# Nebraska Cornhuskers track and field

The Nebraska Cornhuskers track and field teams represent the University of Nebraska in NCAA Division I. The program was established in 1889, making it Nebraska's first varsity sport, and is currently coached by Gary Pepin, who has led Nebraska's women's program since 1980 and men's program since 1983. The NU men's team has won 38 indoor conference championships and 29 outdoor conference champions, and has produced 41 combined individual national champions. The women's team has won 24 indoor and 18 outdoor conference championships with 37 combined individual NCAA champions.
The program's first national title came at the 1982 AIAW Indoor Track and Field Championships, led by Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey. The women's team would win two more national titles at the 1983 and 1984 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships.

## Coaches
### Coaching history

The men's and women's teams had separate head coaches until 1983.

#### Separate era

Nebraska Cornhuskers men's coaches :
| No. | Coach | Tenure | Accomplishments |
| 1 | J. E. Pearson | 1897–98 | |
| 2 | Clinton Barr | 1898–99 | |
| 3 | T. J. Hewitt | 1899–1900 | |
| 4 | W. Engel | 1900–01 | |
| 5 | S. D. Clinton Walter C. Booth | 1901–02 | |
| 6 | R. G. Clapp | 1902–09 | |
| 7 | Osmond F. Field | 1909–11 | |
| 8 | Guy Reed | 1911–16 | |
| 9 | E. J. Stewart | 1916–19 | |
| 10 | Henry Schulte | 1919–38 | MVIAA indoor champion (1925,1926) MVIAA outdoor champion (1921–24,1926) Big Six indoor champion (1930–33,1936–38) Big Six outdoor champion (1929,1932,1933,1936,1937) |
| 11 | Ed Weir | 1938–54 | Big Six indoor champion (1940–42) Big Six outdoor champion (1939–42) Big Seven indoor champion (1949,1951) Big Seven outdoor champion (1950) |
| 12 | Jerry Lee | 1954–55 | |
| 13 | Frank Sevigne | 1955–83 | Big Eight indoor champion (1963, 1972, 1973, 1978) Big Eight outdoor champion (1966) |
Nebraska Cornhuskers women's coaches :
| No. | Coach | Tenure |
| 1 | Carol Frost | 1980 |
| 2 | Gary Pepin | 1981-1982 |

#### Combined era

Nebraska Cornhuskers men's and women's team coaches :
| No. | Coach | Tenure |
| 1 | Gary Pepin | 1983–2022 |
| 2 | Justin St. Clair | 2022– |

### Coaching staff

| Name | Position | First year | Alma mater |
| Gary Pepin | Head coach | 1983 | Pittsburg State |
| Scott Cappos | Throws | 2014 | Indiana |
| David Harris | Distance | 2012 | Northeast Missouri State |
| Dusty Jonas | Sprints / hurdles / relays / high jump | 2018 | Nebraska |
| T. J. Pierce | Pole vault / combined events | 2014 | Nebraska |
| Sheldon Hutchinson | Volunteer – jumps | 2018 | Nebraska |
| Nathan Meier | Volunteer – distance | 2019 | Redlands |
| Jackson Schepp | Volunteer – combined events / pole vault | 2019 | Concordia (MN) |
| LeRon Williams | Volunteer – sprints / high jump | 2019 | Nebraska |

## Athlete honors
### AIAW champions

The Cornhuskers have had three AIAW national champions at the AIAW indoor or outdoor championships.
NCAA Champions :
| Championships | Name | Event |
| 1978 Indoor | Donna Fox | 1000 yards |
| 1979 Indoor | Sharon Burrill | High jump |
| 1980 Indoor | Merlene Ottey | 300 meters |
| 1980 Outdoor | Merlene Ottey | 200 meters |
| 1981 Indoor | Merlene Ottey | 60 meters |
| 1981 Indoor | Merlene Ottey | 300 meters |
| 1981 Outdoor | Merlene Ottey | 100 meters |
| 1981 Outdoor | Merlene Ottey | 200 meters |

