Huskers Finish Competition at Two Meets

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Nebraska track and field teams wrapped up competition at the Tyson Invitational on Saturday at Randal Tyson Track Center.

The men's 4x400 relay team of Cody Rush, Oliver Alexandre, Levi Gipson and Drew Wiseman posted a time of 3:06.96, the third-fastest time in NU indoor history and good for eighth in the nation and No. 1 in the Big Ten this season.

The Huskers' distance runners had a strong day. Matt Gilbert posted a 3,000-meter personal best of 8:19.03 to place second in the race. Nolan Border ran a personal best of 8:21.62, and Austin Post set a new PR of 8:22.50, as they finished fourth and fifth overall.

Katrina Santiago won her 3,000-meters section with a personal-best time of 9:50.92. Her time was good for fourth overall when combined with the seeded section. Bonnie Smith (17:31.06) and Megan Lush (PR 17:41.51) placed third and fifth in the 5,000 meters. Patrick Letz ran a PR 14:54.19 to finish fifth in the 5K, while Wyatt McGuire was sixth at 15:06.77.

Tess Merrill set a pole vault personal best of 13-7 1/4 (4.15m) to finish third in the unseeded section of the event. Her clearance earned her the No. 7 spot in NU indoor history and No. 4 in the Big Ten this season.

Kaiwan Culmer placed third in the triple jump, matching his all-time PR of 50-6 1/4 (15.40m). Davon Clark was seventh with a jump of 49-2 1/4 (14.99m). Tierra Williams was fifth in the women's triple jump, posting a jump of 42-0 (12.80m).

The men's distance medley relay team (Jordan De Spong, Sam Bransby, Edgar Propst and Jacob Olson) ran a season-best 9:57.77 to finish third. The women's 4x400 relay (Jasmine Barge, Morgan Woitzel, Kristen Dowell and Chantal Duncan) ran a season-best 3:41.89 to take seventh in their section.

Pittsburg State Gorilla Classic
The Huskers also concluded competition at the Pittsburg State Gorilla Classic at the Harvey Dean Track in Pittsburg, Kan.

Angela Mercurio won the women's triple jump with a PR of 40-5 (12.32m), while Danielle Jones was third with an indoor personal-best 39-7 (12.06m).

Morgan Smith was the 60-meter hurdles winner with a personal-best time of 8.62 in the finals.

Grant Anderson won the high jump title, clearing 6-11 1/2 (2.12m). Landon Bartel and Mike McCann were third and fourth, both clearing 6-9 (2.06m).

Reka Czuth was the top collegian in the women's high jump, clearing 5-8 1/2 (1.74m). Tierney Lindner and Morgan Pieri each went over 5-7 1/4 (1.71m) to tie for third.

Ryan Bates and Trent Classen started off the day with personal bests in the 3,000 meters. Bates ran 8:40.19 to place second in the unseeded section, while Classen ran 8:42.71 to finish fourth. In the women's 3,000 meters, Nicole Colonna was sixth with a personal-best time of 10:34.25. 

Allexis Menghini took fourth in the seeded pole vault section, clearing 12-6 (3.81m). Cam Holmes was fourth in the unseeded 400 meters section with a personal-best time of 49.00, good for 14th overall.

The Huskers host their final indoor home meet, the Nebraska Tune-Up, on Friday at 12:15 p.m.