Pepin Admirers Williams, Bartel Plan to Serve Others

Huskers Compete in NCAA Indoor Championships

Randy York N-Sider

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In the game we call life, no exercise is better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up, and Nebraska has two NCAA Championship track and field qualifiers who embrace that philosophy and hope to serve others after they complete their collegiate eligibility and graduate from Nebraska.

Meet 2016 Big Ten Conference champions Tierra Williams and Landon Bartel, a.k.a. exhibits A and B in their ability to reach down and lift up teammates, as well as themselves. Both were recruited by and compete for Gary Pepin, the all-time winningest track and field coach in the history of the Big 12 and predecessor Big Eight Conference.

A sophomore high jumper from Ashland, Mo., Bartel is majoring in Religious Studies and has an ultimate goal “to glorify God however I can, and that looks like becoming a youth pastor or a college pastor,” he told me.

The 2016 Big Ten long jump and triple jump champion from Auburn, Neb., by way of Louisiana, Williams is majoring in Family Science and minoring in Criminology. A junior, she hasn’t finalized her life goal “but I know I want to help people,” she told me. “Track and field has taught me many lessons and brought me many blessings, and whatever I choose to do, I want to serve others and give back.”

Not coincidentally, both nationally prominent Husker recruits are in alignment to reach out and serve others because they’re experiencing the power of having a coach and respecting a mentor who touches both of their lives on a daily basis. That’s been their shared mantra since they signed their national letters of intent to be Huskers.

Tierra Williams: Coach Pepin Has a Very Calm Demeanor about Everything

“Coach Pepin (pictured above) just has a very calm demeanor about everything, and that kind of takes the pressure off of worrying about how far you can go,” Williams said. “He takes the edge off of how serious he really is, so you feel like you can be free and have fun at the same time you’re competing with the best.”

Pepin “builds my confidence every day,” Williams added. “He’s always telling me that I have the potential to be great if I want to be, and he always instills that in my head. He gives you the confidence to go out there and make him proud and the University proud.”

Bartel reinforces the thought. “Coach Pepin is a head coach who never shows worry,” he said. “He expects us to perform like we’re trained. He keeps a really cool head, and that’s probably because of his 35-plus years of coaching experience. He knows how athletes go up and down, and he knows how we react to our coaches being worried or when they're in a bad place.”

The result is an uncanny ability “to constantly lift us up instead of making us feel like we have to lift ourselves up,” Bartel said. “If nothing else, the greatest part of Coach Pepin is knowing that we’re in good hands because he’s been doing this longer than we’ve been alive. We know he’s going to do what’s best for us in every circumstance.”

Williams and Bartel are two of eight Husker student-athletes competing at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday night and Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.

Hungary Native Reka Czuth Leads Four Nebraska Individual NCAA Qualifiers

Nebraska’s other two individual qualifiers are Oladapo Akinmoladun and Reka Czuth. A senior from Grandview, Mo., “Dapo” – a two-time Big Ten champion and returning first-team All-American – qualified for a fourth straight season in the 60-meter hurdles. A sophomore from Pécs, Hungary, Czuth (pictured above) is NU's top-ranked qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championships. She’s tied for third nationally in the high jump with a personal best of 6-1½.

The Nebraska men’s 4x400-meter relay has finished runner-up in back-to-back NCAA Indoor Championships and the Huskers have qualified for a fourth consecutive season. Nebraska ranks 10th nationally in the event and will go with four from six possible selections – Oliver Alexandre, Levi Gipson, Mate Koroknai, Andy Neal, Cody Rush and Drew Wiseman.

When it comes to competition like the NCAA Indoor Championships, only one thing is certain at Nebraska, which has won three indoor national titles. The Huskers’ team chemistry and camaraderie will be among the best in the country for one simple reason – Nebraska’s men’s and women’s teams push each other and care about each other.

“Tierra and I are pretty close,” Bartel said of Williams. “I just loved seeing her win both the long jump and triple jump at the Big Ten meet in Ohio. We knew from last year that she had some big stuff that she could do. She came through, and she’s going to take advantage of everything she can to represent Nebraska like we all want to do.”

This weekend will be Williams’ first NCAA Indoor Championship experience. “My goal is like Landon’s and everyone else’s under Coach Pepin – always get better than I was the last time out,” she said. “I had a good meet at the Big Ten, and I want to look in the mirror and know 100 percent that I got better at the NCAA meet.”

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