Nebraska shot putter sets record at Big 12 indoor meet

<br>LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ Suspended for two years, Nebraska shot putter Carl Myerscough made the most of his return to competition at the Big 12 Indoor Conference Track and Field Championship on Saturday.

Sunday, February 24th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ Suspended for two years, Nebraska shot putter Carl Myerscough made the most of his return to competition at the Big 12 Indoor Conference Track and Field Championship on Saturday.

On his third attempt of the afternoon, Myerscough threw the shot 69 feet 2 inches, breaking the Big 12 Indoor meet record and the all-time conference indoor record and eclipsing the Devaney Center mark set just two weeks ago by Adam Nelson at the professional Nike International meet.

``I really want to prove a point and basically I think I did a good job of that,'' Myerscough said. ``It was a great relief, too. There was so much pressure on me. After that throw, I was just exhausted.''

Myerscough's record-setting performance helped boost Nebraska to its third straight Big 12 Indoor Championship. The Cornhuskers have won five of the six indoor championships since the Big 12 was formed.

Nebraska finished with 105.5 points, Texas was second with 97 and Kansas State finished third with 93.5.

On the women's side of the meet, Texas knocked off two-time defending champion Nebraska. The win was the Longhorns' third Big 12 indoor title. Nebraska has won the other three conference indoor meets.

Texas clinched its victory by setting a Big 12 Indoor record in the meets final, the 4x400 meter relay, with a time of 3:34.86.

Texas had 107 points, Nebraska finished with 103 and Kansas State was third with 89.5.

Myerscough, a sophomore from Hamilton, England, was suspended for two years by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, which said he tested positive for two banned steroids.

Myerscough has maintained his innocence through the ban. The NCAA is independent of the IAAF and did not suspend Myerscough, but Nebraska chose to honor the international suspension. Nebraska received word Friday that Myerscough's suspension had been lifted.

That was enough time to allow him to compete Saturday and he performed exactly as he had hoped.

``It's unheard of for someone who gets suspended to come back so much better,'' Myerscough said. ``That was my motivation _ to prove them wrong that way. I knew I couldn't get anywhere politically trying to prove them wrong. I decided the best thing I could do is get myself in shape, throw as far as I can and prove them wrong.''

Baylor's Lanie Millar joined Myerscough in setting a Big 12 meet record Saturday, running the 800 meters in 2:07.83, hanging on to defeat Texas Tech's Shannon Spaulding by 9/100ths of a second.

``I was obviously tired at the end,'' Millar said. ``Coming in, I was not sure how it would go because there were a couple of us so close in times. I just hoped for a PR (personal record) because I knew anyone could win on any given day. It was really exciting.''

Meet records were also set in both the men's and women's mile. Shadrack Kimeli of Kansas State ran the mile in 4:04.20 while Sara Gorton of Colorado had a time of 4:40.35.