Huskers Travel to Kansas Relays, Mt. SAC Relays

Meet: Kansas Relays
Where: Lawrence, Kan. (Memorial Stadium)
When: Wednesday, April 18 - Saturday, April 21
Live Results: www.DeltaTiming.com

Meet: Mt. SAC Relays
Where: Walnut, Calif. (Hilmer Lodge Stadium)
When: Thursday, April 19 - Saturday, April 21
Results: MtSACRelays.com

The Nebraska track and field teams will travel to Lawrence, Kan., for the KU Relays and to Walnut, Calif., for the Mt. SAC Relays this week. The KU Relays are set to run from Wednesday-Saturday, while the Mt. SAC Relays will be competed Thursday-Saturday.

Live results from the Kansas Relays will be available at DeltaTiming.com, while live results from the Mt. SAC Relays will be available at MtSACRelays.com. Check Huskers.com each day for updates and recaps.

Wright Out of the Gate

Sophomore Chad Wright made his presence known in his first outdoor meet of the season, the Arizona State Invitational, with a winning throw of 195-08 in the invitational division of the men's discus. At the Sun Angel Classic, Wright earned his second event title of the season with a personal-best throw of 198-05 (60.48) in the premier section of the men's discus. The mark ranks fifth all-time in the Nebraska record books.

Wright currently ranks third in the NCAA and his mark is tops among sophomores this season. On the Big Ten list, Wright sits in the No. 1 spot.

Hitchler Following Wright's Lead

Senior Tyler Hitchler is not far behind Wright as he ranks sixth nationally in the discus and is second in the Big Ten Conference. Hitchler finished second to Wright in the discus at the Arizona State Invitational with a mark of 194-0. He notched another second-place finish at the Sun Angel Classic with a throw of 193-02 (58.88).

Ukaoma Produces Strong Start

Nebraska sophomore Miles Ukaoma used an impressive performance in the 400-meter hurdles at the Arizona State Invitational to jump-start his outdoor season. Ukaoma notched a personal-best time of 50.52 in the event to finish in first place.

Ukaoma followed that performance with another first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles at the Arkansas Spring Invitational. He currently ranks sixth nationally in the event. Ukaoma holds the top time in the Big Ten for the event and has the top time for sophomores nationally.

Husker Throwers Lead NU

The Huskers pulled in three event titles at the Sun Angel Classic, all of which came in the throws events.

Morgan Wilken shined for the Huskers in the discus, earning the event title with a throw of 172-09. Chad Wright earned his second event title of the season with a personal-best throw of 198-05 (60.48) in the men's discus premier. In the women's shot put, Veronica Grizzle finished with the event crown, recording a personal-best throw of 53-5 3/4 (16.30).

Luke Pinkelman won the shot put at the K.T. Woodman Classic with a throw of 63-4 (19.30) and currently ranks eighth in the nation. Wilken tabbed another victory in the discus at the meet with a personal-best throw of 175-03 (53.42).

Husker Jumpers Make a Splash

Nebraska notched two event titles in the jumps at the Arkansas Spring Invitational as Mara Griva earned the women's triple jump title (42-2 1/4) and Chris Phipps claimed the men's long jump crown (25-4 1/2). Phipps finished second in the triple jump at the Sun Angel Classic with a mark of 53-1 1/2.

Phipps is currently ninth nationally in the long jump and is sixth in the triple jump, while Griva is  15th in the triple jump.

Anna Weigandt and Patrick Raedler also made their presence known at the Arkansas Spring Invitational. Weigandt finished fourth in the long jump (18-2 1/4) and second in the triple jump (41-3 1/4), recording a personal-best leap. Raedler took home a second-place finish in the men's triple jump with a leap of 50-4 3/4. He finished second in the long jump at the Sun Angel Classic with a leap of 25-2 (7.67). Raedler is currently ranked 11th in the long jump.

Marusa Cernjul tabbed her first event title of the outdoor season at the K.T. Woodman Classic, recording a leap of 5-8 (1.73) in the high jump.

Pole Vaulters Hit PRs

The Huskers swept the pole vault titles at the K.T. Woodman Classic last weekend as Breanna Bussel won the women's division and Nate Polacek captured the men's crown. Bussel finished first with a personal-best vault of 13-7 1/4 (4.15), while Polacek came in first on the men's side with a personal-best vault of 17-7 3/4 (5.38).

Polacek ranks 13th nationally in the event and is first in the Big Ten, as Bussel is ranked 16th nationally and is second in the Big Ten.

Hurdling the Competition

Greta Kerekes also took home an event title at the Arkansas Spring Invitational, earning the 100 meter hurdles crown. She notched a time of 13.93 to take top honors and earn her first event title of the season.

Mila Andric finished ninth in the 400 meter hurdles at the Sun Angel Classic with a season-best time of 59.63.

Miller at Record Pace

Ashley Miller opened the first outdoor meet of her senior season with a personal-best time of 2:03.33 in the 800 meters at the Sun Angel Classic, finishing as the top collegiate runner in fourth-place. Her time was third all-time in the Nebraska record books. She currently ranks third nationally and first in the conference in the event. 

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 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 program, 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 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.

Huskers Produce Solid Indoor Season

The Nebraska track and field team finished the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday, March 10 with a total of six first-team All-America awards during the two-day meet.

2012 First-Team All-Americans

Bjorn Barrefors- Heptathlon

Chris Phipps- Long Jump

Jessica Furlan- Distance Medley Relay

Ellie Grooters- Distance Medley Relay

Ashley Miller- Distance Medley Relay

Mara Weekes- Distance Medley Relay

2012 Second-Team All-Americans

Chris Phipps- Triple Jump

Luke Pinkelman- Shot Put

Nate Polacek- Pole Vault  

2012 Honorable Mention All-Americans

Breanna Bussel- Pole Vault

All-America Pipeline

Nebraska has been a staple at the NCAA Indoor Championships as the men's team alone has produced 118 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 22 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 an honor.