Huskers Head to NCAA Indoor Championships

A total of eight Husker student-athletes will compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 11-12 at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

Representing the Husker men will be Oladapo Akinmoladun in the 60-meter hurdles for the fourth straight year, Landon Bartel in the high jump and the men’s 4x400-meter relay, which will comprise four of Oliver Alexandre, Levi Gipson, Mate Koroknai, Andy Neal, Cody Rush and Drew Wiseman.

For the women, Reka Czuth will compete in the high jump, and Big Ten champion Tierra Williams qualified in the triple jump.

The first Husker to compete will be Akinmoladun on Friday at 6:10 p.m. (CT) in the 60-meter hurdles semifinal. Bartel will compete in the high jump at 7:55 p.m.

On Saturday, Czuth opens with the high jump at 2 p.m. The 60-meter hurdles final runs at 4:25 p.m., Williams begins the triple jump at 5 p.m., and the 4x400 relay is set for 6:40 p.m.

The meet will be streamed live at WatchESPN.com, beginning on Friday at 5:25 p.m. and Saturday at 3:55 p.m.

A tape delay of the championship will air on Sunday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Huskers To Watch
• Oladapo Akinmoladun: Although the senior from Grandview, Mo., just missed on a third straight Big Ten 60-meter hurdles title, he qualified for nationals for a fourth straight season with his time of 7.71 at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Akinmoladun is a two-time Big Ten champion, the school-record holder (7.61) and a first-team All-American in the event last year (seventh place).

• Landon Bartel: The sophomore was a two-time Big Ten high jump runner-up in 2015, but he earned champion honors in 2016. Bartel cleared a personal-best 7-2 1/4 (2.19m) on his first attempt at the height to distance himself from the other two finalists at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Bartel’s jump not only won him the Big Ten title for the first time in his career, it earned him a bid to the indoor national meet for the first time. Bartel also competed at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman, earning honorable-mention All-America honors.

• Men’s 4x400 Relay: The men’s 4x400-meter relay is the back-to-back NCAA Indoor runner-up and is back at the championships for the fourth straight season. Seniors Cody Rush and Levi Gipson have been part of the previous three relays, while junior Drew Wiseman has been on the last two. Freshman Oliver Alexandre has been a staple in the 4x400 relay this season as well. The Huskers’ best time of 3:06.47 at the Big Ten Indoor Championships ranks 10th in the nation. The group that ran that time - Andy Neal, Alexandre, Mate Koroknai and Rush - will travel to Birmingham, along with Gipson and Wiseman as possible selections.

• Tierra Williams: The junior jumper was a standout performer at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, winning both the long jump and triple jump to score 20 of the 48 team points for the Husker women. Williams won the triple jump with a personal-best 43-2 1/2 (13.17m), 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. Her long jump mark was 20-7 3/4 (6.29m), matching her season best.

• Reka Czuth: The sophomore from Pécs, Hungary is the top-ranked Husker entering the NCAA Indoor Championships. Czuth is tied for third nationally in the high jump with her personal-best clearance of 6-1 1/2 (1.87m) on Feb. 6, which also was the best jump in the Big Ten. Czuth, a sophomore, finished third at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, and last year she was the Big Ten Outdoor champion in the long jump.

Husker Men Repeat as Big Ten Indoor Champions
The Nebraska men’s track and field team repeated as Big Ten Indoor champions on Saturday, Feb. 27 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. 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 the 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.

Pepin Earns Repeat Big Ten Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year Honor
Nebraska track and field head coach Gary Pepin was named Big Ten Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year for the second straight year. It marks the 26th conference coach-of-the-year honor for Pepin since 1997, when the Huskers started competing in the Big 12. Pepin led the Husker men to a dominating win at the Big Ten Indoor Championships over the weekend. The Huskers totaled 116 points, 43 more than the runner-up, to give Pepin his 71st overall conference team title and 31st indoors. Pepin once again assembled a talented all-around roster, as 24 of the 32 Husker men scored at least a point, and Nebraska scored in 12 of the 18 events. Coaching the jumps specifically, Pepin helped guide sophomores Landon Bartel and Kaiwan Culmer to Big Ten titles in the high jump and triple jump, respectively. In total, the men’s jumpers combined for 33 of the Huskers’ 116 team points. The honor marks Pepin’s fourth selection as Big Ten Coach of the Year since the Huskers moved to the conference in 2011-12.

Rush Receives Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award From Big Ten
Cody Rush of the Nebraska track and field team was chosen as the 2016 Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award recipient by the Indianapolis Big Ten Community Partnership. The award is an annual scholarship recognizing one male and one female Big Ten senior pursuing a postgraduate degree for achievements in academics, athletics, extracurricular activities and leadership. Rush will graduate in May with a degree in nutrition science. In his final undergraduate semester, Rush boasts a 3.931 GPA and plans to attend the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry after graduation. The senior from Grand Island, Neb., is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athlete-2-Athlete Mentors and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Rush is a four-time USTFCCCA first-team All-American, two-time All-Big Ten honoree, an Academic All-America selection and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten recipient. Rush is Nebraska’s fifth Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award honoree in the last four years.

Maxwell Named Region Assistant Coach of the Year
Nebraska assistant coach Billy Maxwell was honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) as the Midwest Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year. Maxwell, in his 21st year guiding the men’s sprints and hurdles, coached his athletes to 59 of the Huskers’ 116 points at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. His sprinters finished runner-up in the 60 meters, 200 meters, 60-meter hurdles and 4x400 relay as Nebraska won the Big Ten team title for the second straight season. He will have two entries compete at the NCAA Championships next week, the 4x400 relay and Oladapo Akinmoladun in the 60-meter hurdles. The award marks the fifth time Maxwell has received assistant-coach-of-the-year accolades, adding to his selections in the 2005 indoor season, 2009 indoors and 2014 indoors and outdoors.

Huskers Hold Record Dual-Meet Win Streak
The Husker men’s team has won 15 consecutive dual/tri/quad meets dating back to 2001, the longest streak in the NCAA per DailyRelay.com. In that span, the Huskers have defeated 38 opponents.

Big Ten Outdoor Championships Coming to Lincoln
For the first time, Nebraska’s Ed Weir Stadium will host the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships when the event comes to Lincoln May 13-15. The Huskers hosted the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2012 in their first Big Ten season. The women won the title at that meet, while the men finished third. The last time the Huskers hosted a conference outdoor meet was the Big 12 Championships in 2007.

Huskers Name 13 Team Captains
The Nebraska track and field program has named 12 team captains for the 2016 indoor and outdoor seasons. Five Huskers were captains on last year’s squad and will resume their leadership roles in 2016: seniors Craig Driver (pole vault), Cody Rush (sprints), Kari Heck (jumps), Tristen Sharp (throws) and junior Sarah Firestone (javelin). The Huskers will have seven new captains in the upcoming season. On the men’s side, seniors Jake Bender (sprints), Christian Sanderfer (pole vault), Ricco Hall (sprints) and sophomore Landon Bartel (high jump) will serve as captains. For the women, senior Paula Andrie (pole vault) and two juniors - Anna Peer (distance) and Dani Jones (jumps) - are the new additions.

Maxwell Inducted into USTFCCCA Hall of Fame
Nebraska track and field assistant coach Billy Maxwell was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in December. A nationally renowned sprints/hurdles/relays coach, Maxwell completed his 20th season at Nebraska in 2015. He has been a critical element to the success of the Husker track and field program over the last two decades. Maxwell is a four-time Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year, including both indoor and outdoor in 2014. He joined head coach and friend Gary Pepin, who was inducted in 2008, in the hall.