NU Tunes Up for Big Ten Meet with Nebraska Invite

The Nebraska track and field team will gear up for next week’s Big Ten Outdoor Championships by hosting the Nebraska Invitational this Saturday at Ed Weir Stadium. The Nebraska Invitational begins with field events at 11 a.m. and running events at 3 p.m. Live results will be available at Huskers.com.

Saturday marks the final meet of the regular season. Nebraska will host the Big Ten Championships next Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Ed Weir Stadium. The Huskers have not hosted an outdoor conference championship meet since 2007 in the Big 12. Both the Husker men and women should be in contention for team titles.

The Huskers will welcome athletes from UNO, South Dakota State, Drake, Cloud County Community College and Sioux Falls on Saturday. A number of high-profile athletes are in the field, including LaRon Bennett (400m Hurdles), Cody Snyder (discus), Whitney Jones (long jump) and LaDerrick Ward (long jump). Some former Huskers will compete as well, including Luke Pinkelman (shot put), Will Lohman (hammer throw), Marusa Cernjul (high jump) and Angee (Henry) Nott (100m and 200m).

The Husker men have been led this spring by sophomore thrower Nick Percy. The Ventnor, England native ranks in the top 15 nationally in both the discus and hammer throw. The school-record holder in the hammer throw, Percy also ranks third in the Big Ten in both events.

Tierra Williams has carried over her strong performance during the indoor season into the outdoor season. The Big Ten Indoor triple and long jump champion, Williams is tied for fourth nationally in the triple jump and tied for 20th in the long jump. The Husker women also have three javelin throwers in the top 30 nationally in Sarah Firestone (eighth), Danielle Plank (17th) and Brittni Wolczyk (27th).

Husker Women Ranked 24th in USTFCCCA Poll
The Nebraska women’s track and field team is ranked No. 24 in this week’s USTFCCCA Top 25 rankings. The Husker women won the Kansas Relays quadrangular team title over Kansas, Colorado State and Rice on April 23.The Husker women have seven athletes ranked in the top 25 nationally in individual events, led by Tierra Williams’ No. 4 ranking in the triple jump and Sarah Firestone and Reka Czuth at No. 8 in the javelin and high jump, respectively. All three lead the Big Ten in their events.

Husker Men Looking for Indoor-Outdoor Sweep
The Nebraska men’s track and field team repeated as Big Ten Indoor champions in 2016 and will now look to win their first conference outdoor team title since 2013. The Husker men haven’t swept indoor and outdoor conference titles since 2004 in the Big 12 Conference. At last year’s conference outdoor meet, Nebraska finished second with 108 points. A total of 85 of those points return this outdoor season, and the Huskers add pole vaulter Craig Driver back into the mix after redshirting last year.

Husker Women Seeking Strong Outdoor Season
With runner-up finishes in five of the last six outdoor conference meets, the Nebraska women will look to get over the hump and win their first conference title since the 2012 indoor season. The Husker women return Big Ten javelin champion Sarah Firestone and long jump champion Reka Czuth. Additionally, Tierra Williams is coming off an indoor double, as the long and triple jump champion is poised to continue her strong junior season outdoors. The Husker women scored 97 team points at last year’s Big Ten Outdoor Championships and have 62 of those points returning.

Husker Men Repeat As Big Ten Indoor Champions
In the 2016 indoor season, the Huskers totaled 116 points over the two-day Big Ten Indoor 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.

Four Huskers Win Big Ten Indoor Titles
Four Huskers captured individual Big Ten titles at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. Landon Bartel won the high jump (7-2 1/4) for the first time after finishing as the runner-up twice as a freshman. Kaiwan Culmer won the triple jump with a personal-best mark of 51-8 1/2 for his first Big Ten title. And Tierra Williams swept the long jump and triple jump for the Husker women, leaping 20-7 3/4 and 43-2 1/2, respectively.

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.

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 16 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 41 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.