Huskers Ready for Big Ten Outdoor Championships

The Nebraska track and field team will compete at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Champaign, Illinois this weekend. The three-day meet begins on Friday at 11 a.m., Saturday at 11:30 a.m., and Sunday at 11 a.m. Live stream coverage will be provided at BTNPlus.com (subscription necessary). 

The Huskers will be competing at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships for the first time in two years. Last year’s meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mayson Conner is the defending Big Ten outdoor champion in the high jump and is the only Husker on the roster who holds a Big Ten outdoor gold medal. 

However, Nebraska heads to the meet with 13 athletes currently ranked in the top three of a Big Ten event. Conner is one of them, leading the Big Ten with his outdoor high jump PR of 7-3 1/4 (2.22m). Tyler Loontjer holds the top pole vault mark in the Big Ten this season at 18-2 3/4 (5.56m), and Maddie Harris leads the javelin at 168-8 (51.42m). 

 

Husker Notes

• Tyler Loontjer has won four out of five pole vault competitions this outdoor season, including the M City Classic with a personal-best 18-2 3/4 (5.56m). He ranks first in the Big Ten and 10th nationally. Loontjer’s best Big Ten finish in his career is third in 2017, but he enters this year’s competition as the top seed in the conference. His mark ranks second all-time in Nebraska history. 

• Mayson Conner won the Billy Hayes Invitational high jump with the No. 1 mark in the Big Ten this season, 7-3 1/4 (2.22m). His PR ranks No. 7 in NU outdoor history, and he is ranked 10th nationally. The 2019 Big Ten indoor and outdoor high jump champion has won his last two competitions, clearing 7-2 1/2 (2.20m) and 7-3 1/4 (2.22m). 

• Maddie Harris has won three javelin titles this outdoor season, including the Husker B1G Invitational with a PR of 168-8 (51.42m). That throw leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth in Nebraska history. 

• Papay Glaywulu (triple jump), Burger Lambrechts Jr. (shot put), Ieva Turke (triple jump) and Lishanna Ilves (long jump) all won Big Ten titles at the 2021 Big Ten Indoor Championships. All four enter the Big Ten Outdoor Championships ranked in the top four of their respective events. 

Indoor Season Recap

• 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.