4x400 Reaches Final With No. 3 Time in NU History

EUGENE, Ore. - The Nebraska men's 4x400-meter relay team clinched a spot in Friday's final with the third-fastest time in NU history on day one of the NCAA Track & Field Outdoor Championships on Wednesday at Hayward Field.

Levi Gipson, Tanner Townsend, Sam Bransby and Cody Rush ran 3:03.31, the Huskers' best time since 1991, to finish second in heat two and earn an automatic spot in the final. NU's time ended up as the second-fastest time overall in the prelims. Rush ran the fastest anchor leg of anyone in the heat, 44.37, to rally the Huskers from third place past Texas A&M for second place down the stretch. 

Gipson and Rush were part of the Huskers' relay team that finished sixth in 2014, and the seniors will aim to cap off their careers with the Husker men's first-ever outdoor relay national title in Friday's 9:51 p.m. (CT) final. Only Florida (3:02.78) had a faster time in the prelims than the Big Red.

In other preliminary races, Rush ran 45.98 in the 400 meters to finish 11th overall, just outside the top-eight finish needed to advance. The senior from Grand Island finished fourth in his heat and will earn second-team All-America honors with his 11th-place finish, the 10th All-America honor of his career.

Sean Pille finished 16th in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.61, his second-fastest time this season. The Oakland, Neb., senior will earn second-team All-America accolades for the first time in his Husker career after he qualified for the event for the first time.

Antoine Lloyd finished 20th in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.90. Lloyd was seventh in heat one in the first individual event at an NCAA Championships for the Husker sophomore.

The men's 4x100 relay (Pille, Ricco Hall, Malcolm White, Lloyd) ran 40.49 in the first of three heats and finished 18th overall. 

Halfway through the decathlon, sophomore Cody Walton is in 18th place with 3,786 points. Walton matched his all-time outdoor personal best in the high jump by clearing 6-4 3/4 (1.95m) on his second attempt. Walton scored 758 points in the event to jump from 22nd overall to 19th place. He recorded marks of 11.22 in the 100 meters (18th), 21-8 3/4 (6.62m) in the long jump (22nd), and 42-10 3/4 (13.07m) in the shot put (15th). In the final event of the day, the 400 meters, Walton ran 49.91 to finish 13th and move up one spot to 18th place overall. He heads into his strongest events tomorrow, beginning with the 110-meter hurdles at 12:30 p.m. (CT). 

Also on Thursday, the women take the stage on the track and in field events. Karolina Pahlitzsch races in the 400-meter hurdles prelim at 8:30 p.m. (CT). The Husker women have five athletes competing in field events on Thursday evening: Paula Andrie (pole vault), Sarah Firestone and Brittni Wolczyk (javelin), and Tierra Williams and Jazmin McCoy (long jump).

Thursday's action will be televised on ESPNU from 6:30 to 7 p.m. (CT), and on ESPN from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (CT). ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app will have coverage of  the decathlon and field events throughout the day, beginning at 12:30 p.m. (CT).