Nebraska Ready to Host Spring Invite

The Nebraska track and field team will host its first meet of the outdoor season this weekend at Ed Weir Stadium. The meet will begin on Friday night at 4 p.m. with the hammer throw and that will be the only event on Friday. On Saturday, the meet will start at 11:30 a.m. with field events and action on the track beginning at 1 p.m.

Both of the men’s and women’s teams will be looking to capture their fourth consecutive team crown at the Husker Spring Invite. Nebraska won the meet on both the men’s and women’s side from 2015-17. Last season, the meet was canceled due to inclement weather.

Live results of the Husker Spring Invitational can be followed at http://results.deltatiming.com/nebraska

Huskers in the NCAA Rankings
After just two weeks of the outdoor season, several Huskers have already made their mark in the NCAA Top 50 in their respective events. George Kusche is the highest ranked Husker, running a time of 3:43.83 at the Stanford Invitational in the 1,500 meters, which was also good for No. 8 all-time in school history. Mayson Conner is tied as the sixth best high jumper in the nation after clearing 7-2 1/4 (2.19m) at the Texas Relays. Zach Podraza and Miles Griffith are also inside the top-10. Podraza posted a score of 7,287 points in the decathlon at the Texas Relays and is currently seventh, while Griffith is tied for eighth in the high jump after recording a mark of 7-1 1/2 (2.17m) at the Texas Relays.

Jasmine Barge and Chase Wolinski are the best ranked Huskers on the women’s team. Barge is seventh in the country in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.82 at the Florida Relays. Wolinski is seventh in the nation in the javelin after a throw of 177-0 (53.96m) at the Texas Relays. Her mark also ranks sixth in school history.

Men in the Top 50

Rank	Student-Athlete	Event	Time/Mark/Score
4	George Kusche	1,500m	3:43.83
6t	Mayson Conner	High Jump	7-2 1/4 (2.19m)
7	Zach Podraza	Decathlon	7,287
8t	Miles Griffith	High Jump	7-1 1/2 (2.17m)
17t	Tyler Loontjer	Pole Vault	17-4 1/2 (5.30m)
18t	Burger Lambrechts Jr.	Shot Put	60-11 1/2 (18.58m)
21t	Luke Siedhoff	110m Hurdles	14.00
23	Elijah Lucy	Long Jump	24-8 1/4 (7.52m)
32t	Spencer Powell	Pole Vault	16-10 3/4 (5.15m)
38	Ty Moss	800m	1:50.32
40	Burger Lambrechts Jr.	Discus	178-2 (54.80m)

Women in the Top 50

Rank	Student-Athlete	Event	Time/Mark/Score
7	Jasmine Barge	400m Hurdles	57.82
7	Chase Wolinski	Javelin	177-0 (53.96m)
15t	Andy Jacobs	Pole Vault	13-9 3/4 (4.21m)
20	Alex Meyer	Discus	177-9 (54.17m)
26	Brittni Wolczyk	Javelin	160-1 (48.79m)
39	Judi Jones	3,000m Steeple	10:33.41
46	Michaela Peskova	400m Hurdles	1:00.26
46	Kristina Insingo	Shot Put	50-2 1/2 (15.30m)

 

Top-10 Huskers
The Huskers have achieved a handful of all-time top-10 outdoor marks in school history so far this season:
• Andy Jacobs - Pole Vault (No. 5, 13-9 3/4 (4.21m))
• Chase Wolinski - Javelin (No. 6, 177-0 (53.96m))
• Erika Freyhof - 10,000m (No. 7, 35:15.11)
• Judi Jones - 3,000m Steeplechase (No. 7, 10:33.41)
• George Kusche - 1,500m (No. 8, 3:43.83)

2019 Men’s Outdoor Season Outlook
The Husker men are coming off a 2018 outdoor season where they finished tied for 40th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and finished third at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Nebraska will look to replace three Big Ten Champions in Antoine Lloyd (110-meter hurdles), Nick Percy (discus) and Kaiwan Culmer (triple jump). Lloyd and Percy were also first-team All-Americans. Luke Siedhoff earned first-team All-America accolades last season and will look to continue his success in the 110-meter hurdles this season after finishing seventh at the NCAA Championships in 2018. The men’s team is starting the outdoor season with momentum after claiming the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Championship. Mayson Conner, the Big Ten Indoor Freshman of the Year, was the most successful freshman high jumper in the country this indoor season and earned first-team All-America honors with a jump of 7-3 3/4 (2.23m) to finish seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Jared Seay also competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships and finished fourth in the heptathlon with 5,847 points to earn first-team All-America status. Seay’s fourth-place finish was the best finish at the NCAA Championships by a Husker heptathlete since 2012. Senior Elijah Lucy will provide leadership after claiming the Big Ten indoor title in the long jump with a leap of 25-2 (7.67m). Freshman sensation George Kusche will also be an athlete to watch this outdoor season after setting two indoor school records - in the mile (3:59.61) and 3,000 meters (7:57.16o).

2019 Women’s Outdoor Season Outlook
The Big Red women tied for fifth at the Big Ten Championships last season and return a handful of athletes with NCAA Outdoor Championship experience and several point scorers from the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Senior Brittni Wolczyk is a two-time second-team All-American in the javelin and has made it to the NCAA Championships in each of her three seasons. She was the 2017 Big Ten champion and is a two-time silver medalist. Raynesha Lewis qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the long jump last year, and Jasmine Barge was a second-team All-American in the 400-meter hurdles in 2017. Sydney Otto missed last season with an injury but qualified for nationals in the javelin as a freshman in 2017. The NU women will be looking to replace triple jump standout Angela Mercurio. The 2019 Big Ten indoor champion and second-team All-American exhausted her outdoor eligibility last year. Lewis, Ieva Turke and Shylia Riley will lead the Huskers’ horizontal jumps. Lewis finished 19th in the long jump at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Riley was the Big Ten indoor long jump runner-up this year, while Turke was third in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump. On the track, Lakayla Harris ran the fifth-fastest wind-legal time (11.45) in NU history in the 100 meters last year. Harris claimed fourth (100 meters) and fifth (200 meters) at the 2018 Outdoor Big Ten Championships. Barge is one of the top returning 100-meter and 400-meter hurdlers in the Big Ten. The Huskers are ranked 49th in the preseason USTFCCCA Rankings.

