Men's 4x400 Takes Second Again at NCAA Championships

Fayetteville, Ark. - The Nebraska men's 4x400 relay team set another school record on its way to a runner-up finish for the second straight year at the NCAA Track and Field Indoor Championships on Saturday at the Randal Tyson Track Center. 

The Huskers blitzed to a 3:04.83 in the final race of the night to trail only Texas A&M's collegiate record 3:02.86 in the same heat. Jacob Bender, Cody Rush, Levi Gipson and Drew Wiseman's time of 3:04.83 topped last year's record race of 3:05.69 by almost a full second. The Husker men's 4x400 has now earned a top-eight finish at each of the past three NCAA Indoor Championships, joining Arkansas as the only other school to do so.

The result boosted the Husker men to a tie for 13th in the final team standings with 14 points. The finish is the best indoors for the Husker men since a tie for fifth in 2009. Oregon won the men's team title with 74 points, and Arkansas won the women's with 63.

James White, a senior from Grandview, Mo., was the top individual finisher for the Huskers, grabbing a tie for fourth in the high jump. White was successful on his first attempt at each of the first three heights, culminating in a best jump of 7-2 1/2 (2.20m). He was unable to clear 7-3 3/4 (2.23m). Texas Tech had a 1-2 finish in the event, as both Jacorian Duffield and Bradley Adkins reached 7-6. The fourth-place finish was the best NCAA finish for White.

Oladapo Akinmoladun, a junior also from Grandview, Mo., ran a 7.80 in the 60m hurdles to finish seventh. Arkansas' Omar McLeod won the event with a collegiate record 7.45. 

For the Husker women, Ellie Ewere took ninth in the triple jump, notching her best leap of 42-5 1/4 on her first attempt. 

The Huskers will begin their outdoor season on March 27-28 at the ASU Pac-12 Conference vs. Big Ten Conference Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.