Lavy listens to coach,
qualifies for NCAAs
Erdkamp, Melson make strides for NU
By Sam McKewon
Senior editor
It wanted to fall.
Shane Lavy felt himself hit it on his third and final attempt at the
7-foot, 5-inch height he had raised the bar to in the high jump compe
tition of the 25th Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.
Clearing 7-5 wasn't about winning. Lavy had already won the
meet by clearing 7-3. It was about confidence, putting himself in posi
tion for a national title, making a statement.
But the bar wanted to fall. And it flirted with that notion a couple
of times. It wobbled. It shuddered.
It stayed. And with it, Lavy secured himself one of 12 NCAA
automatic qualifying marks garnered at the Sevigne and earned him
self the outstanding performer award of the meet on the men's side.
“I see that bar bounce as I'm going over,” Lavy said. “And then
I'm standing up, and I yell 'Stay on!' because I'm like, 'Not again.'"
Lavy was referring to a jump he attempted Ins sophomore season
at 7-614 where the bar did the same thing, but fell off. Ironically, Lavy
missed three attempts at 7-614 after clearing 7-5 on Friday.
NU Track and Field Coach Gary Pepin, who also coaches the
jumps, talked to Lavy after his first attempt at 7-5. Get off the ground
quicker, Pepin told Lavy. Student listened to teacher.
“That was a real nice adjustment he made,” Pepin said. “When he
gets to the higher heights, he wasn't getting enough speed to get his
body over the bar. But he adjusted to that. That’s what separates the
great ones rrom me gooa ones.
Lavy’s performance was marked as the only male to win for the
Huskers over the two-day
«- meet, which played out
before a two-day crowd of
That was a real nice 6,094 at the Bob Devaney
. Sports Center. NU had let
adjUStment he downs in some events, but
made_ lhats personal bests and quali
7 7 fied for the NCAA
what separates the Championships m others.
Photos by Matt Miller/DN
ABOVE: THE GUN SOUNDED loudly and often over
two days during the Frank Sevigne Husker
Invitational.
RIGHT:KENDRICK CAMPBELL PREPARES himself
for the 4x400 meter relay. Something must have
worked because Campbell and his teammates
from Garden City Community College in Garden
City, Kan., placed sixth out of 16 teams in the
relay.
r 1 here were 70 provisional
g} Cot OVieS from and automatic qualifying
,7 7 > > marks for the entire meet.
the gOOCl OiteS. The largest disappoint
ment came the way of NU
GARY Pepin sprinter Vince Brown, who
NU track and field head coach bowed out of 60-meter
——_—finals because of a ham
string injury. Brown was
considered one of the favorites for the race.
“It’s something that he felt a little from his race the night before,”
Sprints Coach Billy Maxwell said. “It’s better for him not to go if it
isn’t there.”
Brown has already established a NCAA provisional qualifying
mark.
Both Joe Erdkamp and Jack Melson qualified for the NCAA
championships in the 35-pound weight throw and shot put, respec
tively.
Erdkamp made a throw of 65 feet, which was more impressive
considering that his first two throws of the preliminaries were scratch
es. Erdkamp finished fifth in the competition, which featured the
defending national champion and top-ranked thrower in the country.
“It was an OK throw,” said Erdkamp, who normally doesn’t have
problems with scratches. “I was hoping to improve on it in finals, but
I didn’t.”
Melson's throw of 59 feet and 1 VA inches was his best of the sea
son. It was good enough for fourth place, as defending national cham
pion Brad Snyder of South Carolina won the competition.
1 “Last year, Jack got rattled and he missed the finals by a centime
ter or two,” Throws Coach Mark Colligan said. “So it was good for
him to get that ghost off his shoulder and get in there and beat some
guys that had better season marks than he did.”
Pepin said he was ‘slightly disappointed with NU s performance
in the men’s triple jump, as Sheldon Hutchinson finished fourth and
Keyuo Craver seventh. Ryan Stairs, possibly NU’s best triple jumper,
was slightly injured, and, while jumping, didn’t make the finals.
Other finishes for NU included Tom Hammond with second in
the pole vault, Scott Nachtigal, fifth in the pole vault, Brandon Solt,
fifth in the 60-meter hurdles and Tony Smith with sixth in the 1 -mile
run.
Overall, Pepin said, he was happy with the performances, but did
n’t like to see any negatives of the meet, of which there were some. He
had hoped that everybody could put themselves in position for the Big
12 Championships, to be held Feb. 19-20. Pepin did say he was happy
with Lavy’s performance, noting it put him in good position for the
Big 12 and NCAA meet.
Lavy agreed.
“This is where I want to be right now,” Lavy said. “It wasn’t in
the cards for me to make I-6V2 today. God’s got bigger plans for
me.”
Lane Hickenbottom/DN
SYRACUSE TRIPLE JUMPER Samuel Okantey digs into the sand pit during the finals of the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite Saturday at the
Devaney Center. Okantey won third-place honors with a distance of 51 feet and 4 inches.
