Huskers Win Five Titles at B1G Indoor Championships

GENEVA, Ohio – Five Nebraska track and field athletes came away with gold medals on the final day of the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute on Saturday. 

Mayson Conner (high jump), Jonah Wilson (shot put), Axelina Johansson (shot put), Darius Luff (60-meter hurdles) and Nick Bryant (600 meters) all won individual titles to lead the Huskers on a strong final day at the conference meet. The Husker men came up just shy of a team title, scoring 103 points. Wisconsin was victorious with 110 points. The NU women finished eighth with 52 team points. Michigan was the women’s champion with 109 points. 

Conner claimed his fifth career gold medal in the high jump after clearing 7-3 (2.21m). He successfully defended his Big Ten indoor crown and now has won the high jump at the last three Big Ten meets (indoor and outdoor). He became the Nebraska men’s first ever three-time conference indoor champion in the high jump. 

Luff earned his first Big Ten title in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.65. The Lincoln High graduate took care of business as the top seed in the event one year after being disqualified from the final for a false start. 

Wilson, a senior transfer from Washington, claimed a dominant victory in the shot put. His throw of 68-5 (20.85m) was not only good for the gold medal, it was the No. 2 throw in school history and No. 2 in the NCAA this season. 

Johansson made it a shot put sweep for the Huskers after winning the women’s title. Her best throw was 62-7 1/4 (19.08m), which won by more than a full meter. Johansson won her first Big Ten gold medal after finishing third and second at last year’s conference championships as a freshman. 

Bryant pulled off a big win in the 600 meters with a school-record time of 1:15.37. He broke Dmitrijs Milkevics’ time of 1:15.60 set in 2005. Bryant’s win gave the Husker men a big lift in the team race toward the end of the meet, but Wisconsin clinched the team title with 23 points in the 3,000 meters. 

In addition to the five gold medalists, the Huskers had six other athletes earn medals on Sunday. 

Brithton Senior grabbed the silver medal in the 60-meter hurdles by finishing just behind Luff in a time of 7.71, giving the Huskers a 1-2 finish in the race. 

Jenna Rogers was the runner-up in the high jump after clearing a personal-best 6-2 1/4 (1.89m), which is tied for second in school history and is fourth in the NCAA this season.

The men’s 4×400-meter relay team of Jacob Hyde, Garrett Kaalund, Niko Schultz and Bryant took home the silver medal after a season-best time of 3:08.13. 

Tyus Wilson cleared 7-0 1/2 (2.15m) in the high jump to finish in third place. Maxwell Otterdahl also earned a bronze medal by finishing third in the shot put at 65-3 1/2 (19.90m). And Rhianna Phipps garnered the bronze medal in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 42-9 1/2 (13.04m). 

Lotavia Brown finished fourth in the triple jump at 42-4 1/4 (12.91m), a personal best. Ashley McElmurry was sixth at 42-0 1/2 (12.81m), and Peace Omonzane placed eighth with a mark of 41-2 1/4 (12.55m). 

Taylor Latimer finished fifth in the shot put with a distance of 55-8 1/4 (16.97m). Amelia Flynt placed eighth with a personal-best 52-1 1/4 (15.88m). 

The Husker women scored 15 points each in the triple jump and shot put. 

Micaylon Moore took fourth place in the triple jump after a new personal best on his last attempt, 51-11 (15.82m). 

Madi Scholl cleared a personal-best 5-9 3/4 (1.77m) to tie for fifth in the high jump. Riley Masten matched her personal best of 5-8 1/2 (1.74m) to tie for eighth. Reid Nelson tied for sixth in the men’s high jump at 6-9 (2.06m).  

Matthias Algarin and Kolby Heinerikson scored in the heptathlon by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Algarin totaled 5,319 points, while Heinerikson scored 5,266 points, a new PR. 

Kaalund and Schultz both scored individual points in addition to their silver medal in the 4×400-meter relay. Kaalund finished sixth in the 200 meters with a time of 21.16. Schultz was seventh in the 800 meters in 1:48.67, a personal best that ranks fifth in school history.