Huskers Open Outdoor Season in Indiana

The Nebraska track and field team begins the outdoor season at the Indiana Big Ten Invitational #1 on Friday and Saturday at the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex in Bloomington, Indiana.

A group of 13 Husker throwers will join Luke Siedhoff and Joey Daniels (110-meter hurdles), and Tyler Loontjer (pole vault) at this weekend’s season-opening outdoor competition. Loontjer will compete in the pole vault on Friday night. The Husker throwers begin the day on Saturday at 10 a.m. CT with the women’s shot put concluding the Huskers’ day in the early afternoon. 

The Huskers will be competing outdoors for the first time in nearly two years after the 2020 season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the Husker men and women placed fourth at the 2019 Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Iowa City, Iowa. Mayson Conner was the men’s high jump gold medalist in 2019 and is the lone Husker who holds claim to a Big Ten Outdoor gold medal. Conner was a second-team All-American at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump, finishing in a tie for 12th at nationals. Lambrechts Jr. (shot put), Kusche (1,500 meters) and Siedhoff (110-meter hurdles) also achieved second-team All-America honors at the 2019 outdoor meet. Siedhoff was a first-team All-American in the 110-meter hurdles in 2018, finishing seventh at nationals.

At the 2021 Big Ten Indoor Championships in February, four Huskers were crowned champions. Lambrechts Jr. won the shot put title with the second-best throw in school history and went on to be a first-team All-American with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Papay Glaywulu won the men’s triple jump title and Lishanna Ilves won the women’s long jump, and both were NCAA Indoor qualifiers. Ieva Turke was the Big Ten women’s indoor triple jump champion for the second year in a row. 

In addition to Lambrechts, Glaywulu and Ilves, Kusche and Kevin Shubert were also NCAA Indoor qualifiers. Kusche finished 10th in the mile, and Shubert was 16th in the shot put in his first time at nationals. Both were second-team All-Americans. Kusche is the reigning Big Ten cross country champion and the school-record holder in the indoor mile and 3,000 meters.