Huskers Head to NCAA Outdoor Championships

Members of the Nebraska track and field team head to Eugene, Ore., this week for the NCAA Outdoor Championships at historic Hayward Field, set for June 8-11.

The Huskers earned 17 bids to the national meet, including nine on the men’s team and eight on the women’s team. In all, 22 student-athletes will travel to Eugene.

ESPN will provide television and internet streaming coverage each day of the meet: Wednesday (6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2), Thursday (6:30 p.m. on ESPNU and 7 p.m. on ESPN), Friday (7:30 p.m. on ESPN) and Saturday (5:30 p.m. on ESPN).

All broadcasts will be streamed live online at WatchESPN.com or with the WatchESPN app.

Husker Men National Qualifiers
Grant Anderson, High Jump 
Kaiwan Culmer, Triple Jump 
Antoine Lloyd, 110m Hurdles
Nick Percy, Discus 
Sean Pille, 400m Hurdles 
Cody Rush, 400m 
Cody Walton, Decathlon 
4x100 Relay, (Hall, White, Lloyd, Rush)
4x400 Relay (Gipson, Townsend, Neal, Bransby)
Oliver Alexandre, (4x400 alternate)
Elijah Lucy, (4x100 alternate)

Husker Women National Qualifiers
Paula Andrie, Pole Vault 13-6 1/4 (4.12) 19
Reka Czuth, High Jump 5-9 1/4 (1.76) 24
Sarah Firestone, Javelin 168-7 (51.38) 8
Jazmin McCoy, Long Jump 19-8 3/4 (6.01) 24
Karolina Pahlitzsch, 400m Hurdles 58.17 24
Tierra Williams, Long Jump 21-0 1/2 (6.41) 3
Tierra Williams, Triple Jump 43-5 (13.23) 11
Brittni Wolczyk, Javelin 163-3 (49.76) 15

National Championships Preview: Husker Men
• The 4x400 relay team is seeded seventh entering the meet after their regional time of 3:04.40, ran by Levi Gipson, Tanner Townsend, Andy Neal and Sam Bransby. Senior Cody Rush anchored the Huskers’ Big Ten title-winning 4x400 relay team but rested during the regional race after qualifying for nationals in the 400 meters and 4x100 relay. Gipson, Townsend, Bransby and Rush hold the Huskers’ best time this season: 3:03.74. Freshman Oliver Alexandre has been nursing an injury but will also be available for selection to the relay.
• Nick Percy, who finished 15th in the discus last year as a freshman, is seeded eighth in the discus this year with his throw of 194-1 (59.15m) at regionals. His season and personal-best effort is 198-7 (60.52m).
• Rush could run in three events but will likely do just two as he focuses on his individual event, the 400 meters. His regional time of 45.88 was the second-fastest at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, and his personal-best 45.52 earned him a second-place finish in the Big Ten.
• Cody Walton is making his first appearance at the national meet in the decathlon, as the sophomore qualified for nationals with a personal-best 7,620 points to finish third at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
• Sean Pille was the No. 24 seed in the 400-meter hurdles entering regionals but ran the fastest time at the meet - a personal-best 50.72 - to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the event for the first time.
• Grant Anderson will make his first trip to nationals, as the sophomore high jumper cleared 7-1 (2.16m) at regionals. Anderson owns a personal best of 7-1 3/4 (2.18m).
• Kaiwan Culmer already owns a Big Ten indoor title in the triple jump this year but will now make his first appearance at a national championship meet after jumping 52-4 3/4 (15.97m) at the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Culmer set a PR of 52-7 1/2 (16.04m) at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, finishing third.
• Antoine Lloyd will compete in an individual event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time, but he ran the 4x100 and 4x400 relays last year, earning second-team All-America honors in both. Lloyd qualified this year in the 110-meter hurdles after finishing 10th at regionals with a time of 13.83. Lloyd’s personal best is 13.69, which earned him runner-up honors at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
• The 4x100 relay finished 13th last year and has both Ricco Hall and Lloyd back to run it this year. Malcolm White has been a mainstay on the relay as well this season. Rush could run as well, but with two other events on his plate (400m and 4x400 relay), alternate Elijah Lucy will make the trip as a candidate to run the relay.

National Championships Preview: Husker Women
• Tierra Williams is looking to finish off a breakout 2016 season with more hardware. The junior long and triple jumper won four Big Ten titles in the jumps and was the top qualifier in the long jump (21-0 1/2) at the NCAA West regional and No. 2 in the triple jump (43-5). Williams achieved personal bests in both events this outdoor season - 21-4 (6.50m) in the long jump and 44-6 (13.56m) in the triple jump. She finished fifth in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships and is seeded third in the long jump and 11th in the triple jump entering the outdoor meet.
• The Husker women will have two javelin throwers in the field in Eugene. Sarah Firestone is seeded eighth with her regional throw of 168-7 (51.38m). Freshman Brittni Wolczyk is 15th but finished second at the Big Ten meet after her personal-best throw of 171-1 (52.15m).
• Senior Paula Andrie made it over 14-0 (4.27m) in the pole vault for the first time in her career this outdoor season, and she is also headed to nationals for the first time after clearing 13-6 1/4 (4.12m) at regionals to finish 10th.
• Karolina Pahlitzsch will run in the 400-meter hurdles after winning her regional heat with a time of 58.17.
• Reka Czuth will make her first trip to outdoor nationals, as she qualified in the high jump with a leap of 5-9 1/4 (1.76m) at regionals. Czuth has cleared 6-0 1/2 (1.84m) this outdoor season.
• Jazmin McCoy will be back at nationals for the third straight season. The junior qualified in the long jump with a mark of 19-8 3/4 (6.01m) at regionals.

Husker Men Sweep Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships
The Nebraska men’s track and field team completed its first indoor-outdoor conference title sweep since 2004 by winning the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championship on May 15 at Ed Weir Stadium in Lincoln. The Husker men scored 140.5 team points to win by 50 over Michigan (90.5). It’s the largest margin of victory by a Big Ten team at the outdoor meet since 2005. The men captured their 66th overall conference title and fourth since joining the Big Ten. In the 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.

Pepin Named Big Ten Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year
Nebraska track and field head coach Gary Pepin was named both the Big Ten Men’s Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2016. It marked Pepin’s 27th conference coach-of-the-year honor since 1997, when the Huskers started competing in the Big 12. The 2016 Big Ten men’s outdoor title was Pepin’s 72nd career conference title and 30th outdoors. The honor marks Pepin’s fifth selection as Big Ten Coach of the Year since the Huskers moved to the conference in 2011-12.

Five Huskers Win Big Ten Outdoor Titles
The Huskers picked up five event titles at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Tierra Williams swept the long jump and triple jump, just as she did during the indoor season, becoming the first Big Ten female athlete since former Husker Mara Griva in 2013 to sweep the horizontal jumps in the indoor and outdoor seasons. Reka Czuth captured the high jump title, adding to her long jump title in the 2015 outdoor season. Nick Percy captured the discus title, and the men’s 4x400 relay closed out the competition with a Big Ten meet record 3:03.74 to win the gold medal. During the indoor season and in addition to Williams’ two victories, Landon Bartel was the Big Ten high jump champion, while Kaiwan Culmer won the triple jump. Williams (triple jump) and Oladapo Akinmoladun (60-meter hurdles) were first-team All-Americans in the indoor season.

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.