Huskers Split Between Two Meets This Weekend

The Nebraska track and field team splits up on the road this weekend at two different meets. Most of the Huskers will compete at the Hawkeye B1G Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa on Friday and Saturday. A group of 10 Huskers will also travel to the SPIRE Pre-Big Ten Meet in Geneva, Ohio this weekend. The SPIRE Institute is where the Big Ten Indoor Championships will be held on Feb. 25-27. 

The Hawkeye B1G Invitational will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday. That meet will be live streamed on BTNPlus.com (subscription necessary). The Huskers will be competing against Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin.

The SPIRE Pre-Big Ten Meet begins at 9 a.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday. 

The Huskers are coming off 11 event wins at the Husker Quad last Saturday at the Devaney Center. Junior Papay Glaywulu won both the long and triple jump and was named the Big Ten Co-Field Athlete of the Week. Glaywulu ranks first in the Big Ten triple jump and third in the long jump. His triple jump mark ranks sixth nationally. He will be the only Husker field event athlete competing at the SPIRE Pre-Big Ten Meet this weekend. 

George Kusche leads a group of nine distance runners also competing at the SPIRE Pre-Big Ten meet. Kusche, the Big Ten cross country champion, made his track debut at the Husker Quad last weekend and won the mile with ease in 4:01.53. He will compete in the 800m, Mile and 3,000m. Erika Freyhof, who finished sixth for the NU women at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships, will run the 5,000m at the SPIRE Pre-Big Ten Meet. 

Nebraska has eight athletes currently leading the Big Ten in an event:

• George Kusche, Mile (4:01.53)
• Dais Malebana, 5,000m (14:16.56)
• Papay Glaywulu, Triple Jump (53-6 1/4, 16.31m)
• Kevin Shubert, Shot Put (63-2 3/4, 19.27m)
• Zach Podraza, Heptathlon (5,154)
• Monica Aldrighetti, Pole Vault (13-5 1/4, 4.10m)
• Lishanna Ilves, Long Jump (20-9, 6.32m)
• Ieva Turke, Triple Jump (43-0 1/2, 13.12m)

The top 16 individuals in every event according to the TFRRS Indoor Qualifying Lists will be selected for the NCAA Indoor Championships, set for March 11-13 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Huskers currently have nine individuals who rank in the top 16 nationally in their respective events:

• 6. Dais Malebana, 5,000m (14:16.56)
• 6. Papay Glaywulu, Triple Jump (53-6 1/4, 16.31m)
• 11. Lishanna Ilves, Long Jump (20-9, 6.32m)
• 11. Kevin Shubert, Shot Put (63-2 3/4, 19.27m)
• 12. Ieva Turke, Triple Jump (43-0 1/2, 13.12m)
• 13. Burger Lambrechts Jr., Shot Put (63-1 1/2, 19.24m)
• 14. Ryan Martins, 5,000m (14:24.20)
• 16. Erika Freyhof, 5,000m (16:27.29)
• 16. Johanna Ilves, Pentathlon (3,848)