Huskers Host 36th Annual Sevigne Meet

Meet: Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational (meet schedule - pg. 5)
Where: Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center Indoor Track
When: Friday, Feb. 4 (Noon) & Saturday, Feb. 5 (10 a.m.)
Live Results: Huskers.com
Other Teams: Colorado, Drake, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Northern Colorado, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts, Rice, Saint Louis, South Dakota, Tulane, Wisconsin, Wyoming

The Nebraska track and field team will be at home this weekend to host the 36th Annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational at the Devaney Center Indoor Track.

One of the top indoor meets in the country, the Huskers will host  14 other Division I teams during the two-day meet. The men's and women's combined events will start the action on Friday at Noon, while the women's weight throw will be the first field event at 5 p.m. and the first running event will be at 6 p.m. with the women's 60-meter hurdle prelims. The heptathletes will be first again on Saturday at 10 a.m., while both the field and running events will start at Noon.

The Husker Invitational is named in honor of former track and field Head Coach Frank Sevigne, who fought a gallant battle against cancer prior to his death on Jan. 29, 1985. Sevigne was posthumously inducted into the United States Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Dec. 4, 2004, in Portland, Ore.

Sevigne brought a wealth of success to Nebraska athletics. He oversaw a total of 11 national champions, 42 All-Americans and 103 individual conference champions. One of his former athletes, sprinter Charlie Greene, added an Olympic gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 1968 Games.

Tickets are still available for the meet at Huskers.com, by calling 1-800-8BIGRED or at the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office. For fans who can't make it to the Devaney Center, live results will be available on Huskers.com

Adams Rewrite Record Book
Already the NU record holder in the indoor 5,000 meters, David Adams re-wrote the NU record book once again with a time of 7:58.62 in the 3,000 meters at the Razorback Invitational. The time broke Jacques van Rensburg's 1990 record of 8:03.70. Adams' time ranks ninth on the NCAA list this season.

NCAA Ticket Punched
Three Huskers have secured a spot a the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.

Senior Natalie Willer was the first Husker to put her name in the field with an automatic-qualifying mark of 14-1 1/4 in the pole vault at the Holiday Inn Invitational. Willer matched the mark at the Razorback Invitational and ranks fifth in the country.

Junior Luke Pinkelman also secured his second career trip to the national meet at the Holiday Inn Invitational with a personal-best toss of 63-6 1/4 in the shot put. Pinkelman bettered the mark at the Razorback Invitational with the third-best throw in the county at 64-0 1/4.

A transfer from Iowa State, Pinkelman previously qualified for the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the shot put.

Nicholas Gordon is the latest to add his name to the list with a leap of 26-0 in the long jump at the Razorback Invitational. The 2009 NCAA indoor champion in the event, Gordon currently ranks ninth in the nation.

Huskers Sweep adidas Classic
The Nebraska track and field team swept the meet titles at the adidas Classic for the third straight year on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Devaney Center Indoor Track. The Husker women dominated the field with 190 points, while Wichita State finished second with 115.5 points. The men's race was a bit tighter, but NU held off Houston, 179.5-134.

Know How to Throw
The Husker throws squad it well represented on the NCAA top-50 list with five athletes in the shot put and one in the weight throw.

Luke Pinkelman leads the way with the third best shot put mark in the country at 63-6 1/4, while Amanda Latsch ranks in the women's top 25 with a toss of 51-11.

Others on the list include Victoria Zimmerman (weight throw - 36th), Annie Jackson (shot put - 47th), Tyler Hitchler (shot put - 32nd) and Chad Wright (44th).

102 and Counting
After winning 51 Big Eight titles during the conference's history from 1974-1996, the Huskers have continued to dominate since moving to the Big 12 Conference in 1997. NU has won a league-high 22 team titles during the Big 12's 14-year history, including the program's historic 100th conference team title in 2007.

The Huskers added their 101st and 102nd titles during the 2009 and 2010 outdoor seasons when they became the first men's team in Big 12 history to win back-to-back team titles at the outdoor conference meet.

All-America Pipeline
Nebraska has been a staple at the NCAA Indoor Championships as the men's team alone has produced 113 All-America awards.  The men's squad has been on quite a roll as they have had at least one athlete earn All-American honors at the past 20 national meets. Since the indoor championships began in 1965, the Huskers have failed to leave with at least one All-America award on just five occasions, including 1975, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1990.

The women's team has been just as good indoors since the national meet started in 1980. Along with three straight national titles from 1982 to 1984, the Huskers have two or more All-Americans at every meet except for 2002 when they failed to earn a honor.

Home-Grown Talent
Fans of track and field in the state of Nebraska will see a lot of familiar faces this season as 65 of the Huskers' 121 athletes are Nebraska natives. Overall, the team is represented by 16 states and 11 countries.

Jumps-U
The Husker women have been arguably the top program in the Big 12 when it comes to the high, long and triple jumps. The Huskers have one at least one title in one of the events at nine of the previous 14 indoor championships and have won the triple jump crown six times, including five straight wins from 2000 to 2004. The women pulled off the clean sweep in 2004 when Na'Tassia Vice won the high jump while Ineta Radevica won the long and triple jumps.

Lopes-Schliep Tops World List
Former Husker national champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep was picked as the No. 1 women's 100-meter hurdler in the world on the recently released Track and Field News World Rankings for the 2010 season. Lopes-Schliep was one of four former Huskers listed on the top-10 world list, as three-time triple jump national champion Ineta Radevica (Latvia) was fifth in the long jump, two-time outdoor national champion Becky Breisch (US) was seventh in the discus while eight-time All-American and 2008 indoor high jump national champion Dusty Jonas (US) was ninth in the high jump.

Lopes-Schliep is coming off arguably her best season as a professional, as recorded the top time in the world in 2010 at 12.52 during her victory in London, beating out LoLo Jones' 12.55 from earlier in the season in New York. Lopes-Schliep ended the year with eight victories, including win in her final four races, and placed no lower than fourth all season at 14 meets. Lopes-Schliep also took the top spot in the Diamond League standing over Jones, which earned Lopes-Schliep the inaugural Diamond Race Trophy, a four-carat diamond worth $80,000.