>> The Nebraska track and field team continues the 2021 indoor season at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in Iowa City, Iowa this weekend. Action at the Iowa Recreation Building gets underway at 1 p.m. on Friday and Noon on Saturday. Along with the Huskers and host Hawkeyes, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin will compete at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational. This weekend's meet will be streamed on BTNPlus.com (subscription necessary). Live results can be found at WayzataResults.com. 

>> Nebraska is coming off a successful season-opening Husker Triangular last weekend at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Eight Huskers won event titles and six Huskers joined the all-time top-10 in school history:

    • Dais Malebana (5,000m): 3rd (14:16.56)
    • Erika Freyhof (5,000m): 3rd (16:27.29)
    • Papay Glaywulu (Triple Jump): T-4th (53-6 1/4, 16.31m)
    • Kevin Shubert (Shot Put): 7th (61-10 1/2, 18.86m) 
    • Ryan Martins (5,000m): 10th (14:24.20)
    • Marika Spencer (Shot Put): 10th (61-7 3/4, 18.79m)

>> The Huskers return four athletes who have achieved USTFCCCA All-America indoor honors in their NU careers. George Kusche was an All-American in the mile and 3,000 meters last indoor season, and he is the school-record holder in both events. Burger Lambrechts Jr. and Kristina Insingo were both named All-Americans last year after qualifying for indoor nationals in the shot put. Mayson Conner was a 2019 first-team All-American in the high jump after finishing seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships. 

>> NU's 2021 indoor schedule features two home meets, four road meets and the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Geneva, Ohio. After the Husker Triangular, NU will head to Iowa City, Iowa for the Larry Wieczorek Invitational on Jan. 22-23. The Huskers are in Champaign, Illinois the following weekend (Jan. 29-30) for the Illinois Combined Event. Nebraska returns to the Devaney Center to host the Husker Quad against Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota on Feb. 6. The Huskers split up between the Hawkeye B1G Invitational in Iowa City and the SPIRE Pre-Big Ten Meet in Geneva, Ohio the weekend of Feb. 12-13. After a weekend off, the Huskers will compete at the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Feb. 25-27. The indoor season concludes with the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 11-13.

>> The Husker men placed fourth and the women were 10th at the 2020 Big Ten Indoor Championships. Three Huskers captured Big Ten titles: Alencar Pereira (weight throw), Brent Wetovick (600 meters) and Ieva Turke (triple jump). Turke returns to lead the Husker women this year as she owns the No. 9 indoor triple jump mark (43-0 1/2, 13.12m) in NU women's history.

>> The Nebraska men's track and field team was crowned the indoor dual meet champions by Track & Field News Magazine for the second straight season in 2020. The Huskers claimed the title on the strength of two home quadrangulars, the Mark Colligan Memorial and the adidas Classic, as well as outstanding running-event balance. Nebraska posted a 6-0 record in dual meets to top No. 2 Indiana (1-0) and No. 3 Texas A&M (2-0) for the top spot. The Nebraska men won the absolute - indoor and outdoor combined - dual meet championship in 2017.

Huskers Open Season at Columbia 300 Saints Invite

Lincoln - The fourth ranked Nebraska bowling team will open its 2021 season at the Columbia 300 Saints Invite this weekend.

"We are excited to get back to competition after 10 months since our last competitive event," Head Coach Paul Klempa, who begins his second season, said. "The team has been waiting patiently, and we like the competitive schedule we have been able to coordinate during these challenging times. The team needs the competition and so do the coaches."

Nebraska returns four starters, including All-Americans Cassidy Ray and Leah Glazer. Senior Michelle Guarro and Amara Smith-Speights also return after starting last season, a year where the Huskers were ranked in the top five nationally before the postseason was canceled. NU was scheduled to compete last weekend at Youngstown State, but the tournament was canceled days before it was scheduled to begin.

Joining the Huskers in the 12-team field will be top-ranked McKendree, No. 10 Youngstown State, No. 18 Maryville, No. 23 Lincoln Memorial, Drury, Kentucky Wesleyan, Lewis, Quincy, Spalding, Tusculum, and Upper Iowa.

The bowlers will begin Friday morning against Upper Iowa, one of five matches on Friday. NU is also slated to face No. 18 Maryville, Spalding, Lewis and No. 1 McKendree. Saturday's schedule begins with the Huskers take on Quincy. Other matches Saturday include No. 10 Youngstown State, No. 23 Lincoln Memorial and Drury.  The Huskers will finish up non-bracket play against Kentucky Wesleyan before being seeded in the bracket.

Columbia 300 Saints Invite Teams Competing

No. 1 McKendree
No. 4 Nebraska
No. 10 Youngstown State
No. 18 Maryville
No. 23 Lincoln Memorial
Drury
Kentucky Wesleyan
Lewis
Quincy
Spalding
Tusculum
Upper Iowa

Huskers Take Aim at No. 1 Kentucky, No. 12 NC State

Lincoln – After a pair of top-10 wins last weekend, the No. 8 Nebraska rifle program heads east for a pair of matches this weekend in Lexington, Ky. 

The Huskers (3-1), who jumped from 11^th to eighth in the latest CRCA poll after two victories over Air Force, will face No. 1 Kentucky (8-1) Friday morning and square off against No. 12 NC State (2-4) on Sunday. Both matches start at 7 a.m. (central).

Kentucky is 8-1 on the season with the lone loss coming to Ole Miss on Monday. The Wildcats, Ole Miss and TCU are all tied for the top spot entering this weekend's action. The only losses for both NU and Kentucky have been to Ole Miss.  NC State is 2-4 on the season after going 1-1 in its first weekend of spring completion.

"This weekend will prove to be a challenge as we go head-to-head with the top-ranked team in the country," Nebraska Rifle Coach Rachel Martin said. "What our doubleheader against Air Force showed is that we have to come together as a team, it cannot be a three-person effort."
 
Martin was pleased with her team's performance in Sunday's win, bettering its previous high mark by 30 points in posting the program's second-best team score in 16 years. NU claimed four of the top six spots in both the smallbore and air rifle in posting the 4,699-4,676 victory.
 
While senior Emily Cheramie leads NU in average in both smallbore (582) and air rifle (592.5), it is a pair of freshmen who have given the Huskers a spark early in the 2021 season. Cecelia Ossi is second on the team in smallbore (580.5), while Madelynn Erickson ranks second on the team in air rifle (592) and third in smallbore (578).  
 
Ossi earned her first collegiate title in Sunday's win over Air Force, placing first in the smallbore with a mark of 584. Erickson was steady all weekend, earning a trio of top-three finishes in the two wins over Air Force.
 
Martin believed that her newcomers would make an immediate impact, but also gives a lot of credit to a strong group of returnees which has helped ease the transition in a most unique season.
 
"We had a great recruiting year, and Cecelia and Madelynn have come into their first season showing not only intense power, but consistency," Martin said. "Just like many other freshmen across the country, this has been a difficult year to enter into college. Our returning athletes have done an amazing job of supporting them and integrating them into our team."
 
This weekend's matches caps a busy stretch for the Big Red, as they will be off until hosting Akron on Saturday, Feb. 6.