Huskers Gear Up for Big Ten Championships

The Nebraska track and field team will visit Iowa City, Iowa, this week for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Competition will begin on Friday, May 10 and will conclude on Sunday, May 12 at the Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track.

Friday’s competition will begin with both combined events and field events at Noon and track action at 5:35 p.m. Saturday will start with combined events at 9:30 a.m., followed by field competition at 1:20 p.m. and action on the track at 4 p.m. The Big Ten Outdoor Championships will commence on Sunday with field events at 11 a.m. and running events at 12:45 p.m. The meet will be streamed both on BTN Plus and FloTrack with the purchase of a subscription. BTN will air tape delay coverage of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Wednesday, May 15, at 6 p.m. CT. Live results can be followed at https://results.flotrack.org/?mid=1608.

The Husker men have captured 29 all-time outdoor conference titles, including the 2013 and 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Nebraska was third at last year’s Big Ten Outdoor Championships with 85 points, trailing only Ohio State (109 points) and Indiana (88 points). The men have never finished lower than third while in the Big Ten. The Huskers won the Big Ten Indoor Championship earlier this season and if they win the Outdoor Championship, it would be the first time Nebraska has won both titles in the same year since 2016.

The Nebraska women have won 18 all-time outdoor conference titles. The Huskers finished tied for fifth last year with 60 points, but Nebraska is set up to have a strong meet this season with three current Big Ten event leaders and nine Huskers ranked in the top three. The Big Red women have not captured a team crown in the Big Ten and if they win on Sunday, it would be their first team title since 2005.

Both the Nebraska men and women could be in contention for the team titles on Sunday afternoon. On the men’s side, the host Iowa, Purdue, Indiana and Ohio State are all expected to contend for the team title along with the Big Red. On the women’s side, Ohio State, Minnesota, Iowa and Indiana join the Huskers as the strongest teams on paper heading into the meet.

The top-eight athletes at the Big Ten Championship score team points (1st = 10, 2nd = 8, 3rd = 6, 4th = 5, 5th = 4, 6th = 3, 7th = 2, 8th = 1). Entering the meet, the Huskers have a number of athletes positioned in the top-eight in their respective events.

Husker Men (top 8 finishers score team points)

Student-Athlete	Event	Time/Mark/Score	B1G	NCAA
Elijah Lucy	LJ	25-8 3/4 (7.84m)	1	18
Luke Siedhoff	110H	13.76Aw (13.80)	1	t19
Mayson Conner	HJ	7-2 1/4 (2.19m)	t1	t18
George Kusche	1,500m	3:39.33	2	9
Burger Lambrechts Jr.	SP	62-9 1/4 (19.13m)	3	24
Tyler Loontjer	PV	17-4 1/2 (5.30m)	3	t34
Miles Griffith	HJ	7-1 1/2 (2.17m)	t3	t22
Jonathan Miller	TJ	52-1 3/4 (15.89m)	4	18
Burger Lambrechts Jr.	DT	188-5 (57.43m)	4	21
Lukz, Nou, Hericks, A. Nelson	4x100m	40.06	4	65
Zach Podraza	Dec	7,287	5	21
Carlos Davis	DT	187-11 (57.29m)	5	22
Eric Garner	JT	210-0 (64.01m)	5	68
Ty Moss	800m	1:48.32	6	26
Washington, Lucy, Barrett, Hutchinson	4x400m	3:08.09	6	52
Garrison Hughes	PV	16-11 (5.16m)	6	t57
Spencer Powell	PV	16-10 3/4 (5.15m)	7	t60
Zach Podraza	JT	207-7 (63.27m)	7	80
Mason Hericks	100m	10.47w	7	t128
Khalil Davis	DT	183-7 (55.96m)	8	t39
Kevin Cahoy	PV	16-9 1/4 (5.11m)	8	t67

 

Husker Women (top 8 finishers score team points)

Student-Athlete	Event	Time/Mark/Score	B1G	NCAA
Chase Wolinski	JT	177-0 (53.96m)	1	10
Candice Dominguez	HJ	5-11 1/4 (1.81m)	1	t13
Jasmine Barge	100H	13.09Aw (13.13)	1	24
Brittni Wolczyk	JT	174-1 (53.07m)	2	14
Jasmine Barge	400H	57.82	2	t14
Andy Jacobs	PV	13-9 3/4 (4.21m)	2	t33
Lakayla Harris	200m	23.44	2	t63
Chanel Freeman	100H	13.33Aw (13.37)	3	49
Lakayla Harris	100m	11.53	3	t70
Shylia Riley	LJ	20-5 3/4 (6.24m)	4	44
Kiara Hobson	TJ	41-11 1/4 (12.78m)	4	49
Alex Meyer	DT	177-9 (54.17m)	4	33
Bridges, Harris, Ingram, McIntosh	4x100	44.73	4	55
Michaela Peskova	400H	59.22	7	54
Shelby Brown	DT	170-10 (52.08m)	7	56
Sydney Otto	JT	153-2 (46.69m)	7	t76
Whitney Bridges	100m	11.73w	8	t163

Top-10 Huskers
The Huskers have achieved a handful of all-time top-10 outdoor marks in school history so far this season:
• George Kusche - 1,500m (No. 4 - 3:39.33)
• Andy Jacobs - Pole Vault (No. 5 - 13-9 3/4, 4.21m)
• Jasmine Barge - 100m Hurdles (No. 4 all-time - 13.09Aw)
• Chase Wolinski - Javelin (No. 6 - 177-0, 53.96m)
• Judi Jones - 3,000m Steeplechase (No. 6 - 10:30.69)
• Erika Freyhof - 10,000m (No. 7 - 35:15.11)
• Burger Lambrechts Jr. - Shot Put (No. 7 - 62-9 1/4, 19.13m)
• Anna Purchase - Hammer Throw (No. 9 - 194-8, 59.34m)
• Chanel Freeman - 100m Hurdles (No. 9 all-time - 13.33Aw)
• James Joycey - Hammer Throw (No. 10 - 203-4, 61.99m)

Nebraska Performs Well in USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings
The Big Red track and field team has several event groups ranked highly in the USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings this season. The ranking system uses the best qualifying marks from a team’s top-four ranked athletes in the event.
• #3 - Men’s Discus
• #3 - Women’s Discus
• #4 - Men’s High Jump
• #4 - Women’s Javelin
• #7 - Men’s Pole Vault
• #8 - Men’s Shot Put
• #10 - Men’s 110m Hurdles

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.

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.