Phipps matched the mark on his third attempt and then passed or fouled on his final three attempts. He was joined in the top three by fellow All-America Bobby Carter, who cleared 23-1 ¼ to finish third.

Victoria Zimmerman added a third victory in the field events for the Huskers with winning toss of 59-4 ¼ in the 20-pound weight throw. The mark shattered Zimmerman's previous best of 57-2 ¾ in the event. Carter Wasem also set a personal best on the men's side with a third-place throw of 59-2 ¾ in the 35-pound weight, betting his previous best of 57-11.

After missing the entire 2010 season, Lara Crofford returned to lead a 1-2-3 NU finish in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:56.84 and then came close to winning the mile, but finished second. Crofford was followed in the 1,000 by Brooke Dinsdale (2:57.58) and Suzanne Higgins (3:01.19). Blaise Rewaka then completed the sweep in the 1,000 for NU with a time of 2:27.04 on the men's side, as he beat out Kansas Wesleyan's Nathan Mesta, who ran 2:27.81.

Staying in the middle distance races, sophomore Tommy Brinn nearly broke his previous best of 1:52.06 in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.83 in the field of 34. True freshman Ellie Grooters posted the top collegiate time in the 800 on the women's side, but finished second in the overall standing to Brooks' Angee Henry (2:05.75).

The Huskers' long distance runners ended the night with wins in the women's 3,000 and 5,000 meters. Ashley Miller started with a winning time of 9:55.68 in the 3,000, as she was the only runner in the field under 10 minutes and the next closest runner was over 30 seconds behind her. Katie White then ran one of the best races of her Husker career in the 5,000 by easily erasing her previous best of 18:26.05 with a winning time of 17:55.26

The second day of action will start at Noon tomorrow with the women's pole vault, shot put, triple jump, shot put and the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. The last running event of the day, the men's 4x400-meter relay, is set to start at 3:50 p.m.