Percy Wins Discus at Drake Relays

DES MOINES, Iowa - On a cold and rainy Saturday at Drake Stadium, the Nebraska track and field team finished competition at the Drake Relays. 

Sophomore Nick Percy was the top collegiate athlete in the discus with a throw of 187-5 3/4 (57.14m). Although he was unable to set a personal best in the event for a fourth straight meet, the mark was good enough for the native of Ventnor, England to finish ahead of 24 other collegiate athletes, including Husker twins Carlos Davis and Khalil Davis, who threw 158-3 1/4 (48.24m) and 151-9 3/4 (46.27m), respectively, in their second career outdoor meets. The trio of Huskers rank in the top seven in the Big Ten in the event.

"I think it was a pretty good day," Percy said. "It was still about 190 (feet) and it's about 40 degrees with three inches of rain, so I'm pretty happy to pull out a good throw like this. It's like being back home, maybe a little worse, but it is similar." 

Percy also finished fourth among collegians in the hammer throw with his best mark on his last attempt, 203-5 3/4 (62.02m). 

The men's 4x400 relay (Levi Gipson, Oliver Alexandre, Sam Bransby, Cody Rush) closed out the day by placing third with a time of 3:07.71.

Tess Merrill and Paula Andrie both cleared 13-9 1/4 (4.20m) in the pole vault to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. The event was moved indoors because of the rain. For Merrill, 13-9 1/4 (4.20m) was a personal best and ranked tied for fourth all-time in NU history. It was a season best for Andrie, and the pair are now tied for third in the Big Ten. The men's high jump was also moved indoors, and Landon Bartel finished fifth by clearing 6-11 3/4 (2.13m), his best effort of the outdoor season.

The men's distance medley relay (Jacob Olson, Jake Nelson, Moujtaba Mohammed, Matt Gilbert) earned a fourth-place finish with their time of 9:49.98. The women's 4x100 relay also took fourth, as Jazmin McCoy, Lakayla Harris, Chanel Freeman and Quashira McIntosh ran 45.82. The Huskers had by far the youngest relay in the event with three freshmen and one junior (McCoy). 

The men's 1,600-meter sprint medley relay (Nelson, Cam Holmes, Tanner Townsend, Edgar Propst) finished seventh with a time of 3:26.90. The women's sprint medley relay (McIntosh, Harris, Ashleigh Carr, Haley Harsin) took ninth place in 3:59.01.

In the women's shot put, Toni Tupper took sixth by throwing 51-0 (15.54m) on her final attempt. 

The Huskers host the Nebraska Invitational next Saturday at Ed Weir Stadium and then get set to host the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on May 13-15.