LINCOLN — The women's half of Nebraska track and field coach Gary Pepin's team had just pulled an upset, winning the Big Ten indoor championship over favored Ohio State.
But he found it hard to celebrate. The NU men — favored themselves — squandered a lead they had held for nearly two days, finishing third behind champion Indiana and Minnesota.
“It's really hard when you win one, and you had hoped to win the other (too),” Pepin said.
Especially when, just two feet away, the Indiana men — winning their first league crown since 1992 — doused coach Ron Helmer with a Gatorade bucket of ice water and started chanting “IU!” repeatedly, drowning out Pepin's words. Later, the Hoosiers took a victory lap with the Big Ten trophy, singing their school alma mater.
So it was a split decision for NU's first foray into the Big Ten, which staged its first combined men's and women's meet. The 3,166 fans at the Devaney Center weren't disappointed; both team races went down to the final event, the 1,600-meter relay.
“There are no holes in any of these competitions,” said Helmer, who added that the atmosphere for the meet was “great.” Later, a Big Ten official told Butch Hug, NU's associate athletic director for events, that Nebraska had one of the “best facilities in the world.”
The Husker women rode a strong first day of performances into the second day, finishing with 114.5 points. Favorite Ohio State — its female sprinters wearing their hair long, sporting cheetah headbands to keep it out of their faces — was second with 106, followed by Penn State (99), Illinois (79) and Michigan State (77.5).
Mara Griva (triple jump) was NU's only individual winner Saturday — leaping 42 feet, 9½ inches on her first jump of the finals before sitting out with an injured hamstring — but the Huskers kept momentum going with a number of lower-place finishes.
“Points just kept coming and coming,” Griva said. “A lot of people did their best ever. It's great.”
NU senior Ashley Miller — who won the 3,000-meter race Friday night — added second places in the 1,600 meters and 5,000 meters. For the weekend, she scored 26 points.
“When the gun sounds, she lays it on the line,” Pepin said. “When it's time to go onstage, she likes to perform. She had a heck of a meet.”
So did several others: Mara Weekes, third in the 200 and sixth in the 60 meters; Ellie Grooters, third in the 600 meters; Jessica Furlan, fourth in the 800 and eighth in the 5,000; Anna Weigandt, fourth in the triple jump; Marusa Cernjul, fifth in the high jump; Victoria Zimmerman, sixth in the weight throw; Blaire Dinsdale, seventh in the 800; and Mila Andric, eighth in the 60-meter hurdles.
That balanced performance held off OSU's impressive sprinters, led by Christina Manning, who won the 60 meters and 60-meter hurdle races, and finished second in the 200. It was Manning who started the “cheetah” trend as a sophomore to stand out — then asked her teammates to join her in the look.
On the men's side, Indiana won with 104 points, holding off Minnesota, which scored 100. Nebraska (99) will be left to count its missed opportunities.
“We didn't do very well in the hurdles. We didn't do very well in the pole vault,” Pepin said. “I thought we had a chance to do better in the triple jump. It wasn't like you could pick any one event.”
Two things were out of the Huskers' control.
First, freshman sprinter Ricco Hall pulled up in the 200 meters — where he'd qualified second — with a leg injury. That kept him out of the 1,600-meter relay, where he was NU's fastest leg. His points in the 200 alone might have given the Huskers the win.
In the relay itself, Nebraska sprinter Jodi-Rae Blackwood — running the first leg — was knocked off course for a few seconds by traffic. NU athletes exploded in anger, while Pepin told an official to consider a foul.
“The official saw it a lot differently than I saw it,” Pepin said.
Said Helmer: “The only thing that concerned me was the Nebraska kid acted like he got bumped harder than he did. You never know how that might come back and bite you.”
Helmer didn't know whose runner had hit Blackwood. Pepin didn't want to say. Minnesota athletes — bunched up near the turn where the push happened — seemed to think Indiana could be cited for a foul, paving the way for a win. A murmur worked through the Gopher contingent.
“You know how that goes,” Pepin said.
But when the official results were posted with IU finishing fifth, the entire Indiana men's team bolted onto the track, whipped past Minnesota's and Nebraska's athletes and celebrated in front of the video board. The next hour was filled with impromptu chants and hoots from the Hoosiers.
Nebraska still finished ahead of Ohio State (93.44) — which Helmer thought might win the title — and Wisconsin (75), which Pepin had tabbed as a potential favorite.
Former Big 12 champion Bjorn Barrefors finished second in the heptathlon for NU. Chris Phipps and Patrick Raedler, who finished one-two in the long jump Friday night, finished third and fourth, respectively, in Saturday's triple jump.
Other Husker men in the scoring column: Hall, second in the 400 and eighth in the 200; Tommy Brinn, second in the 600; Miles Ukaoma, sixth in the 60-meter hurdles; Carlos Hernandez, fifth in the high jump; Tim Thompson, fifth in the 200 and seventh in the 60 meters; Dexter McKenzie, sixth in the 200; and Blackwood, eighth in the 400.
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