LINCOLN — With a blazing 200-meter dash, Dax Danns reignited a four-year rivalry with Nebraska teammate Scott Wims in Saturday's Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.

Danns ran a personal-best 21.20 in the 200, tying Wims for fourth on the all-time charts at NU.

“It took me four years,” Danns said. “But I'm just happy to be mentioned up there with Scott.”

Joining the team in 2007, Danns was a shadow. Wims stole the sprinting spotlight early, running a 20.61 in the outdoor season of their freshman year, placing him No. 3 all-time at NU.

Wims followed a solid freshman year by running a 21.20 indoors in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

Fast-forward to Saturday's Sevigne Invite, where Wims false-started in the 60-meter dash of Friday's prelims. Add in Danns' teammate-tying time in the 200, and the spotlight is now on two Huskers.

“It's well-deserved,” Wims said. “You can't get mad when your teammate runs the same time as you. That's what you strive for.

“I put a target on my back really early. He finally caught me.”

In their freshman year, both Danns and Wims said practice was full of fierce competition. Smack talk went both ways.

In 2010, the edge is still there, but a certain respect has come with the years spent together.

“We push each other and try to encourage each other,” Danns said.

As he was getting ready for his 60-meter dash finals, Danns had a personal helper and motivator in the disqualified Wims.

After setting his NCAA provisional time, Danns said it wouldn't be long before a recovering Wims would be back at full speed after suffering back and leg injuries in the past two years. Wims knows that it will be tough no matter what.

“When your teammate catches you, you have to be able to do the same,” Wims said. “It makes you work harder. It won't be easy.”

Danns' victory in the 200 joined a slew of NU victories on the day.

For the NU women, Ashley Miller won the 1,000-meter run, breaking the 20-year-old meet record and setting a provisional qualifying time of 2:49.56.

“I know Nebraska hosts good meets and there's good competition here,” Miller said. “To get the record makes me really proud.”

Triple jumpers Chris Phipps and Nicholas Gordon provisionally qualified with lengths of 51-11¾ and 50-10¾, respectively.

Winning the 60-meter hurdles, Karyn LaCour's time of 8.39 also qualified her provisionally for the NCAA championships.

NU coach Gary Pepin said he was happy with the results from his top performers, but that the depths of his roster still have room to improve.

“There were a lot of fine performances by a lot of teams in the meet,” Pepin said. “I was pleased for the most part with what I saw from our team.”

Some other notable Nebraska finishes:

Pole vault: 1, Natalie Willer, 13-9¼. Men's long jump: 1, Bobby Carter, 24-6½. Women's high jump: 1, Epley Bullock, 6-0. Men's high jump: 1, Paul Hamilton, 7-3¼. Women's triple jump: 1, Tara Korshoj, 41-9¼. Men's 600: 1, Blaise Rewaka, 1:09.85.

Contact the writer:

444-1201, sports@owh.com

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