The Nebraska track and field team won eight individual event titles and turned in six all-time top-10 performances on Saturday, as the team was split up between the M City Classic in Minneapolis and the Billy Hayes Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana.
The strong performances on the final weekend of the Huskers’ regular season ended with three Husker men ranked in the top 10 nationally. The Huskers will take next weekend off before competing at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on May 14-16 in Champaign, Illinois.
M City Classic Recap
Of the seven field events Nebraska had athletes competing in on Saturday, the Huskers claimed individual titles in five of them.
Tyler Loontjer continued to take his senior season to new heights, vaulting 18-2 3/4 (5.56m) to win the M City Classic pole vault. His new personal best moved him to No. 2 in school history, behind only Eric Eshbach (18-8 1/4, 5.70m). Loontjer ranks first in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation.
The Geneva, Nebraska native led an absolutely dominant performance by the Husker pole vaulters in Minnesota. Following Loontjer were Spencer Powell (17-5 3/4, 5.33m), Kevin Cahoy (17-3 3/4, 5.28m) and Garrison Hughes (17-1 3/4, 5.23m). Powell and Cahoy set lifetime bests, while Hughes set a new outdoor best.
Jessica Gardner won gold in the women’s pole vault with a huge personal best of 13-8 1/4 (4.17m), nearly five inches better than her previous best height. That mark put the North Star grad in Nebraska’s all-time top 10 at No. 6, and she climbed to No. 3 in the Big Ten in the event.
Burger Lambrechts Jr. won the shot put title, improving on his No. 5 all-time throw outdoors at NU with a new outdoor best of 65-2 (19.86m). The Big Ten leader climbed to No. 7 in the nation.
Eric Garner was the winner of the men’s javelin, coming in just shy of his personal best with a toss of 209-9 (63.95m). Tyler Brown was the runner-up at 188-3 (57.38m).
Maddie Harris captured another javelin victory this season with a winning throw of 165-9 (50.52m). Kristina Insingo had a season-best shot put of 51-9 (15.77m) to grab fourth place. Multi-eventer Jamieson Battistella took part in the high jump and finished fourth.
Billy Hayes Invitational Recap
One week after winning the high jump with a new personal record, Mayson Conner accomplished the same feat on Saturday, clearing 7-3 1/4 (2.22m) to win the Billy Hayes Invitational. That clearance moved the York grad to No. 7 in NU outdoor history, and the Big Ten leader in the event jumped into the top 10 nationally at No. 9. Michael Hoffer earned bronze in the event, clearing 6-10 1/4 (2.09m).
Dais Malebana captured the gold medal in the 1,500 meters, improving on his No. 9 all-time mark in NU history with a time of 3:43.21.
Madison Yerigan set a new PR on her way to the women’s high jump title. She made it over 5-10 1/2 (1.79m), and Madi Scholl cleared 5-8 (1.73m) to finish second with a personal record.
Micaylon Moore was the triple jump runner-up at 49-4 1/2 (15.05m), an outdoor personal best. Matthias Algarin was third at 48-4 3/4 (14.75m), and Passmore Mudundulu leaped an outdoor-best 47-9 (14.55m) to finish fourth.
Ieva Turke took second for the women in the triple jump at 41-6 (12.65m). Ashley McElmurry was fourth after a personal-best 41-0 1/2 (12.51m). McElmurry also took fifth in the long jump with a mark of 18-10 1/2 (5.75m).
Michael Hoffer earned runner-up in the long jump after a PR of 24-10 (7.57m), leading a Husker-dominated field. Alexander Thompson jumped a PR 24-9 1/4 (7.55m) to place third, and Moore posted a PR as well, 24-5 3/4 (7.46m), to earn fourth place.
All three Huskers in the men’s 100 meters final posted seasons bests in the race. Lorenzo Paissan (10.55) was third, while Noah Lukz and Chris Ramsey both ran 10.76 to tie for fifth.
Three Huskers were also in the men’s 110-meter hurdles final. Joey Daniels claimed bronze at 13.62, while Luke Siedhoff (13.87) and Darius Luff (13.92) followed him in fourth and fifth, respectively. Daniels ran a wind-legal 13.57 in prelims, the No. 5 time in Husker history, and Luff set a PR of 13.87 in prelims.
Cory Berg took fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 52.42. Cody Mroczek ran the 400 meters in a personal-best 48.36 to finish fourth as well.
Kayla Hugg earned bronze in the 400 meters with a huge personal-record time of 53.52, more than a full second better than her previous best of 54.82. Competing unattached, Jacob Hyde was fourth in the 200 meters in 21.72. Hugg also finished fourth on the women’s side in 24.11.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team finished the meet with a season-best run of 3:12.02 to finish third.
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