The Nebraska track and field team will send 11 student-athletes to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., this week. 

The men will compete on Wednesday and Friday at Hayward Field, while the women will take the stage on Thursday and Saturday. Live streams for all events will be available at WatchESPN.com. 

Alex Talley will start things off for the Huskers in the hammer throw on Wednesday at 4 p.m. (CT). Darius Luff will run in the 110-meter hurdles prelims at 7:32 p.m., and Maxwell Otterdahl and Burger Lambrechts Jr. will take part in the shot put at 8:40 p.m.

On Thursday, Maddie Harris and Mirta Kulisic compete in the women's javelin at 8:45 p.m., while LaQwasia Stepney begins the long jump at 9 p.m. and Axelina Johansson represents NU in the shot put at 9:40 p.m.

Mayson Conner will look to build off last year's bronze medal in the high jump when he enters the competition on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Luff would compete in the 110-meter hurdles final at 8:42 p.m. should he advance out of the preliminary round. 

Finally, Jenna Rogers and Riley Masten will finish the weekend for the Husker women in the high jump at 4 p.m. on Saturday. 

Talley started the NCAA West Preliminary Round last week by finishing sixth in the hammer throw. Talley's second throw of 219-9 (66.99m) was enough to qualify him for his third NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance in the hammer throw. The Nebraska school-record holder finished sixth last year in the event while at North Dakota State and was a USTFCCCA First-Team All-American. He placed 22nd in his first nationals appearance in 2019.

Luff posted a time of 13.64 in the 110-meter hurdles at regionals, good for the seventh-best time and a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the second year in a row. The Lincoln High grad placed 22nd last year at the national meet. His 13.64 was his second-best time this season behind only his PR of 13.59. 

Otterdahl placed sixth in the shot put last week to clinch an NCAA Outdoor Championships bid for the first time, though he was a first-team All-American at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships after finishing eighth while at North Dakota State. Otterdahl's throw of 64-6 1/2 was enough to send the Big Ten outdoor champion to the NCAA Outdoor Championships one year after missing out on qualifying by one spot. 

Lambrechts Jr., the Big Ten indoor shot put champion and fourth-place finisher at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships, will make another trip to Eugene after finishing ninth at regionals with a throw of 64-3 3/4 (19.60m). Lambrechts Jr. is a four-time All-American in the event and a two-time Big Ten champion.

Harris will compete in the javelin at Eugene for the second year in a row. The two-time Big Ten champion and school-record holder only needed one throw last week, as her first mark of 179-3 (54.64m) was the third-best throw in the regional. Joining Harris in the javelin at nationals for the second year in a row will be Kulisic, who threw 168-3 (51.29m) to qualify with the ninth-best throw. Her qualifying mark also came on her first attempt. 

Stepney qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in her Husker career. Her long jump mark of 20-5 1/4 (6.23m) on her first attempt held up as the 11th-best jump at the NCAA West Preliminary Round and earned her a bid to nationals. 

The freshman Johansson will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the shot put for the first time. Her throw of 58-7 1/2 (17.87m) was the No. 2 throw at the regional and easily earned her one of the 12 bids to nationals. Johansson placed 11th at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the shot put in March. 

Conner, a McCool Junction native, is headed back to Eugene after clearing 7-1 3/4 (2.18m) on his first attempt to qualify for nationals with ease. Conner was the Big Ten indoor and outdoor high jump champion this year, and the four-time All-American had a career-best third-place finish at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, where he set a personal best of 7-3 3/4 (2.23m). 

Both Rogers and Masten cleared 5-11 1/4 (1.81m) to finish among the top 12 high jumpers who clinched a bid to nationals. Rogers, the Big Ten indoor and outdoor champion in the event, finished seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March to earn first-team All-America honors. Masten's clearance was a new personal best and will send her to nationals for the first time. 

Huskers Add Watt as Volunteer Coach

Nebraska softball Head Coach Rhonda Revelle announced the addition of Mark Watt on Monday as the volunteer coach for the Huskers. 

"We are so excited to announce the addition of Mark Watt to our coaching staff," Revelle said. "Mark is a winner. He is a person of high integrity, a fierce competitor that always does everything the right way. Mark has been around Nebraska Softball for years, working camps and clinics as he has an insatiable passion for learning and the game. We look forward to having this championship coach join the Red Team. It is a great day to be a Husker." 

Watt joins the Huskers after spending the last 20 years at Lincoln Southwest as the head coach of the varsity softball team. He helped the Silver Hawks to four state titles (2008, 2009, 2018 and 2021). Watt also led the Silver Hawks to nine Heartland Athletic Conference Tournament titles, eight regular-season conference titles and 13 district championships. 

"It is an honor and a thrill to join the Husker softball staff," Watt said. "I have worked hard to develop as a softball coach over the past 25 years, and I have built one of the top high school softball programs in Nebraska and the region. Through the years, I have gotten to know the staff well, and I have enjoyed working with them at camps and clinics. The coaches have been a major influence on my career and helped me improve my knowledge of the game and ability to build unified teams.

"I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to an exceptional program, and help to build on an outstanding Big Ten Championship season." 

