The Nebraska track and field team will host the 45th annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational this weekend. Action begins on Friday with combined events at Noon, field events at 4:30 p.m. and track events at 6 p.m. The meet will conclude on Saturday with the final combined events starting at 9:30 a.m., and both track and field events beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Thirty-eight teams are scheduled to compete at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, including Division I opponents Creighton, Drake, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas State, Maryland, Missouri State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, Omaha, South Dakota State, Southeast Missouri State, Texas State, Tulane and Wichita State. Three nationally ranked men's teams will be competing at the Husker Invitational, along with one of the top women's teams in the country. The ranked teams on the men's side competing at the Devaney Center will be No. 10 Iowa State, No. 17 Kansas and No. 23 Illinois. Iowa is the lone ranked women's team competing at the meet, coming in at No. 19 in the USTFCCCA Rankings.

Nebraska sophomore George Kusche will attempt to break both the Devaney Center record and the Nebraska school record in the 3,000 meters on Saturday at 4 p.m. Kusche became the first Husker in school history to run a sub-4:00 mile on a standard 200-meter track with a time of 3:59.61 last season, and he broke his own mile record at the Washington Invitational last weekend with a time of 3:57.93 on an oversized track to own the mile record at Nebraska outright.

Kusche already holds the oversized track 3,000-meter record at Nebraska (7:57.16), but he'll be looking to break David Adams' standard-track school record of 7:58.62, set in 2011. The Devaney Center 3,000-meter record is 7:58.20, set in 1994 by Richard Kosgei (Barton CC). 

Some of the nation's top athletes will be on display this weekend:
• Professional jumper Tanasia Lee was a three-time NCAA Division III national champion triple jumper at Williams College. Lee is the Puerto Rico national record holder. 
• Kansas triple jumper Treyvon Ferguson was the USATF U20 champion last year. He finished 10th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman.
• The men's pole vault features three vaulters who have cleared at least 18-0 in their careers. Kansas' Zach Bradford was fifth indoors and sixth outdoors at last year's NCAA Championships as a freshman. Professional vaulter Hussain Al Hizam was the NCAA indoor champion for Kansas in 2018.
• Nebraska's Burger Lambrechts Jr. ranks eighth in the nation in the shot put with his PR of 64-8 (19.71m) last weekend, the No. 4 throw in NU history.
• Professional runner Molly Sughroue was one of the top distance runners in the Big 12 for Oklahoma State from 2016-19. She won six Big 12 titles in distance events. 
• Iowa senior Jaylan McConico ranks third in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.66 this season. 
• Four women in the long jump have jumped more than 20-0.
• Four women in the triple jump have jumped more than 42-0.
• Seven men in the long jump have jumped more than 24-0. 
• Four men in the high jump have cleared 7-0. 
• Three men in the shot put have thrown more than 62-0. 
• Four women in the 60 meters have run 7.50 or faster.
• Five men in the 60 meters have run 6.70 or faster. 
• Two men in the mile have run 4:00.00 or faster. 

New Nebraska Top-10 Marks
The Huskers have achieved seven all-time top-10 indoor marks in school history so far in 2020:
• George Kusche - Mile (No. 1 oversized - 3:57.93)
• Alencar Pereira - Weight Throw (No. 3 - 68-0 1/2, 20.74m)
• Burger Lambrechts Jr. - Shot Put (No. 4 - 64-8, 19.71m)
• James Joycey - Weight Throw (No. 6 - 66-1, 20.14m)
• Burger Lambrechts Jr. - Weight Throw (No. 7 - 65-7 1/2, 20.00m)
• Kristina Insingo - Shot Put (No. 7 - 53-6 1/4, 16.31m)
• Elsa Forsberg - Mile (No. 9 - 4:46.13)
• Judi Jones - 3,000m (No. 9 - 9:36.19)

Pepin Named B1G and USTFCCCA Men's Midwest Region Coach of the Year
Nebraska track and field head coach Gary Pepin was named the Big Ten Men's Indoor Coach of the Year and the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year in 2019. 

The Big Ten honor marked Pepin's sixth selection as Big Ten Coach of the Year since the Huskers joined the conference in 2011-12, and it was his 28th all-time conference coaching accolade. The 2019 Big Ten men's indoor title was Pepin's 73rd career conference title and 43rd indoors. He has guided the Husker men to three Big Ten indoor titles in the last five seasons.

Pepin, in his 40th year as head coach at Nebraska, has also been honored as region coach of the year 11 times in the past 15 years. Of his 11 region coaching honors, three are men's indoor coach of the year (2005, 2015, 2019). 

Husker Men Out to Defend Big Ten Indoor Title
The Nebraska men won the 2019 Big Ten Indoor Championship in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Angela Mercurio, Lakayla Harris, Mayson Conner and Elijah Lucy all won individual Big Ten indoor titles for the Big Red. 

The Husker men entered the final day of the Big Ten Championships with an 11-point lead and led the entire day until Indiana took a 90-89 lead with only the 4x400-meter relay remaining. However, the Huskers' relay team of Givon Washington, Tony Nou, Lucy and Isaiah Hutchinson ran a season-best of 3:09.12 to finish fifth, while Indiana finished eighth in 3:11.71. The Huskers finished with 93 points, and Indiana had 91, giving NU its first team crown since 2016.

The Husker men won their 67th all-time conference title and 38th indoors with the victory. It was the fifth Big Ten title for the Husker men since joining the conference in 2012. For legendary head coach Gary Pepin, it marked his 73rd career conference title and 43rd indoors.

Conner was crowned the high jump champion after clearing a personal-best 7-3 3/4 (2.23m), which put him in a tie for ninth in school history. Conner had the competition locked up as the only jumper to clear 7-2 1/4 (2.19m), and he was perfect through that height. The McCool Junction native went on to achieve a new personal best and give the Husker men the Big Ten indoor high jump title for the fifth time in the last six years. Conner was the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Freshman of the Year. 

Husker Men Tabbed 2019 Indoor Dual Meet Champions
The Nebraska men's track and field team was named the indoor dual meet champions by Track & Field News Magazine for the first time in the program's history in 2019. 

Following a strong performance at the Mark Colligan Memorial, where the Huskers scored 172 points to sweep the meet, the Huskers surged from No. 4 to No. 1 in the final rankings of the indoor season. The Huskers posted a 3-0 record in dual meets to top Indiana (1-0) and Texas A&M (2-0) for the top spot. The NU women came in at No. 4 in the final women's rankings.

To be ranked, a team must compete in one or more dual meets (defined as a scored meet between four or fewer teams) during the indoor season. Teams are ranked on wins and losses, marks, and strength and depth of dual meet schedule. Teams are rewarded for taking dual meet competition seriously. The Nebraska men won the absolute - indoor and outdoor combined - dual meet championship in 2017.