Two Huskers Earn Bronze on Day One of Big Ten Meet

GENEVA, Ohio - Two Nebraska track and field athletes reached the medal stand and the Husker sprinters and hurdlers posted a pair of top preliminary times on Friday at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute. 

Toni Tupper claimed the bronze medal for the second straight year in the women's shot put with an indoor personal-best throw of 54-6 (16.61m) on her second attempt. The Lincoln Northeast grad improved on her fourth-best mark in NU indoor history and scored six team points for the Husker women, who ended Friday with eight points and in 10th place in the team standings. 

Mike Mitchell, a sophomore from Ladera Ranch, California, also earned a bronze medal by posting a personal best in the long jump on his last attempt. Mitchell jumped 24-5 3/4 (7.46m) to secure third place and edge fellow Huskers Elijah Lucy and Isaiah Griffith, who both jumped 24-5 (7.44m) to finish fourth and fifth, respectively. The men's long jumpers combined for 15 of the men's 22.5 team points, which has the Huskers in fourth place. 

Spencer Powell cleared a personal-best 17-0 (5.18m) to earn a fourth-place finish in the pole vault. Tyler Loontjer tied for sixth with a mark of 16-8 (5.08m). Freshman Maddie Holland finished seventh in the women's pole vault by clearing 13-2 1/2 (4.03m) in her first Big Ten meet. 

Antoine Lloyd all but clinched a bid to the NCAA Indoor Championships with a time of 7.73 in the 60-meter hurdles prelims. His time was not only the fastest in the competition by .03 seconds, it was the fourth-best time in NU history and the No. 6 time in the NCAA this season. The top-16 times qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. Luke Siedhoff also earned his way into tomorrow's 60-meter hurdles final with a time of 7.93.

Lakayla Harris set the tone for the women with a personal-best time of 7.38 in the 60 meters to lead all competitors. Her PR is the fourth-fastest time in NU history, and she will compete in both the 60 meters and 200 meters on Saturday, as she posted a time of 23.78 in 200-meter prelims to advance to the final. 

Jasmine Barge qualified for the 60-meter hurdles final with a time of 8.44, while Kierra Griggs made it in the 400 meters in 53.64. Moujtaba Mohammed's season-best time of 1:50.16 in the 800 meters moved him to tomorrow's final race, while Ty Moss rallied down the stretch in his 600 meters heat to win with a time of 1:18.40, the fifth-fastest qualifying time for Saturday's final. 

In finals races, the women's distance medley relay finished 10th in a season-best 12:02.57, while the men were 10th in a season-best 10:01.35.

Three Huskers are in position to score team points in the heptathlon with three events to go. Jared Seay is in third place with 3,226 points. Cale Wagner is in sixth place with 3,120 points. Cody Walton, the defending champion in the event, is in seventh place with 3,079 points with his best events to come on Saturday. 

The meet resumes on Saturday at 9 a.m. (CT) with the heptathlon.