Watt finished his career as the all-time winningest softball coach in state history with 579 victories. He led the Silver Hawks to the state tournament 15 times, including a state tournament berth in each of his final nine years. In addition to his four state championships, Watt also recorded state runner-up finishes in 2007, 2011 and 2017.

Huskers Complete Action at World Team Trials

Geneva, Ohio – Silas Allred won the U20 Challenge Tournament to lead the group of Husker wrestlers competing at the U20 and U23 World Team Trials, June 4-5.

Allred, coming off last month's runner up finish at the US Open, won the U20 Challenge Tournament and earned a spot in the best-of-three series final match against this year's 2022 US Open champion, Jaxon Smith of Maryland. Allred battled, but dropped the first two matches against Smith, and the Maryland wrestler claimed the 92 kg spot on the U20 World Team.

In the field of wrestlers, besides Allred, 10 other Huskers competed. In the U20 freestyle division, Elise Brown Ton (79 kg), Nathan Haas (86 kg) and Zak Taylor (97 kg) wrestled but didn't place. In the U23 freestyle division, Ridge Lovett (65 kg) finished third, Bubba Wilson (74 kg) and Peyton Robb (74 kg) both placed fourth due to a no contest in the third-place match and Alex Thomsen (61 kg), Nic Stoltenberg (70 kg), Adam Thebeau (74 kg) and Brandyn Van Tassell (86 kg) also wrestled but didn't place.

Allick, Rodriguez to Compete at Pan Am Cup

Twelve players have been selected to represent USA Volleyball on the 2022 U.S. Women's Under-21 National Team at the Pan American Cup this week.

Nebraska libero Lexi Rodriguez and middle blocker Bekka Allick were both selected to the 12-player squad from a group of 20 following a week-long training camp in Shreveport, La., last week. 
 
The U.S. Women's U21 National Team will travel to La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico to compete at the U21 Pan American Cup on June 7-12. Rodriguez, the 2021 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman, was named team captain. Rodriguez was part of the U20 National Team that placed fifth at the 2021 FIVB World Championship in Netherlands. Five players on the team, including Allick, played on the U18 National Team that took bronze at the 2021 FIVB World Championship in Mexico. 

The Pan American Cup is a qualifier for the 2023 FIVB U21 World Championship. Ten teams are competing in three pools to begin the tournament. The United States will share Pool C with Argentina, Canada and Costa Rica. Pool A will include Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico while Pool B holds Mexico, Chile and Honduras.

U.S. Women's U21 National Team
No. Name (position, height, hometown, HS grad year, USAV region, college or college commitment)
 
1 Lexi Rodriguez (L, 5-5, Sterling, Ill., 2020, Great Lakes, Nebraska)
3 Chloe Chicoine (OH, 5-10, Lafayette, Ind., 2023, Hoosier, Purdue)
4 Rachel Fairbanks (S, 6-0, Santa Ana, Calif., 2021, Southern California, Pitt)
6 Elia Rubin (OH, 6-1, Brentwood, Calif., 2022, Southern California, Stanford)
7 Mckenna Wucherer (OH, 6-1, Brookfield, Wis., 2022, Badger, Minnesota)
8 Raven Colvin (MB, 6-1, Indianapolis, Ind., 2021, Hoosier, Purdue)
9 Norah Sis (OH, 6-2, Papillion, Neb., 2021, Great Plains, Creighton)
11 Alexis Stucky (S, 6-2, Laramie, Wyo., 2022,  Rocky Mountain, Florida)
15 Merritt Beason (OPP, 6-3, Gardendale, Ala., 2020, Florida)
16 Bekka Allick (MB, 6-3, Waverly, Neb., 2022, Great Plains, Nebraska)
18 Bre Kelley (MB, 6-4, Rockwall, Texas, 2020, North Texas, Florida)
19 Devin Kahahawai (OH, 6-4, Kailua, Hawaii, 2022, Texas)
 
Head Coach: Dan Fisher (Head Coach, University of Pittsburgh)
Assistant Coach: Jon Newman-Gonchar (Head Coach, University of New Mexico)
Assistant Coach: Heather Olmstead (Head Coach, BYU)
Performance Analyst: Virginia Pham (Technical Coordinator, USC)
Athletic Trainer: Wyatt Blue (Game Time Sports Medicine)
Team Leader: Kyle Thompson (Director of Volleyball Operations, Maryland)
 
Women's U21 Pan American Cup Schedule
(All times CDT)
 
Pool Play
June 7
3 p.m. Dominican Republic v Puerto Rico
5 p.m. Argentina v Canada
7 p.m. United States v Costa Rica
9 p.m. Mexico v Honduras
 
June 8
3 p.m. Cuba v Puerto Rico
5 p.m. Argentina v Costa Rica
7 p.m. United States v Canada
9 p.m. Mexico v Chile
 
June 9
3 p.m. Costa Rica v Canada
5 p.m. Dominican Republic v Cuba
7 p.m. Chile v Honduras
9 p.m. Argentina v United States
 
June 10
Classification and Quarterfinals
 
June 11
Classification and semifinals
 
June 12
Classification and medal matches