Huskers Post Seven Top-Three Finishes on Saturday

Nebraska track and field added a title, along with seven top-three finishes on Saturday at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Reigning outdoor national champion Axelina Johansson secured the shot put title with 60-8 (18.49m). The last three times Johansson has competed in a conference championship meet, she has brought home the gold. Mine De Klerk (56-4, 17.17m) and Amelia Flynt (54-2 1/2, 16.52m) pitched in top-eight finishes, grabbing third and seventh. The three throwers combined for 18 team points in the event. Kevin Shubert threw 64-11 ¼ (19.79m) in the men’s shot put to take the silver medal. While Shubert finished as runner-up in the shot put at indoor conference, today marks Shubert’s highest outdoor conference meet finish. Cade Moran went a personal-best 61-4 ¾ (18.71m) on his final throw to place fourth.

Three Huskers scored in the men’s long jump, led by Micaylon Moore leaping a personal-best 25-9 ½ (7.86m) on his final attempt to claim runner-up honors. That distance moved Moore to seventh on the all-time list. Jaylen Lloyd also improved his mark on his final jump, going 25-1 ¾ (7.66m) to finish fourth. Kavian Kerr jumped 24-5 (7.44m) to add two team points with a seventh-place finish.

In the high jump, Jenna Rogers secured her sixth top-two conference meet finish. She cleared 5-10 ½ (1.79m) to place second, while Brooklyn Miller tied for eighth with a 5-5 (1.65m).

Taya Skelton posted a 10:23.11 in the 3000m steeplechase to claim third, her highest-career conference meet finish. In the men’s 3000m steeplechase, Sadio Fenner placed 15th with a 9:17.33.

The Big Red put three long jumpers in the women’s final, with Lishanna Ilves leading the way to finish third (20-5 ¼, 6.23m). Velecia Williams placed sixth with a 20-1 3/4 (6.14m) and Ashley McElmurry took ninth with a 19-6 (5.94m).

In the decathlon, Matthias Algarin totaled a personal-best 7064 points to place fourth. On Saturday, he ran a 14.85 in the 110m hurdles, threw a personal-best 122-4 (37.28m) in the discus, tied for second in the pole vault with a clearance of 14-9 (4.50m), went 134-8 (41.06m) in the javelin and ran a personal-best 5:07.56 in the 1500m. Heinerikson added a top-eight finish, finishing seventh with a 6949. Today he ran a 15.47 in the 110m hurdles, threw a 124-7 (37.99m) in the discus, tied for second in the pole vault with a 14-9 (4.50m), threw 159-1 (48.50m) in the javelin and ran a 4:50.49 in the 1500m.

Favour Wanjoku wrapped up the heptathlon in seventh with 4911 points. That marked Wanjoku’s first time scoring individually at a Big Ten meet. Ending Friday with 3022 points, she added 709 in the long jump with an 18-1 ¾ (5.53m), 449 in the javelin with a personal-best 93-7 (28.53m) and 596 in the 800m with a time of 2:37.98.

In the 110m hurdles prelims, Darius Luff cruised to the top-qualifying time with a 13.35, half a second faster than the next finisher. The senior is the defending Big Ten Champion in the 110m hurdles. Brithton Senior, last year’s bronze medalist, clocked a 13.89 in the prelim to add a Husker in tomorrow’s final. Johanna Ilves ran a 13.45 in the 100m hurdles prelim to earn her way to the final.

Nick Bryant (47.05) and Tyrell Pierce (47.39) finished fifth and eighth in the 400m prelims, earning their spots in the final. Meghan Walker crossed the line at 55.47 in the women’s 400m to take 13th. Freshman Jeremiah Smith placed third in his heat and seventh overall with a 10.58 in the 100m to punch his ticket to the final. Niko Schultz covered the track in 1:49.22 in the men’s 800m prelim, qualifying for the final. In the women’s 800m, Berlyn Schutz clocked a 2:10.08 to place 14th. She’ll represent NU in the 1500m final tomorrow. In the women’s 100m, Bariborve Deebom was NU’s top finisher, clocking a 12.08 to place 20th.

In the team race, both the men (57 points) and the women (73.33 points) are in first place entering the third and final day.

Competition will begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. (CT) for the field events and 11:45 a.m. (CT) for the running events.