Kusche Breaks Mile Record at Washington

SEATTLE, Wash. - Nebraska sophomore George Kusche ran a time of 3:57.93 in the mile at the Washington Invitational on Saturday night and now owns the mile record on any size of track at Nebraska.

"Kusche has been training for this race since December," Coach Harris said. "We made a plan to run this race, worked out the training plan and he put out a very solid race. We have been waiting a long time for this."

Kusche was the top collegiate finisher in the event, finishing third. He was edged out by professional athletes Evan Jager (3:56.50) and Sean McGorty (3:57.19) from the Bowerman Track Club in the race.

"Although I enjoyed the level of competition tonight, I much prefer running at home in front of Husker fans," said Kusche. "I can not wait to put up a show at the Frank Sevigne next week."

Last season, Kusche became the first Husker in school history to run a sub-4:00 mile on a standard 200-meter track with a time of 3:59.61. Peter van der Westhuizen (2008) and Greg Carlberg (1971) were the only other Huskers to ever run the mile faster than Kusche, clocking times of 3:59.05 and 3:59.60, respectively, on oversized tracks. With Kusche's time of 3:57.93 at Dempsey Indoor (oversized track) at the Washington Invitational on Saturday, he now owns the record outright.

One week after the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational last season, Kusche broke another Nebraska school record. Kusche ran 7:57.16 in the 3,000 meters on an oversized track at the ISU Classic to own the fastest indoor time in school history on any size of track.

Next weekend at the 2020 Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, Kusche will be running in the 3,000 meters and attempting to break his own record in the event, while also trying to set a new Devaney Center record and set a new standard-track 3,000-meter record at Nebraska. The current 3,000-meter record at the Devaney Center was set in 1994 by Richard Kosgei (Barton County) with a time of 7:58.20.
 
Kusche and the Huskers will host the 45th annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on Friday and Saturday. Multi-events begin at Noon on Friday, followed by field events at 4:30 p.m. and running events at 6 p.m. The meet will conclude on Saturday with multi-events beginning at 9:30 a.m., and both running and field events commencing at 11:30 a.m.