Husker Men Repeat as B1G Champions

GENEVA, Ohio - The Nebraska men's track and field team repeated as Big Ten Indoor champions on Saturday at the SPIRE Institute. The Huskers totaled 116 points over the two-day meet to win their first back-to-back conference indoor titles since 2004 and 2005 in the Big 12.

NU claimed Saturday’s title by a wide margin - 43 points - for the second straight year, as Wisconsin was second with 73 points, and Minnesota was third with 72 points. The Huskers scored 127 points in 2015 and won by 41.

The win gave legendary head coach Gary Pepin his 31st career indoor team championship and 71st career overall conference title in his 36th year at the helm. It’s the third overall Big Ten title for the Husker men since joining the conference in 2012, and the 37th all-time conference indoor title in men’s program history.

The Nebraska women finished the weekend in sixth place with 48 points. Michigan was the women’s team champion with 109 points.

"I didn't score any points, but it was a great team effort," Pepin said. "A terrific team effort up and down the line. Our assistant coaches did a great job. We felt coming into this meet that it had to be a real team effort. We couldn't wait on or expect points just from the field or the throws. It had to be up and down the line, and we're really proud of them."

Kaiwan Culmer started the day off strong for the Husker men by winning the triple jump title with his third personal-best effort of the day. Culmer went into the finals in second place but took over first on his fifth attempt and then sealed the deal with his final attempt - 51-8 1/2 (15.76m). The sophomore earned his first Big Ten title after finishing sixth in the event a year ago. Junior Davon Clark added four team points by finishing fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 49-5 (15.06m). 

Landon Bartel added the high jump title later in the day with a personal-best clearance of 7-2 1/4 (2.19m) on his first attempt. Bartel, a sophomore who finished second at both the indoor and outdoor conference meets last year, likely earned a bid to nationals with his performance. The Husker men have won the last three Big Ten indoor titles and four of the last five Big Ten high jump titles overall. 

"I just said it's my time to go do this," Bartel said. "I know who I'm doing it for, and I went out and did it. I have a great team here supporting me and I really couldn't do it without them."

Bartel said his two runner-up finishes in 2015 helped him get to the top spot on the podium as a sophomore this year.

"It lit a fire, that's for sure. I love my teammates, that they're able to push me in that aspect. I'm glad to get one for my own."

For the Husker women, Tierra Williams added a triple jump title to her long jump title on Friday. Williams posted a personal-best mark of 43-2 1/2 (13.17m) on her fifth attempt, which ranks No. 7 all-time at Nebraska. Williams took up triple jump for the first time in her career this season and became the first Husker to win two individual titles at a conference meet since Mara Griva won the long and triple jump in 2013.  

Between Culmer's and Bartel's titles, the Husker men racked up points and pulled away in the running events. The Huskers entered the day trailing Wisconsin by 17 points but quickly made it up.

Nebraska climbed within one point of Wisconsin after the 400 meters, as the Huskers collected 10 points. Cody Rush was fourth with a season-best time of 46.50, good for 14th in the nation. Oliver Alexandre was right behind in fifth at 46.69, and Mate Koroknai got eighth at 47.04. 

The Huskers claimed the team lead and never looked back after Antoine Lloyd's 60-meter personal best of 6.74 earned him runner-up honors, while Malcolm White added a seventh-place finish at 6.79. White later finished second in the 200 meters with a blistering personal-best time of 20.94, the second-fastest oversized track time in school history and No. 18 in the nation.

With three scorers in the 60-meter hurdles, the Huskers had a commanding lead with 81 points to Wisconsin's 58. Oladapo Akinmoladun finished second in the event with his best time of the season - 7.71. Iowa's Aaron Mallett kept Akinmoladun from a third straight title with his winning time of 7.69. Lloyd was third, matching his personal best of 7.78, and Sean Pille was sixth by tying his season best of 7.87. 

Early in the day, Reka Czuth finished third and Tierney Lindner finished fifth in the high jump to pick up 10 team points for the women. Czuth cleared 5-11 1/4 (1.81) on her second attempt and was clean up until that height. She was one of three jumpers to reach 6-0 1/2 (1.84m), but no one could clear that height. Czuth took third after the tiebreaker. Lindner, a freshman, cleared a collegiate-best 5-10 (1.78m) on her first attempt and only had one miss up to that point.

The Huskers picked up seven more team points on the men's side in the heptathlon, as Cody Walton finished fifth with 5,341 points and Noah Gabel was sixth with 5,266 points. Guy Fenske was 12th with 5,136 points. Walton ran 8.33 in the 60-meter hurdles and was fourth in the pole vault after clearing 15-6 1/4 (4.73m). Gabel was seventh in the pole vault (14-6 1/4, 4.43m), eighth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.53) and eighth in the 1,000 meters. Fenske finished fourth in his strongest event of the day, the 1,000 meters, with a time of 2:43.86.

Moujtaba Mohammed took sixth in the 600 meters with a personal-best time of 1:17.59, while Levi Gipson was seventh at 1:18.35. Sam Bransby ran 1:20.43 to finish ninth. Karolina Pahlitzsch was sixth for the women at 1:30.90.

The Nebraska men's relay team (Andy Neal, Alexandre, Koroknai, Rush) finished second in 3:06.47 to close out the meet. The women's 4x400 relay (Kari Heck, Pahlitzsch, Morgan Woitzel, Lakayla Harris) ran 3:41.93 to finish seventh.

Among other finishers, Angela Mercurio finished seventh in the triple jump with a jump of 40-3 1/2 (12.28m), and Danielle Jones was ninth at 39-7 3/4 (12.08m), an indoor personal best. Freshman Jasmine Barge took eighth in the 60-meter hurdles final with a time of 8.42. Barge, the only freshman in the race, matched her personal best set Friday in the prelims. Nick Percy was 10th in the weight throw after a huge personal best of 65-9 (20.04m), the fourth-best throw in school history.

The Big Ten Network will air tape-delayed coverage of the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships at 9:30 a.m. CT on Saturday, March 5.

The Huskers will now await next week’s announcement of the athletes who qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on March 11-12.  

2016 Big Ten Indoor Champions
Landon Bartel - High Jump, 7-2 1/4 (2.19m)
Kaiwan Culmer - Triple Jump, 51-8 1/2 (15.76m)
Tierra Williams - Long Jump, 20-7 3/4 (6.29m)
Tierra Williams - Triple Jump, 43-2 1/2 (13.17m)