May 11, 2007

Texas men's and Texas Tech women's outdoor track & field teams lead at the end of day one of the 2007 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Ed Weir Stadium on the campus of the University of Nebraska. Four events crowned champions on the first day of competition.

In the men's discus, senior Derek Randall (Texas) won with a NCAA regional-qualifying mark of 193-04. It is the second consecutive season a Longhorn athlete has captured this event, following Brian Robinson a year ago. Seven league athletes posted regional-qualifying distances in the discus.

The women's discus was won by senior Dace Ruskule (Nebraska) with a NCAA regional-qualifying toss of 182-10. It is the second time she has captured the Big 12 title after winning in 2005 with a mark of 174-11. A Husker athlete has won five of the last six seasons and six times overall. A total of 11 league competitors posted regional-qualifying distances.

The 10,000-meter run finals were also contested, with freshman Lisa Koll (Iowa State) winning on the women's side with a time of 35:36.60. She is the first Cyclone in Big 12 history to win the event. Four conference freshmen were among the top 10 finishers, with Tone Hjalmarsen (Oklahoma State), Asia Myrland (Texas) and Anna Chase (Colorado) joining Koll. The men's race was won by Kevin Chelimo (Texas Tech). The senior, who ended with a time of 30:34.43, is the first Red Raider runner in conference history to win the race. The top five finishers were separated by less than 20 seconds.

Saturday's events are set to begin at 9:30 a.m. CDT with the combined events. The field events for the day are slated to start at Noon, with the individual running competitions commencing at 4:00 p.m. For complete Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field information and results, go to www.big12sports.com or www.huskers.com.