Harris Wins Javelin Gold at Big Ten Championships

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Nebraska track and field freshman Maddie Harris won the Big Ten Outdoor Championships javelin title on the final day of the meet on Sunday at Demirjian Park. 

Harris, a second-year Husker competing for the first time collegiately outdoors, set a new personal best of 183-10 (56.05m) to win the event going away. Her new PR was more than 15 feet better than her previous best and moved her up to No. 2 in school history. She now ranks sixth in the NCAA this season, and her mark surpassed the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying standard. Harris continued the Huskers’ success in the javelin in the Big Ten Conference. The NU women have won five of the last seven Big Ten javelin titles. 

Fellow Husker freshman Mirta Kulisic was the bronze medalist in the javelin. Kulisic had a personal-best throw of 169-9 (51.75m), the No. 8 throw in school history, as the Huskers claimed two of the top three spots on the podium. 

The Nebraska men finished fourth in the team race with 71.83 points. The Husker women were ninth with 52 points. The Huskers had two Big Ten champions over the three days, Harris on Sunday and long jumper Lishanna Ilves on Saturday.

Burger Lambrechts Jr. fell just shy of defending his Big Ten indoor shot put crown. Lambrechts threw an outdoor PR of 65-7 (19.99m), which tied Michigan’s Andrew Liskowitz for the top throw. But the gold medal came down to a tiebreaker, which Liskowitz won with a better second throw (64-9 3/4) than Lambrechts Jr. (64-7 3/4). The Husker junior instead claimed the silver medal and moved up to No. 4 in school history outdoors. 

The Husker men collected 15 of their 71.83 team points in the triple jump on Sunday. Papay Glaywulu, the Big Ten indoor champion in the event, led the way in third place with a jump of 51-11 3/4 (15.84m). Terrol Wilson finished fourth with a leap of 51-3 3/4 (15.64m). Micaylon Moore took sixth place after a personal-best of 49-9 1/4 (15.17m). Matthias Algarin also hit a personal best, 48-10 (14.88m), and was eighth. 

Senior hurdler Luke Siedhoff collected his third career Big Ten medal and first outdoors, finishing third in the 110-meter hurdles with a PR of 13.61, the No. 7 time in school history. Darius Luff also scored team points by finishing fifth in 13.90. 

Noah Lukz, Alex Nelson, Lorenzo Paissan and Isaiah Hutchinson ran the 4×100-meter relay in 39.79 to earn the bronze medal. It was the fastest time by a Husker men’s 4×100-meter relay time since 2016. The NU women’s team of Emma Algarin, Kayla Hugg, Lishanna Ilves and Darby Thomas took eighth place overall with a time of 45.60 to score a team point. 

Ashley McElmurry earned fourth place in the women’s triple jump to score five team points. McElmurry recorded a new personal best of 41-1 3/4 (12.54m) on her last attempt. Madison Yerigan finished in fifth place in the women’s high jump, clearing 5-9 1/4 (1.76m). 

The Husker men’s 4×400-meter relay team of Cody Mroczek, Alex Nelson, Cory Berg and Isaiah Hutchinson ran a season-best time of 3:10.68 to finish sixth. Judi Jones took 11th in the 5,000 meters with the No. 9 time in school history, 16:31.52. 

After a weekend off, the Huskers will turn their attention to the NCAA West Preliminary Round, set for May 27-29 in College Station, Texas.