After disappointment, Lincoln High grad Luff becomes Big Ten champion

There were subtle reminders, even when Nebraska track athlete Darius Luff wasn’t thinking about the false start ejection that prevented him from potentially being a Big Ten hurdle champion.

At practice, teammates would joke with him, telling him not to false start. Also, when Luff returned to the Big Ten meet this year, he says a meet official told him to make sure he stayed in the starting blocks before the start.

“I was surprised by that,” Luff said.

His story of major disappointment has a happy ending, as Luff returned one year later and became the Big Ten champion in the 60-meter hurdles on Feb. 25 in Geneva, Ohio.

And this week Luff will try to add to an already impressive indoor season when he competes at the NCAA Indoor Championship in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Lincoln High graduate enters the competition ranked seventh with his personal-best time of 7.63 seconds. He ranks No. 3 all-time in program history.

In 2022, Luff entered the Big Ten team meet with the fastest time in the conference. Then he had the best time in the prelims. When the finals came, he just barely moved too early, with his false start wiping away his chance to be a Big Ten champion for the first time. It was one of the only times in his career he’s been ejected from a race.

Luff returned in 2023, and with a strong finish to the race won in 7.65.

“The biggest thing for me was finally getting that Big Ten title,” Luff said. “I’ve wanted it since I was a freshman. I placed sixth my first two years, and then a false start. So I needed that Big Ten title.”

Even better, teammate Brithton Senior finished second. Luff had a big smile when he and Senior embraced moments after the race.

Nebraska’s 18 points in the event were the most in one event in the meet, and Nebraska finished as Big Ten runner-up in the team race.

The 60 hurdles is the only hurdles race during the indoor season. It is one of the most unique events in the sport, because you get one chance — and it’s over in a flash.

Start, five hurdles, finish line.

“It’s only 7 seconds long,” Luff said. “As soon as you get out of the blocks, before you know it, you’re at the finish line. In the 60s everything has to be flawless to win. It takes a lot to get any win in the 60 hurdles.”

Luff has won a lot this season, with five wins in six attempts.

He favors the outdoor season’s 110 hurdles race but injuries have slowed some of his success in that event during college.

This is the indoor season, but it’s still noteworthy that of the top competitors in the 60 hurdles at the national meet, Luff is the only one not from the warm weather schools that often attract the most speed — programs like Southern Cal, Texas Tech and Clemson.

Luff is proud that he can represent Lincoln and his hometown university.

“I’ve always been kind of the outlier at national meets,” he said. “Even growing up in summer track, not many of the people there are from Nebraska. And at college nationals, not many of the sprinters and hurdlers are from Nebraska.”

And actually, during high school, Luff wasn’t recruited heavily for college track, so he committed to play football at North Dakota. When Nebraska offered him a spot on the track team during his senior year he made the switch. Luff still holds the Nebraska high school state record in the 110 high hurdles (:13.69).

Luff is in his fourth season with the Huskers, but he plans to compete next year with the extra COVID-year season.

But first, he confidently enters the national meet. He finished seventh last year at this meet.

“I finally got my Big Ten title, so I have that confidence there,” he said. “It’s been a fast year in the nation with all of the hurdlers. It’s going to be a good meet, but in hurdles, anybody can hit one hurdle and be out of the race. So there is always a chance to win it.”

The hurdles prelims are at about 8 p.m. on Friday. The finals are Saturday evening.

The Huskers qualified 10 athletes for the NCAA meet over 11 events, which is the school’s most entries in the meet since 2011. Nebraska’s top chances for a national champion come in the women’s shot put (Axelina Johansson), men’s shot put (Jonah Wilson) and men’s high jump (Mayson Conner).