Culmer, Lloyd, Percy Grab B1G Titles on Final Day

Bloomington, Ind. - Nebraska track and field seniors Kaiwan Culmer, Antoine Lloyd and Nick Percy all captured Big Ten event titles on the final day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Robert C. Haugh Track. Percy won his third-straight Big Ten discus title, while Culmer (triple jump) and Lloyd (110-meter hurdles) added the first Big Ten outdoor titles of their careers. 

With a strong finish on Sunday, the Nebraska men climbed to third in the final team standings with 85 points after beginning the day in ninth place. Ohio State won with 109 points. The Husker men have placed no lower than third in each of the seven Big Ten Outdoor Championships since joining the conference before the 2012 season.

The Husker women tied for fifth place with 60 points. Minnesota won the women's team race with 134 points. 

Culmer, Lloyd and Percy earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as event champions, while Brittni Wolczyk (javelin), Cody Walton (javelin) and Andy Neal (400-meter hurdles) earned second-team All-Big Ten honors as silver medalists.

Percy won the discus for the third year in a row with a mark of 200-10 (61.23m), which came on his second attempt. The Ventnor, England native became the 13th Husker male all-time to win three conference outdoor titles in the same event and the first in an individual event since Carl Myerscough in 2002-04, which was also in the discus. Percy holds the No. 2 mark nationally this season (205-1, 62.50m) heading into the NCAA West Preliminary Round in two weeks.

“To follow in the footsteps of our school record-holder and an Olympian (Myerscough), it’s crazy," Percy said. "When I came to Nebraska, I had one goal: win one Big Ten championship and try and win one NCAA title. And now to have three golds and a bronze in the discus, and two bronzes and a fifth and an eighth in the hammer, and a few points in the weight throw as well, I’m ecstatic. I can’t think of a better way to end my career. It was a tough meet. There were so many guys putting out some big marks, so the pressure was on. I’m so happy I did it.”

Culmer grabbed Nebraska's first gold medal of the weekend, as he won the triple jump with a personal-best mark of 53-11 (16.43m). Culmer became the first Husker male to sweep indoor and outdoor conference triple jump titles since Daniel Roper in 2006. His mark tied for fifth-best in NCAA Division I this season and tied for the second-best wind-legal jump in Husker history. The gold medal was his third at a Big Ten Championships, to go along with the gold he won this indoor season and an indoor triple jump gold as a sophomore in 2016.

"I've been praying to God for this for a long time," Culmer said. "It's my last conference meet, and I had never gotten an outdoor championship win, so this is it right here. Second all-time at Nebraska, that sounds pretty good. That mark was long overdue. I had to get that out of myself, and just getting it here means a lot."

Lloyd earned his first 110-meter hurdles title with a personal-best time of 13.50, which ties for the second-fastest wind-legal mark in school history and is the fifth-best time in the nation this season. Lloyd completed the sweep of the indoor 60-meter hurdles and outdoor 110-meter hurdles titles this year. His 110-meter hurdles conference title was the first by a Husker male since 1995. 

Andy Neal captured the silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles, as he ran a season-best 50.77 to secure eight team points for the Big Red. It was the third-career Big Ten medal for the Lincoln East graduate, but the first in an individual event.

Landon Bartel claimed the bronze medal in the high jump after clearing 7-2 1/2 (2.20m) to match his outdoor personal best. Alex Meyer took bronze in the women's discus with a throw of 179-3 (54.65m), as she earned her third podium finish at the Big Ten Championships and her first medal.

Freshman Ieva Turke added a bronze medal in the triple jump to go along with a fourth-place finish in Saturday's long jump. She posted a personal-best 42-7 (12.98m) in Sunday's triple jump, as she claimed her first Big Ten medal. Angela Mercurio also finished on the podium in the triple jump, as she placed sixth with a leap of 41-11 1/2 (12.79m).

Tyler Loontjer finished fourth in the pole vault at 17-3 (5.26m), and Kevin Cahoy was sixth with an outdoor PR of 16-10 1/4 (5.14m). 

Lakayla Harris finished fourth in the 100 meters with a time of 11.45, the fifth-fastest wind-legal time in NU history. Harris also made the podium in the 200 meters, placing sixth with a time of 23.39.

Luke Siedhoff added four team points for the men in the 110-meter hurdles, as he finished fifth with a personal-best time of 13.72, the No. 10 wind-legal time in school history. 

Moujtaba Mohammed led a pair of scorers in the 800 meters, as he rallied for a fifth-place finish in a time of 1:48.32. Ty Moss set a PR of 1:48.70 and was seventh.

Jasmine Barge found the podium in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing sixth in 57.95. She also scored team points in the 100-meter hurdles, as she placed seventh with a time of 13.86. 

Khalil Davis took sixth in the discus with a personal-best throw of 188-4 (57.41m). Twin brother Carlos Davis was seventh at 187-4 (57.11m), a PR for him as well. They both earned their second-career podium finishes in the event. Jace Anderson placed eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 49-5 1/2 (15.07m). 

The women's 4x400-meter relay (Kierra Griggs, Ashleigh Carr, Michaela Peskova, Chelsey Jones) placed fifth with a time of 3:38.09. 

Qualifiers to the NCAA West Preliminary Round will be determined early in the week, with athletes who have top-48 marks in the West Region earning bids to the competition. The NCAA West Preliminary Round is set for May 24-26 in Sacramento, California.

Nebraska's Big Ten Outdoor Champions
Kaiwan Culmer, Triple Jump
Antoine Lloyd, 110-Meter Hurdles
Nick Percy, Discus 

Men's Big Ten Championships Standings
1. Ohio State 109
2. Indiana 88
3. Nebraska 85
4. Michigan 84
5. Penn State 83
6. Iowa 80
7. Minnesota 60
8. Michigan State 53
9. Wisconsin 43
10. Rutgers 41
11. Purdue 39
12. Illinois 38
13. Maryland 16

Women's Big Ten Championships Standings
1. Minnesota 134
2. Purdue 132
3. Iowa 96
4. Indiana 87
5. Nebraska 60
5. Michigan 60
5. Ohio State 60
5. Wisconsin 60
9. Penn State 50
10. Michigan State 35
11. Maryland 28
12. Illinois 11
13. Rutgers 6