Huskers Begin NCAA West First Round

The Nebraska track and field team qualified five athletes for the NCAA Championships on the first day of the NCAA West First Round at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday. 

With the men opening the regional meet on Wednesday, the Huskers qualified Jonah Wilson and Maxwell Otterdahl in the shot put, Arthur Petersen and Dash Sirmon in the javelin, and Till Steinforth in the long jump. All five finished in the top 12 of their respective events, earning them a trip to Austin, Texas for the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 7-10. 

On the track, Darius Luff advanced to Saturday’s 110m hurdles final and Nick Bryant qualified for the 400m final with a trip to nationals on the line. 

Petersen (247-7, 75.47m) and Sirmon (245-6, 74.84m) had the top two javelin throws at the NCAA West First Round to punch their tickets to Austin. Wilson and Otterdahl both threw 64-9 1/4 (19.74m) in the shot put to finish in the top 12 and qualify for nationals. And Steinforth, who was already headed to Austin to compete in the decathlon, posted a long jump of 25-3 1/2 (7.71m) to finish sixth at the regional.

Luff’s time of 13.55 in the 110m hurdles was the fastest qualifying time. Bryant ran a personal-best 46.18 in the 400m, improving on his No. 9 time in school history. 

The Husker women will begin competition on Thursday. The first event for the Huskers is the women’s hammer throw at Noon (CT). Other field events the Husker women will compete in on Thursday are the javelin, shot put and long jump. Johanna Ilves will race in the 100m hurdles prelims. 

Nebraska’s NCAA Outdoor Championships Qualifiers

Maxwell Otterdahl, Men’s Shot Put

Arthur Petersen, Men’s Javelin

Dash Sirmon, Men’s Javelin

Till Steinforth, Men’s Decathlon

Till Steinforth, Men’s Long Jump

Jonah Wilson, Men’s Shot Put