Nebraska track and field began its outdoor campaign on Friday split between the Florida Relays, Stanford Invitational and Mike Fanelli Track Classic. Eniko Sara brought in a title, while three additional athletes joined her in climbing the all-time performance list.
Sara recorded a personal-best javelin mark in Gainesville, Fla. to secure the win and crack the all-time list for the first time. Her 177-11 (54.23m) is the ninth-best throw in school history. Emmanuela Casadei pitched in a runner-up finish with a 173-6 (52.88m) in her first meet as a Husker. Mirta Kulisic finished fifth in the event with a distance of 170-6 (51.97m). Tyler Brown threw for 223-8 (68.17m) in the men’s javelin, placing fourth.
Hillevi Carlsson posted the fifth-best hammer throw mark in school history with a 203-11 (62.16m) to take fourth. Cammy Garabian added an eighth-place finish with a 188-7 (57.49m). Max Herman (194-6, 59.29m) and Seth Schnakenberg (188-9, 57.55m) placed eighth and ninth on the men’s side.
Mine De Klerk threw the sixth-best discus mark in school history on her first time competing in the event for Nebraska. The transfer from Oregon went 181-0 (55.17m) to claim fourth in the invitational section. Kalynn Meyer joined De Klerk in the invitational section, going 172-1 (52.46m) to take seventh.
In the women’s long jump invitational, Lishanna Ilves grabbed third with a leap of 20-11 ¼ (6.38m) and Ashley McElmurry placed sixth with a 20-5 ¼ (6.23m). On the men’s side, Kavian Kerr went 24-0 ¼ (7.32m) to grab ninth place.
Mason Kooi and Reid Nelson teamed up for top-five finishes in the open section of the men’s high jump. Kooi, in his first collegiate outdoor meet, cleared 6-11 (2.11m) to place second, while Nelson secured fourth with a 6-9 (2.06m).
Jessica Gardner cleared 12-11 ½ (3.95m) in the women’s pole vault to tie for sixth.
Cory Berg and Joseph Clifford posted top-15 400m hurdle finishes, with Berg running a 52.41 to take 13th and Clifford running a personal-best 52.48 to take 14th. In the women’s 400m hurdles, Abrielle Artley (1:01.99) and Karlie Moore (1:02.17) provided back-to-back finishes, taking 26th and 27th.
Arianna Walker was NU’s top finisher in the women’s 200m, clocking a 24.61 to place 37th.
The Husker women (Artley, A. Walker, Johanna Ilves, Meghan Walker) qualified for tomorrow’s 4x400m relay final with a time of 3:42.93.
At the Stanford Invitational, Berlyn Schutz ran a 4:19.94 in the 1500m to enter the outdoor all-time list at No. 8. The freshman from Lincoln, Neb. broke the school record in the mile during the indoor season. Sadio Fenner clocked a 9:14.90 in the 3000m steeplechase, while Taya Skelton ran a 10:25 in the women’s steeplechase. In the women’s 5000m, Brynna McQuillen led the way for Nebraska with a 16:29.43.
At the Mike Fanelli Track Classic, Holden Ruse finished seventh in the 400m with a 50.87. Lindsey Blehm led NU in the women’s 1500m, placing 18th with a time of 4:39.61.
The Huskers will pick back up at the Florida Relays tomorrow with field events at 8 a.m. (CT) and running events at 8:30 a.m. (CT). The Stanford Invitational resumes running events at 12 p.m. (CT), with the Mike Fanelli Track Classic starting at 1:30 p.m. (CT).
