Strachan Wins Gold to Open B1G Championships

The Nebraska track and field team completed the first day of the 2026 Big Ten Championships with seven podium finishes, highlighted by Keyshawn Strachan winning the javelin gold. 

Strachan claimed Nebraska’s first event title of the Big Ten Championships with a mark of 79.36m (260-4). 

In the first event of the day, Harshita Sehrawat threw 59.29m (194-6) to claim sixth and Hillevi Carlsson followed closely behind in seventh with a throw of 58.82m (193-0). The duo combined for the Huskers’ first five points of the competition.

Brett Schwartz took one point for the Big Red in the men’s hammer throw after a 65.38m (214-6), where he claimed an eighth-place podium finish. 

Arina Razina added half a point on the women’s side, clearing 4.33m (14-2 ½) in the women’s pole vault to earn eighth. 

Jana Lowka took second in women’s javelin with a mark of 54.07m (177-4) to capture eight points for Nebraska. 

In the women’s 10000m, Ali Bainbridge raced to a fifth-place finish in a time of 33:48.41 to add four points to the women’s team score. 

At the halfway mark of the women’s heptathlon, Nebraska’s Ava Goetz recorded four personal bests and was left in fourth place at the end of the first day. Beginning in the 100m dash, Goetz recorded a 13.94. Next, in the high jump event, Goetz came in second with a mark of 1.80m (5-10 ¾). For shot put, the Fayetteville, Ark. native threw a 10.59m (34-9), up from her previous mark of 10.25m (33-7 ½). Lastly, her time of 25.87 in the 200m dash moved her to her fourth lifetime best. 

Grace Parsons ended the first half of the heptathlon with 3,189 points and in sixth-place on the first day of Big Ten competition. In the sprints, Parsons captured a time of 14.17 in the 100m and 25.27 in the 200m. In the field, Parsons ended with a mark of 1.56m (5-1 ¼) in high jump. For shot put, she threw a 12.34m (40-6) for second. 

Nebraska sophomore Luke Noland ended the halfway mark of the men’s decathlon in seventh place. Noland highlighted his events in high jump, hitting a mark of 1.91m (6-3 ¼) for sixth. Finishing fourth in the men’s high jump, Brayden Bergkamp reached 1.97m (6-5 ½) to push him to 12th overall. 

Kelsie Belquist was the fastest athlete in the qualifying section of the women’s 400mH, running 56.24. Abrielle Artley ran the third-fastest time in the event and tying her personal best (58.14) to qualify for Sunday’s final at 2:12 p.m. (CT).

On the men’s side, James Ledbetter circled the track in 50.67 to qualify for the men’s 400mH final on Sunday at 2:19 p.m. (CT). 

Berlyn Schutz ran a 4:16.82 for an auto-qualification into the women’s 1500m race on Sunday at 12:58 p.m. (CT). 

Nebraska’s women conclude the day in fourth with 17.5 points and the men stand in fourth with 13.5 points. 

The second day of Big Ten competition will resume at 9:30 a.m. (CT) on Saturday with the men’s decathlon 110m hurdles. 

The rest of Saturday's schedule has been adjusted due to potential inclement weather later in the day. Click here for the updated schedule. Field events will now begin at Noon, and track events will start at 12:45 p.m. with the last event slated for 4:45 p.m.