Huskers Host Final Regular Season Indoor Home Meet

Meet: Nebraska Tune-Up
Where: Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center)
When: Friday, Feb. 15 (12:30 p.m.)
Live Results: Huskers.com

The Nebraska track and field team will finish the home slate of the 2013 regular season on Friday, Feb. 15 when it hosts the Nebraska Tune-Up at the Devaney Center Indoor Track. The one-day meet is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. with the women's DMR, while the field events start at 2 p.m. with the men's weight throw and women's long jump.

The meet is free of charge and live results will be available on Huskers.com.

Huskers Gear Up for Big Ten Championships

The Nebraska Tune-Up is the Huskers' final meet before the 2013 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 22-23 in Geneva, Ohio. The meet will be tape delayed and will air on Saturday, March 2 at 11 a.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.

Huskers Dominate Mark Colligan Memorial

The Nebraska track and field team hosted the Mark Colligan Memorial last weekend as they welcomed the Alabama Crimson Tide and North Carolina Tar Heels to the Devaney Center. The Huskers used a dominant performance to earn 18 event crowns and sweep the team titles.

Husker Men Crack Top 10 in National Rankings

The Nebraska men's track and field team is ranked seventh in the latest USTFCCCA poll, moving up seven spots from last week's rankings. The Big Ten leads all leagues with six ranked teams.

Arkansas leads the standings in the No. 1 spot, while Florida is second, Oklahoma State is third, Texas A&M is fourth and Penn State is fifth. Texas Tech comes in at sixth, while Oregon, Texas and Indiana round out the top 10.

Top Competition Highlights Husker Invite

Some of the nation's best competition was at the Devaney Center for the 38th annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. Nebraska came away with six titles on the weekend in the men's and women's long jump, men's 600 meters, men's 800 meters, women's mile special and the men's 4x400 relay.

Huskers Sweep adidas Classic Team Titles

The Nebraska track and field team swept the meet titles at the adidas Classic for the fifth straight year on Jan. 19 at the Devaney Center Indoor Track. Both Husker squads dominated the field, as the women finished with 207 points, while Wichita State finished second with 100 points. The men posted with 205.33 total points; Iowa was second with 111 points. The afternoon was highlighted by numerous personal best performances and 19 event titles for Nebraska, including Jessica Furlan, Janis Leitis and Mara Weekes all winning more than one individual event crown on the day.

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 33rd season at NU during the 2013 track and field season. The longest tenured active coach in Cornhusker athletics, 2013 will be Pepin's 33rd 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 32 seasons at Nebraska, Pepin has coached athletes to 57 NCAA titles, 477 All-America honors and 516 conference titles.

White Leads Huskers, Earns Big Ten Honor

Junior James White made a quick name for himself at the Holiday Inn Invitational during the first weekend of competition, stealing the show and winning the men's high jump with a leap of 7-5 1/4 (2.27), a personal best for him. His jump is the second-best jump in the Big Ten and is fifth all-time in the Nebraska record books. He is the reigning junior college high jump champion after completing the last two years at Central Iowa Community College. White was named the Big Ten Co-Field Athlete of the Week on Jan. 14.

Leitis, Griva Honored by Big Ten

Senior Janis Leitis Nebraska was honored by the Big Ten Conference on Monday, Jan. 21 as he was named the league's male field athlete of the week.

Leitis is undefeated in the long jump this season. He ranks first in the conference and is sixth in the nation in the event. He also ranks fourth in the triple jump nationally and leads the Big Ten Conference.

Mara Griva was named the Big Ten Female Field Athlete of the Week on Monday, Feb. 4 after finishing first in the long jump (20-4 ½) and second in the triple jump (42-5 ¼) at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. Both marks rank first in the conference, while her triple jump and long jump efforts are both 12th in the nation. Griva also won the long jump (20-0 1/4) and triple jump (41-8 1/2) at the Mark Colligan Memorial last weekend

Akinmoladun's Stellar Start

Oladapo Akinmoladun opened his 2013 season by recording the second-best time in the Big Ten this season, the 17th-best time in the nation and the ninth-best performance in Husker history with a personal-best-tying time of 7.83, giving him his first event title as a Husker.

Vidlak Climbing Record Books

Nebraska junior Trevor Vidlak recorded the second-best time in Husker history at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite with a personal-best mark of 14:13.62 in the 5,000 meters. He ranks 10th in the Big Ten Conference. He is also 17th in the Big Ten in the 3,000 meters (8:11.58) and is 16th in the mile with a time of 4:05.55.

Brinn Continues to Excel

Senior Tommy Brinn improved his season time in the 600 meters to 1:17.95 at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite, earning the event title. Brinn's personal-best in the event is 1:17.63, and he is second in the event in the Big Ten Conference. He ranks 18th in the nation in the 800 meters with a time of 1:49.11.

Husker Throwers Set PR's

Chad Wright took home the men's shot put title at the adidas Classic with a throw of 61-6 ¼ (18.75). He improved his personal-best to 61-7 (18.77) at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite, moving him to third in the Big Ten and 14th in the nation. Taylor Shapland recorded a personal-best throw of 57-5 (17.50) at the adidas Classic, the 15th-best throw in the Big Ten.

On the women's side, the Huskers continue to impress, as Annie Jackson leads the way with a personal-best throw of 53-7 (16.33) in the shot put at the Mark Colligan Memorial that ranks fifth in the Big Ten. Veronica Grizzle posted a personal-best throw of 51-10 1/2 (15.81) at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite and ranks sixth in the Big Ten, while Carlie Pinkelman ranks eighth in the Big Ten with a throw of 50-3 ½ (15.33).

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 last season. The NU women earned the second Big Ten title in school history and the first team title for the track and field program. Nebraska 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.

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 a honor.

Huskers Name 2013 Captains

The Nebraska track and field team named its 2013 captains earlier this year. Leading the team this season will be Tommy Brinn, Jessica Furlan, Mara Griva, Tim Thompson, Bjorn Barrefors, Morgan Wilken, Chad Wright, Anne Martin, Seth Wiedel and Ellie Grooters. 

Among the group of captains the Huskers boast one NCAA Champion, seven All-Americans indoors and outdoors (first-team, second-team and honorable mention) and numerous All-Conference competitors.

Wright Under Consideration for Bowerman Award

Nebraska junior Chad Wright was listed among the names released on the initial Bowerman Watch List by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Wright is one of six who received votes on the initial ballot from the selection committee.

The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation. It is named after legendary coach Bill Bowerman. The award takes into consideration the performances during the indoor and outdoor NCAA track and field seasons.

Wright, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, was the 2012 NCAA Discus Champion and is a two-time All-American and All-Big Ten performer. He holds the second-best discus throw in Husker history with a throw of 206-3 (62.88). Wright finished second in the discus at the 2012 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.