Huskers Chase NCAA Marks

Meet: Iowa State Qualifier
Where: Ames, Iowa (Lied Center)
When: Saturday, March 3 (10 a.m.)
Live Results: Cyclones.com

Meet: Alex Wilson Invitational
Where: Notre Dame, Ind. (Loftus Sports Center)
When: Friday, March 2- Saturday, March 3 (1 p.m./10 a.m.)
Live Results: UND.com

After winning the Big Ten indoor women's title and finishing third in the men's race, the Nebraska track and field team now has its sights set on the NCAA Indoor Championships.

With two athletes already automatically qualified for the meet,  NU will travel to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday for the Iowa State NCAA Qualifier, while a select few will travel to the Alex Wilson Invitational in Notre Dame, Ind. The Huskers will be looking to improve their marks on the NCAA list to better their chances of earning a spot at the national meet, which will be held in Boise, Idaho, on March 9-10.

The one-day meet at the Lied Center in Ames, Iowa, is schedule to start on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. with the women's weight throw. The first running events will be the women's 60-meter hurdle prelims at 11 a.m. Live results will be available on Cyclones.com.

The two-day meet at the Loftus Sports Center in Notre Dame, Ind., is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Friday with the women's 5,000 meters and 10 a.m. on Saturday with the men's and women's triple jump.

Of the 24 Huskers that hold a top-50 mark on the NCAA list, 12 Huskers are ranked between 15th and 25th in their event. A top-15 spot nearly guarantees an invite to the national meet. The field for the national meet is expected to be released on Monday, March 5.

Make in 104

The Nebraska women's track and field team capped its first Big Ten Indoor Championships in style with a 114.50-106 win over defending champion Ohio State. The Huskers produced three individual titles during the two-day meet, including a win in the pole vault from Breanna Bussel, the triple jump title from Mara Griva and the 3,000 meters crown from Ashley Miller. The NU women earned the second Big Ten title in school history and the first team title for the track and field program. Nebraska now has a total of 104 conference titles as a program.

As an overall programs, the Huskers won 51 Big Eight titles during the conference's history from 1974-1996 and Nebraska continued to dominate the conference since moving to the Big 12 in 1997. NU had won a league-high 23 team titles, including the program's historic 100th conference team title in 2007.

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 recorded its 103rd conference title in 2011, as the women's team upset four-time defending champion Texas A&M at the indoor championships

Prestigious Pepin

Nebraska's Big Ten women's title last weekend added to the historic 32-year resume of Head Coach Gary Pepin, who now holds 68 conference titles dating back to his first Big Eight win at the 1981 indoor meet. Pepin was honored by his peers on Tuesday, Feb. 28 as the 2012 Big Ten Women's Indoor Coach of the Year.

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 11 of the previous 16 indoor conference championships and have won the triple jump crown eight 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

Two Huskers have secured a spot a the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boise, Idaho, including Luke Pinkelman and Bjorn Barrefors.

Pinkelman secured his third career trip to the national meet at the adidas Classic with a toss of 63-7 1/2 in the shot put. He is ranked seventh on the NCAA list with a throw of 64-0 1/2 at the Tyson Invitational.

Bjorn Barrefors also qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with a score of 5,792 in the heptathlon at the 2012 Big Ten Indoor Championships. With the score, he ranks eighth in the country.

Undefeated

Pinkelman is undefeated on the year and did not let his streak end on his home turf at the 2012 Big Ten Indoor Championships, with a toss of 63-9. With the mark, he earned the Big Ten men's shot put title.

Huskers Claim Big Ten Titles

Nebraska captured five individual titles over the weekend at the 2012 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Breanna Bussel was the Huskers' first Big Ten Conference champion, recording a first-place finish in the pole vault. Bussel notched a personal-best mark of 13-10 1/2.

Ashley Miller claimed the 3,000 meters title while rewriting the Husker record books. Miller posted a personal-best time of 9:17.28 to edge out the first-place finish. With the time, she now sits in first among top 3,000 meter performances at Nebraska.

Pinkelman added Big Ten Champion to his list of accomplishments, taking top honors in the shot put. With a throw of 63-9 (19.43), Pinkelman became a

back-to-back conference champion as he was the Big 12 indoor shot put champion in 2011.

Chris Phipps earned the Big Ten title in the long jump, taking down his competition with a leap of 25-4 1/2 (7.73). The six-time All-American took home his first indoor conference title.

Mara Griva secured  the title in the women's triple jump. Griva notched a season-best jump of 42-9 1/2 (13.04) to take top honors and earn her second indoor conference triple jump title.

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.

Phipps, Pinkelman, Bussel, Miller and Griva were all honored as All-Big Ten first-team selections, the conference announced on Tuesday. Barrefors, Tommy Brinn, Ricco Hall and Patrick Raedler also earned second-team All-Big Ten honors.

Know How to Throw

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

Luke Pinkelman leads the way with the seventh best shot put mark in the country at 64-0 1/2, while Tyler Hitchler ranks 22nd in the shot put (60-10) and Chad Wright is 30th (59-11 1/4).

On the women's side,  Victoria Zimmerman is ranked 23rd in the weight throw (65-10 1/4).

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.