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For Immediate Release
January 5, 2005
PRAIRIE WOLVES BRING BALANCE, STRENGTH IN
2005
Erin Powell |
Balance and strength, two words Head Coach Dr. Ted
Bulling used to describe the 2005 Nebraska Wesleyan track and field
teams, are fitting adjectives for NWU’s top returnees this
season.
For the women, Erin Powell exhibited both balance
and strength in winning Outstanding Athlete honors at the Great
Plains Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor championships in 2004.
Already a four-time All-American, Powell has the ability to score
in multiple events (sprints, long jump and triple jump).
For the men, Bret Blake became the first man at
NWU to win four national titles in track as he won the outdoor 200-meter
dash and repeated as the indoor champion in the 55-meter dash last
season. Led by Blake and his efforts in everything from the 55 to
the 4x400 and distance medley relay, the Prairie Wolves continue
to rack up conference crowns and have finished no lower than fourth
at any of the last four NCAA Division III Championships.
Blake and Powell lead the way, but experienced supporting
casts are in place for Bulling, who said the men will be strong
in all areas, the women will be a very balanced team and both will
be major players in the GPAC this year.
Nebraska Wesleyan’s women were runners-up
at both conference meets and claimed a pair of top-20 team finishes
at nationals in 2004, but lost decorated sprinter Erin Dukich and
distance runner Gina Morgan to graduation.
Bulling said he expects senior Kami Long and sophomore
Ashley Sabin to lead his distance crew and noted the improvement
of sophomores Brenda Faimon, Jill Hansen and Amber Phipps during
the cross country season. All-Americans Kristi Lockhart and Ashley
Styskal join Powell in leading the sprinters, while junior Amy Vanderkolk
is back in the hurdles.
“Our women have a chance to be a NCAA top-10
type of team,” Bulling said.
In field events, Jennifer Nunnenkamp is the top
returning thrower, along with Morgan Butler and Rachel Seidel, while
Mira Brown leads the NWU vaulters.
The Nebraska Wesleyan men have a distance crew Bulling
called “very possibly the strongest
in the NCAA.”
Levi Ashley |
Returning All-Americans Levi Ashley, Aaron Dye and
Blake Henning join national caliber runners Craig Dye, Rob Hruska,
Vince Sickler and Greg Timblin.
NWU placed four in the top six in the GPAC’s
100-meter dash final last year, including
Blake, Jeff Aldrich, Gordie Coffin and Matt Turman,
who all competed at nationals in 2004. Scott Burns and Ben Thayer
give the Prairie Wolves depth in the longer sprints.
In the throws, senior Ryan Tietjen will look to
build on his list of credentials, which already includes four GPAC
titles and four All-America awards. Chris Collins, Chris Hadden,
Chris Krueger and Dustin Stuehrenberg are among the others to watch.
“Our men have the potential, and I mean to
emphasize the word potential, to be among the top two or three teams
in the country,” Bulling said. “We have a tremendous
amount of work to do before that can happen, but it is possible.”
Bulling called the hurdles the most improved area
of the men’s team and noted the return of Ryan Aspegren, Alex
Israelson, Isaac Jefferson, Scott Lervold and Craig Pekny.
Tom George, Matt Hampl, Travis Wagenknecht and Derek
Zulkowski all return to form the core of vaulters. Senior Tyler
Gingery, Turman and an influx of athletes who were very successful
at the high school level are expected to contribute in the horizontal
jumps, according to Bulling. Meanwhile, the NWU high jumpers will
take on a new look being entirely made up of first-year athletes.
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