Huskers Travel to New Mexico Collegiate Invitational

Meet: New Mexico Collegiate Invitational
Where: Albuquerque, N.M. (Albuquerque Convention Center)
When: Saturday, Feb. 1 (10:30 a.m.)
Live Results: LiveRunningResults.com
Teams: Air Force, Arizona State, LSU, Nebraska, Notre Dame, TCU, UCLA and Utah State

The Nebraska track and field team will hit the road for the first time this weekend as the Huskers travel to the New Mexico Collegiate Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday. The Huskers will face a loaded field in New Mexico, Air Force, Arizona State, LSU, Notre Dame, TCU, UCLA and Utah State in scored meet at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

The meet is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. CT, with the women’s weight throw. The first running event is set to begin at 11 a.m., with the men’s 600 meters. The meet will conclude at 5:35 p.m., with the women’s 4x400-meter relay.

The meet will use NCAA scoring, which means that top-eight finishers
in each event will earn points for their team. First place will earn 10 points, while the next five finishers will earn 8-6-5-4-3-2-1, respectively.

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 34th season at NU during the 2014 track and field season. The longest tenured active coach in Cornhusker athletics, 2014 will be Pepin’s 34th 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 33 seasons at Nebraska, Pepin has coached athletes to 57 NCAA titles, 485 All-America honors and 526 conference titles.

Husker Men Ranked No. 9 Nationally
In the first regular-season edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I National Team Computer Rankings released Tuesday, the Husker men come in at No. 9 nationally.

Arkansas leads the men’s rankings, with Florida, Oregon, Wisconsin and Texas A&M rounding out the top five. Florida State, Penn State and Arizona lead the Huskers, while Oklahoma State is No. 10.  

Husker Men and Women Ranked Top Five in Dual Meet Rankings
In the latest set of Dual Meet Rankings compiled by Track and Field News, the Husker men and women are both ranked third.

Texas A&M leads all teams on the women’s side, while Arkansas is second and LSU and Notre Dame round out the top five. Texas A&M also leads the men, with Arkansas is second and Purdue and LSU are fourth and fifth, respectively.

Last Time Out: Huskers Sweep Team Titles, Claim 21 Event Crowns
The Nebraska track and field team competed in its first scored meet of the 2014 season last Saturday as the Huskers hosted Wichita State, UT-Arlington and Oral Roberts in front of 1,263 fans at the Devaney Center Indoor Track.

Nebraska used a dominant effort to sweep  the team titles, earning 21 individual event crowns. The NU men amassed a team point total of 212 to surpass Wichita State in second (141), UT-Arlington in third (116) and Oral Roberts (32). On the women’s side, The Huskers totaled 196 points with Wichita State posting 139, while UT-Arlington notched 102 and Oral Roberts produced 61.

Make in 105
The Nebraska men’s track and field team capped its first Big Ten Outdoor Championships in style with 131.50 total points last season. Nebraska has a total of 105 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. In 2012, the Husker women claimed the second Big Ten title in school history, earning the indoor crown.

Baird Named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week
Nebraska freshman Kadecia Baird was honored by the Big Ten Conference on Monday as she was selected as the league’s female track athlete of the week. The honor marks her first Big Ten indoor track and field weekly award. The last Husker to earn the honor was Ashley Miller on Jan. 23, 2012.

Baird ran in the New Balance games at The Armory in New York City over the weekend. Competing in the elite division of the women’s 300 meters, she clocked a personal-best time of 37.26 to finish second in the event. Olympian Shaunae Miller led the field of world-class sprinters, posting a time of 36.40.

Huskers Leading the Big Ten
Through the first two weeks of the indoor track and field season, two Huskers lead the Big Ten in their respective events. Levi Gipson is first in the men’s 600 meters with a time of 1:17.65. Patrick Raedler also leads the Big Ten in the long jump with a leap of 20-10 1/2.

Holding a second-place standing in the Big Ten is Kadecia Baird- 200 meters (23.70), Cody Rush- 400 meters (47.12), London Hawk- 600 meters (1:18.40), Marusa Cernjul- high jump (5-8 1/2), Christian Sanderfer- pole vault (17-0 3/4), Paula Andrie- pole vault (13-3 3/4), Devandrew Johnson- triple jump (50-6 3/4) and Ellie Ewere- triple jump (41-10 3/4).

Gipson Named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week
Nebraska sophomore Levi Gipson was honored by the Big Ten Conference on Monday, Jan. 20 as he was selected as the Big Ten Male Track Athlete of the Week. The honor marks the first indoor track and field weekly award of his career.

The Lincoln native led the Huskers at the Holiday Inn Invitational, coming in as the top collegiate finisher in the men’s 600 meters. His personal-best time of 1:17.65 is first in the nation and in the Big Ten and third all-time in the Nebraska record books.

All-America Pipeline
Nebraska has been a staple at the NCAA Indoor Championships as the men’s team alone has produced 120 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 23 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 and 2013 when they failed to earn a honor.

Home-Grown Talent
Fans of track and field in the state of Nebraska will see a lot of familiar faces this season as 68 of the Huskers’ 139 athletes are Nebraska natives. Overall, the team is represented by 18 states and nine countries.

Huskers Name 2014 Captains
The Nebraska track and field team named its 2014 captains earlier this year. Leading the team this season will be Miles Ukaoma, Anne Martin, Trevor Vidlak, Annie Jackson, Chad Wright, Patrick Raedler and Ellie Grooters.  

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