Huskers Host Big Ten Indoor Championships

Meet: Big Ten Indoor Championships
Where: Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center)
When: Friday, Feb. 24 - Saturday, Feb. 25 (10 a.m./10 a.m.)
Live Results: Huskers.com
BTN Tape Delay: Saturday, March 10 at 12:30 p.m. CT 

The Nebraska track and field team will host its first Big Ten Indoor Championships this weekend at the Devaney Indoor Track on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25. The Huskers have previously played host to the Big 12 indoor conference meet nine times in past 15 years, including six straight championships from 2001 to 2006 and most recently in 2011.

The meet is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. on Friday with the men's heptathlon 60 meters, while the first field event will be the women's pole vault at 11:30 a.m. and the first track event is the women's 3,000 meters at noon. The men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles starts the action on Saturday at 10 a.m., the women's high jump will be the first field event at 11 a.m. and the women's 5,000 meters will be the first track event at 12:30 p.m.

Of the 22 teams in attendance, eight of them enter the meet ranked in the nation top 25. Ohio State is represented in the top 15 for both men and women, checking in at No. 13 for the men and No. 10 for the women. On the men's side, Minnesota is ranked eighth, Indiana is No. 11, Nebraska checks in at No. 15 and Penn State is ranked 18th. On the women's side, Wisconsin is ranked No. 17 and Michigan State holds the No. 24 spot.

A total of 12 athletes, in seven different events have already automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 9-10, along with one men's relay team.

Live results will be available on Huskers.com, while tickets can still be purchased on Huskers.com, by calling 1-800-8BIGRED or by stopping by the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office.

103 and Counting

After winning 51 Big Eight titles during the conference's history from 1974-1996, the Huskers continued to dominate since moving to the Big 12 Conference for the 1997 season. NU won a league-high 23 team titles during the Big 12's 14-year history, including the program's historic 100th conference team title in 2007 at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.

The Huskers added their 101st and 102nd titles during the 2009 and 2010 outdoor seasons when they became the first men's team in Big 12 history to win back-to-back team titles at the outdoor conference meet.

Nebraska also added to its lead of 103 in 2011 as the Husker women took the 2011 Big 12 Indoor Championship. The Huskers won the championship over four-time defending champion Texas A&M.

Back-to-Back

This weekend Mara Griva, Luke Pinkelman and Bjorn Barrefors will have a chance to become a back-to-back conference champions.

Griva earned the Big 12 indoor long and triple jump crowns in 2011, while Pinkelman was the 2011 indoor shot put champion and Barrefors claimed the 2011 indoor heptathlon title.

Big-Time Jumpers

The Husker women have been arguably one of the top programs when it comes to the high, long and triple jumps. The Huskers have won at least one title in one of the events at 10 of the previous 15 indoor conference championships and have won the triple jump crown seven times, including five straight wins from 2000 to 2004.

The women pulled off the clean sweep in 2004 when Na'Tassia Vice won the high jump, while Ineta Radevica won the long and triple jumps.

NCAA Ticket Punched

Senior Luke Pinkelman used an impressive performance at the adidas Classic to secure a spot at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boise, Idaho. He notched his third career trip to the national meet with a toss of 63-7 1/2 in the shot put. He also came in first in the shot put at the Tyson Invitational with a throw of 64-0 1/2 (19.52), marking his third NCAA automatic-qualifying performance of the season. His throw ranks as the sixth-best mark in the country heading into this weekend's competition.

Seniors Lead Huskers

Nebraska's senior class has led the Huskers in 2012 as they have produced top performances for the Huskers throughout the indoor season.

Ashley Miller has guided the Husker distance runners with record-setting performances in her senior campaign. Miller holds the  top Husker time in the 800 meters,  mile and 3,000 meters.

Pinkelman holds the Huskers only automatic qualifying mark in the shot put, last producing a throw of 64-0 1/2 at the Tyson Invitational.

Chris Phipps has led the Huskers in the jumps with six top finishes in 2012. He picked up where he left off last season, claiming titles in the long jump (25-2) and triple jump (51-9) at the Holiday Inn Invitational. He has added two more titles in both the long and triple jumps through his senior season.

Nate Polacek has led the Husker pole vaulters so far in 2012, notching three top finishes in the event and a season-best mark of 17-10 1/4 (5.44) at the Nebraska Tune-Up.

Huskers Earn Big Ten Honors

Nebraska seniors Ashley Miller and Luke Pinkelman were honored by the Big Ten Conference on Monday, Jan. 23 after being selected as the Big Ten Female Track and Male Field Athletes-of-the-Week. The accolade marked the first Big Ten Indoor Track and Field weekly award for both Miller and Pinkelman.

Pinkelman was honored for the second-consecutive week after being selected as the Big Ten Co-Field Athlete-of-the-Week on Monday, Jan. 30. He earned the accolade after placing first in the shot put with an NCAA-qualifying mark of 63-8 1/4 at the Mark Colligan Memorial. He earned another honor on Monday, Feb. 13 after winning the shot put at the Tyson Invitational.

Hall Making His Mark

Freshman Ricco Hall has excelled in his first indoor season with the Huskers. At the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, Hall used an impressive performance in the men's 400 meters to take the event title. His effort proved to be one of the highlights of the afternoon as he came from behind and took first with a personal-best mark of 46.93. His time ranks fourth in school history for the indoor 400 meters and puts him 18th nationally in the 400 meters this season. Hall also won the 200 meters at the Iowa State Classic with a time of 21.40.

Know How to Throw

The Husker throws squad is well represented on the NCAA top-50 list with four athletes in the shot put and one in the weight throw.

Luke Pinkelman leads the way with the sixth best shot put mark in the country at 64-0 1/2, while Tyler Hitchler ranks 18th in the shot put (60-10) and Chad Wright is 25th (59-11 1/4).

On the women's side,  Annie Jackson is ranked 47th in the shot put (50-2) and Taylor Jensen is 50th in the weight throw (61-8 1/2).

Winning Ways

The all-time winningest track and field coach in the history of the Big 12 and the former Big Eight Conference, Nebraska Head Coach Gary Pepin enters his 32nd season at NU during the 2012 track and field season. The longest tenured active coach in Cornhusker athletics, 2012 will be Pepin's 29th season as head coach of both the Husker men's and women's track teams. Pepin captured 23 Big 12 titles as the Huskers' leader.

In his first 31 seasons at Nebraska, Pepin has coached athletes to 56 NCAA titles, 476 All-America honors and 512 conference titles.

All-America Pipeline

Nebraska has been a staple at the NCAA Indoor Championships as the men's team alone has produced 116 All-America awards.  The men's squad has been on quite a roll as they have had at least one athlete earn All-American honors at the past 21 national meets. Since the indoor championships began in 1965, the Huskers have failed to leave with at least one All-America award on just five occasions, including 1975, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1990.

The women's team has been just as good indoors since the national meet started in 1980. Along with three straight national titles from 1982 to 1984, the Huskers have two or more All-Americans at every meet except for 2002 when they failed to earn a honor.