LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska track and field team opened the 2021 season hosting the Husker Triangular at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track on Saturday. Competing against Iowa and Minnesota in the non-scored meet, the Huskers won eight individual titles and a handful of Huskers flashed their potential with some of the top performances in school history in their respective events.
Three Husker distance runners put together standout performances on Saturday. Junior college transfer Dais Malebana won the 5,000 meters with the third-fastest standard-track time in school history, 14:16.56. Ryan Martins placed third in the event with a career-best time of 14:24.20, which put him at No. 10 in NU history. Erika Freyhof also had a top-10 performance, running a standard-track PR of 16:27.29 in the 5,000 meters, the third-fastest time in school history on a 200-meter track. She finished second in the event to Minnesota senior Bethany Hasz, who broke the Devaney Center facility record at 15:50.74.
Junior Papay Glaywulu, a transfer from Oklahoma, stole the show in the men’s triple jump with a winning mark of 53-6 1/4 (16.31m) in his first meet as a Husker. Glaywulu’s jump put him in a tie for fourth all-time in Nebraska indoor school history.
Kevin Shubert set a personal best in the shot put by three feet to win the event. The sophomore from Omaha threw 61-10 1/2 (18.86m) on his fifth attempt. His mark moved him into the all-time Nebraska indoor Top 10 at No. 7. Marika Spencer also joined the NU all-time top 10 in the weight throw, as her mark of 61-7 3/4 (18.79m) ranks No. 10 in school history and earned her runner-up honors at the Husker Triangular.
Darby Thomas won the women’s long jump title with a personal-best mark of 19-9 3/4 (6.04m) to open her sophomore season. Ieva Turke was the runner-up with a leap of 19-4 3/4 (5.91m). Later in the day, Turke was the champion of the women’s triple jump with a mark of 41-8 3/4 (12.72m), and teammate Ashley McElmurry was second at 39-1 3/4 (11.93m).
The Husker men went 1-2-3 in the long jump. Freshman Clayton Keys captured the title with a jump of 23-7 1/4 (7.19m). Micaylon Moore was second at 23-4 1/2 (7.12m), and freshman Bennet Vinken placed third at 23-3 1/2 (7.10m). The NU men also dominated the high jump with Michael Hoffer winning gold at 6-9 3/4 (2.08m) and Lincoln McPhillips silver at 6-8 1/4 (2.04m).
Andy Jacobs won the women’s pole vault with a height of 12-5 1/2 (3.80m). Jessica Gardner cleared the same height, a personal best for her, and finished third via tiebreaker.
Behind Glaywulu in the men’s triple jump, Passmore Mudundulu took second at 46-7 1/4 (14.20m), and Matthias Algarin was third at 44-9 (13.64m).
On the track, LaQwasia Stepney finished third in the women’s 60m hurdles with a time of 8.75. Thomas followed her winning long jump performance with a third-place finish in the 60 meters in 7.58. Matthew Brown was also third in the men’s 60 meters, running 6.79.
Tony Nou was the third-place finisher in the 400 meters in a time of 47.71. Emma Algarin finished third in the 200 meters with a time of 24.61. Alex Nelson was third in the men’s 200 meters (21.66).
A couple of unattached Huskers placed in the top three of the men’s pole vault. Tyler Loontjer was the top finisher at 17-4 1/2 (5.30m), and Spencer Powell was third at 15-11 (4.85m). Also competing unattached, Elsa Forsberg was the runner-up in the mile with a time of 4:52.13 and placed third in the 800 meters (2:15.13). Emma Bresser posted the same time to finish fourth.
The Huskers head to Iowa City, Iowa next weekend for the Larry Wieczorek Invitational.
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