Huskers Prepare for Road Meets

The Nebraska track and field team will split up for two separate road meets this weekend. Some members of the team will head to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., while other members of the squad will compete at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa.

Friday’s events at the Tyson Invitational will start at 1 p.m. with field events, while action at the Iowa State Classic will begin at noon with field and running events. On Saturday, the Tyson Invitational will open with field events at 11 a.m. and the Iowa State Classic will commence with both field and running events at noon. The Tyson Invitational will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and the Iowa State Classic will have live video available at FloTrack.org with a subscription required.

The Huskers are heading into the final two weekends before the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Feb. 22-23, 2019. Nebraska will host the Nebraska Tune-Up next Friday at the Devaney Center.

Huskers in the NCAA Rankings
Several Huskers have put themselves in the NCAA Top 50 in their respective events after the first four meets of the indoor season. All-American Angela Mercurio posted a triple jump of 43-3 1/4 (13.19m) to win the Mark Colligan Memorial with the sixth-best mark nationally and the No. 8 mark in NU history. Jared Seay posted a total of 5,687 points in the heptathlon at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite and is now ranked No. 7 in the nation and No. 3 on NU’s top-10 list. Freshman Mayson Conner had a leap of 7-3 ¼ (2.22m) at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite, good for No. 10 in the nation. George Kusche ran the fastest mile on a standard-track in school history and broke the school record with a time of 3:59.61 and is ranked 11th in the event. Cale Wagner finished with 5,565 points in the heptathlon at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite and is now tied for No. 5 in the Nebraska record-books and No. 11 in the nation. Jasmine Barge is 14th in the 60-meter hurdles at 8.23.

New Nebraska Top-10 Marks
The Huskers have achieved a handful of all-time top-10 indoor marks in school history so far this indoor season:

• George Kusche - Mile (No. 1, 3:59.61)
• Jared Seay - Heptathlon (No. 3, 5,687)
• Lakayla Harris - 200m (No. 4, 23.68)
• George Kusche - 3,000m (No. 5, 8:08.89)
• Cale Wagner - Heptathlon (No. 5t, 5,565)
• Burger Lambrechts - Shot Put (No. 6, 62-1 1/4, 18.93m)
• Angela Mercurio - Triple Jump (No. 6t, 43-4 1/2, 13.22m)
• Isaiah Hutchinson - 200m (No. 7, 21.18)
• Jordan De Spong, Bryce Barrett, Ty Moss, George Kusche - Men’s DMR (No. 9, 9:47.07)
• Tyler Loontjer - Pole Vault (No. 10, 17-5 1/2, 5.32m)
• Garrison Hughes - Pole Vault (No. 10, 17-5 1/2, 5.32m)
• Deja Ingram - 60m (No. 10, 7.50)
• Jessi Smith - 600m (No. 10, 1:32.41)
• Grady Leonard - Shot Put (No. 10, 60-6 3/4, 18.46m)

Huskers Well Represented in USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings
The Nebraska track and field team has several event groups ranked highly in the USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings, which uses the best qualifying marks from a team’s top-four ranked athletes in that event.

• #2 - Men’s High Jump
• #2 - Women’s Triple Jump
• #3 - Men’s 60m Hurdles
• #3 - Men’s Shot Put
• #5 - Women’s Long Jump
• #7 - Men’s Long Jump
• #10 - Men’s 200m

2019 Men’s Indoor Season Outlook
The Nebraska men are coming off a 2018 indoor season in which they tied for 28th at the NCAA Indoor Championships, their best finish since 2015. Antoine Lloyd graduated after finishing as the NCAA runner-up and the Big Ten champion and school-record holder in the 60-meter hurdles, but junior Luke Siedhoff will look to continue the Huskers’ hurdles tradition. Siedhoff was a first-team All-American in the outdoor 110-meter hurdles last year but will aim to break out in the 60-meter hurdles this season after finishing fifth at the 2018 Big Ten Indoor Championships. Senior Ty Moss will also lead a very young Husker men’s team. Moss was the Big Ten runner-up in the 600 meters last year and was a second-team All-American with the 4x400-meter relay outdoors. He owns the third-fastest 600-meter time (1.16.63) in school history. The Nebraska men finished second at the Big Ten Indoor Championships last year with 93.5 points, but only 29.5 of those points came from Huskers currently on the roster. The new-look Husker men have 46 freshmen and sophomores on their 67-man roster. Nebraska is ranked 70th in the preseason USTFCCCA Rankings.

2019 Women’s Indoor Season Outlook
The Husker women are led by a handful of veterans with Big Ten runner-up finishes to their names. Angela Mercurio was the indoor runner-up in the triple jump last season and finished 15th at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn second-team All-America honors. Junior high jumper Petra Luteran was the Big Ten runner-up last year and would have qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, but a knee injury on her final Big Ten Championships jump ended her season. Senior Lakayla Harris leads the women’s runners, as she was the Big Ten runner-up in the 60 meters last year and owns top-five 60 meters and 200 meters times all-time at Nebraska. The Husker women will also benefit from the return of sophomore pole vaulter Andy Jacobs, who missed all of last season with an injury. Jacobs was the Big Ten runner-up both indoors and outdoors as a freshman in 2017, and she already owns the No. 7 mark in NU outdoor history. The Husker women scored 47.5 points at last year’s Big Ten Indoor Championships to finish ninth, though 41.5 of those 47.5 points return this season. The Huskers are ranked 43rd in the preseason USTFCCCA Rankings.