Conner Named B1G Freshman of the Year
Nebraska high jumper Mayson Conner was named the Big Ten Men’s Indoor Freshman of the Year after a vote by the league’s head coaches. Conner is the first Husker male track and field athlete chosen as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year since NU joined the conference in 2011-12.

The McCool Junction native was the Big Ten champion in the high jump and earned first-team All-America honors after finishing seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championship. Conner cleared 7-3 3/4 (2.23m) at both meets, which is tied for the ninth-best mark in school history.

Conner was the top freshman high jumper in the nation at the NCAA Championships and became the first true freshman Husker male to earn first-team All-America honors in an individual event at the NCAA indoor meet since Bobby Carter in the long jump in 2010.

Pepin Named B1G and USTFCCCA Men’s Midwest Region Coach of the Year
Nebraska track and field head coach Gary Pepin was named the Big Ten Men’s Indoor Coach of the Year and the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

The Big Ten honor marked Pepin’s sixth selection as Big Ten Coach of the Year since the Huskers joined the conference in 2011-12, and it is his 28th all-time conference coaching accolade. The 2019 Big Ten men’s indoor title was Pepin’s 73rd career conference title and 43rd indoors. He has guided the Husker men to three Big Ten indoor titles in the last five seasons.

Pepin, in his 39th year as head coach at Nebraska, has also been honored as region coach of the year 11 times in the past 15 years. Of his 11 region coaching honors, this is the third time Pepin has been honored as the men’s indoor coach of the year (2005 and 2015).

Four Huskers Win B1G Titles; Men Claim Championship
Angela Mercurio, Lakayla Harris, Mayson Conner and Elijah Lucy all won individual Big Ten indoor titles, and the Nebraska men’s track and field team won the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Championship this season.

The Husker men entered the final day of the Big Ten Championships with an 11-point lead and led the entire day until Indiana took a 90-89 lead with only the 4x400-meter relay remaining. However, the Huskers’ relay team of Givon Washington, Tony Nou, Elijah Lucy and Isaiah Hutchinson ran a season-best of 3:09.12 to finish fifth, while Indiana finished eighth in 3:11.71. The Huskers finished with 93 points, and Indiana had 91, giving NU its first team crown since 2016.

The Husker men won their 67th all-time conference title and 38th indoors with the victory. It was the fifth Big Ten title for the Husker men since joining the conference in 2012. For legendary head coach Gary Pepin, it marked his 73rd career conference title and 43rd indoors.

Mercurio earned the triple jump crown for the first time in her career, posting a jump of 42-7 (12.98m) on her fourth attempt to win the event for her third-career Big Ten medal. Mercurio took first place in the triple jump in five of six meets this season.

Harris won the gold medal in the 60 meters with a personal-best time of 7.26. Her time ranked third in school history. Harris was the runner-up last year but topped her personal best by .12 seconds to take the title as a senior. She became the first Husker women’s track athlete to win a Big Ten championship in a running event since 2013. She followed that with the bronze medal in the 200 meters later in the afternoon after posting a personal-best time of 23.54, the third-fastest time in school history.

Conner was crowned the high jump champion after clearing a personal-best 7-3 3/4 (2.23m), which put him in a tie for ninth in school history and No. 11 in the nation this season. Conner had the competition locked up as the only jumper to clear 7-2 1/4 (2.19m), and he was perfect through that height. The McCool Junction native went on to achieve a new personal best and give the Husker men the Big Ten indoor high jump title for the fifth time in the last six years.

Lucy earned the gold medal in the long jump for the first time in his career after finishing fourth at each of the three previous Big Ten indoor meets. Lucy jumped a personal-best 25-2 (7.67m) on his final attempt, though he didn’t need it as four of his jumps on the day would have won the competition. He finished on top by more than one foot.

Nebraska’s Big Ten Indoor Champions
Mayson Conner, High Jump
Elijah Lucy, Long Jump
Lakayla Harris, 60 Meters
Angela Mercurio, Triple Jump

Husker Men Tabbed Indoor Dual Meet Champions
The Nebraska men’s track and field team was named the indoor dual meet champions by Track & Field News Magazine for the first time in the program’s history.

Following a strong performance at the Mark Colligan Memorial, where the Huskers scored 172 points to sweep the meet, the Huskers surged from No. 4 to No. 1 in the final rankings of the indoor season. The Huskers posted a 3-0 record in dual meets to top Indiana (1-0) and Texas A&M (2-0) for the top spot. The NU women came in at No. 4 in the final women’s rankings.

To be ranked, a team must compete in one or more dual meets (defined as a scored meet between four or fewer teams) during the indoor season. Teams are ranked on wins and losses, marks, and strength and depth of dual meet schedule. Teams are rewarded for taking dual meet competition seriously.

The Nebraska men won the absolute - indoor and outdoor combined - dual meet championship in 2017. This year’s NU men’s squad is the top-ranked team in the USTFCCCA Midwest Region and has several event groups that rank among the best in the nation. The men’s high jump is the No. 1 unit in the nation, while the 60-meter hurdles is ranked third, the shot put is ranked fourth, long jump is seventh and pole vault is ranked ninth.