NU Track and Field Blog - Feb. 2010

Jeremy Foote - T&F Media Relations Contact | jfoote@huskers.com
Posted: 2:05 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4 - North Stadium in Lincoln

Frank Sevigne Meet Info

The Nebraska track and field team will host the prestigeous 35th Annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational this weekend at the Devaney Center. Started in 1975 by former NU track and field coach Frank Sevigne, the meet annually draws some of the top talent in the country to Lincoln. At last year’s meet, there were seven NCAA automatic-qualifying performances and another 41 provisional-qualifying marks. This year’s meet is expected to be just as strong as there will be seven USTFCCCA top-25 teams at the Devaney Center, including the No. 6 ranked Husker men and the No. 13 Husker women.

Head Coach Gary Pepin on the Meet
What was the meet like when you first got here?
“Before I first got here I had a background of working at the Kansas Relays from my time at the University of Kansas. It was a small meet, but Frank invited schools from the east coast, particularly Villanova, who had great middle distance and distance groups.”

“Soon after my arrival I convinced Frank to make it a larger meet and we started trying to get sponsors and started naming events after our superstar athletes.”

What did the new indoor track do for the meet?
“When we first opened our current track, there were hardly any facilities like it in the country, outside of Penn State and Notre Dame. Since then a lot of schools have built new facilities and it is much harder to get schools to come here. It’s not that they don’t want to come here, but travel expenses are higher and there are closer facilities for them to travel to.

How is this meet different then other meets at Nebraska?
“This meet is meant to be made for the best athletes. With it being an invite only meet we want athletes to come here and challenge each other and qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. We have a great facility, great officials and one of the best crowds in the country. This is a meet for the best athletes to put on great performances.”

History of the Meet
The Husker Invitational is named in honor of former University of Nebraska coach Frank Sevigne, who fought a gallant battle against cancer prior to his death on Jan. 29, 1985. Sevigne was posthumously inducted into the United States Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Dec. 4, 2004, in Portland, Ore.

Sevigne brought a wealth of success to Nebraska athletics. He oversaw a total of 11 national champions, 42 All-Americans and 103 individual conference champions. One of his former athletes, sprinter Charlie Greene, added an Olympic gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 1968 Games.

Sevigne was an outstanding coach who had the foresight to introduce one of the top collegiate indoor track meets in the nation, the Husker Invitational, which has been renamed the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in his honor.

With the advent of the Bob Devaney Sports Center, Sevigne had a dream. He was proud of this new facility, and he was dedicated to establishing an indoor meet in this area that would bring honor to the university and the sport he loved.

"They didn’t build this place for Frank Sevigne. This place will be here long after I’m gone, so we should be thinking of the athletes and the fans to come and really build a tradition they can enjoy through the years," Sevigne said.

That’s how the idea of a Husker Invitational sprouted. Sevigne’s career was spawned in the East, where he cut his coaching teeth on the excitement of the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden and similar glamour events.

"This isn’t Madison Square Garden, that’s for sure, but we’ve got a great place and we can bring in some really outstanding teams and individuals," he said. "If we do the job right, they’ll all want to come to our meet, and we can give the fans a real treat, as well as the athletes some great competition."

Coach Sevigne did the job right and the Husker Invitational grew in size and stature. Top college teams did hear about the meet and do want to compete here, and this year’s field bears glowing testimony. Current coach Gary Pepin and his staff picked up the challenge left to them by Frank Sevigne and have continued to build the Husker Invitational into one of the nation’s most respected winter track and field events.

Although the University of Nebraska lost an excellent coach, Husker fans can see that Frank Sevigne’s dream did come true and that for years to come many, many people?athletes and fans?will be thrilled by the action at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.