### NCAA champions

NCAA Champions :
| Team | Championships | Name | Event |
| Men's | 1926 Outdoor | Roland Locke | 100 meters |
| Men's | 1926 Outdoor | Roland Locke | 200 meters |
| Men's | 1932 Outdoor | Hugh Rhea | Shot put |
| Men's | 1937 Outdoor | Sam Francis | Shot put |
| Men's | 1941 Outdoor | Harold Hunt | Pole vault |
| Men's | 1942 Outdoor | Bob Ginn | Mile run |
| Men's | 1943 Outdoor | Howard Debus | Discus throw |
| Men's | 1965 Indoor | Charlie Greene | 55 meters |
| Men's | 1965 Outdoor | Charlie Greene | 100 meters |
| Men's | 1966 Indoor | Charlie Greene | 55 meters |
| Men's | 1966 Outdoor | Charlie Greene | 100 meters |
| Men's | 1966 Outdoor | Peter Scott | 800 meters |
| Men's | 1967 Indoor | Charlie Greene | 55 meters |
| Men's | 1967 Outdoor | Charlie Greene | 100 meters |
| Men's | 1968 Outdoor | Lennox Burgher | Triple jump |
| Men's | 1969 Indoor | Lennox Burgher | Triple jump |
| Men's | 1977 Indoor | Jeff Lee | 55 meters hurdles |
| Men's | 1979 Indoor | Paul Downes | 4 × 800 meters relay |
| Men's | 1979 Indoor | Brian Dunnigan | 4 × 800 meters relay |
| Men's | 1979 Indoor | Mark Fluitt | 4 × 800 meters relay |
| Men's | 1979 Indoor | Scott Poehling | 4 × 800 meters relay |
| Women's | 1982 Outdoor | Merlene Ottey | 100 meters |
| Women's | 1982 Outdoor | Deborah James | 4 × 100 meters relay |
| Women's | 1982 Outdoor | Alicia McQueen | 4 × 100 meters relay |
| Women's | 1982 Outdoor | Rhonda Blanford | 4 × 100 meters relay |
| Women's | 1982 Outdoor | Merlene Ottey | 4 × 100 meters relay |
| Women's | 1983 Indoor | Janet Burke | 55 meters |
| Women's | 1983 Outdoor | Merlene Ottey | 100 meters |
| Women's | 1983 Outdoor | Merlene Ottey | 200 meters |
| Women's | 1983 Outdoor | Denise Thiemard | Javelin throw |
| Women's | 1984 Indoor | Merlene Ottey | 55 meters |
| Women's | 1984 Indoor | Angela Thacker | Long jump |
| Women's | 1985 Indoor | Rhonda Blanford | 55 meters hurdles |
| Women's | 1985 Outdoor | Rhonda Blanford | 100 meters hurdles |
| Women's | 1987 Indoor | Linetta Wilson | 500 meters |
| Women's | 1987 Outdoor | Linetta Wilson | 400 meters hurdles |
| Women's | 1988 Outdoor | Sharron Powell | 800 meters |
| Women's | 1989 Outdoor | Renita Robinson | Triple jump |
| Women's | 1991 Outdoor | Ximena Restrepo | 400 meters |
| Women's | 1991 Outdoor | Shanelle Porter | 4 × 400 meters relay |
| Women's | 1991 Outdoor | Tranquil Wilson | 4 × 400 meters relay |
| Women's | 1991 Outdoor | Kim Walker | 4 × 400 meters relay |
| Women's | 1991 Outdoor | Ximena Restrepo | 4 × 400 meters relay |
| Men's | 1992 Indoor | Kevin Coleman | Shot put |
| Men's | 1993 Indoor | Kevin Coleman | Shot put |
| Women's | 1993 Indoor | Shanelle Porter | 400 meters |
| Women's | 1994 Outdoor | Nicola Martial | Triple jump |
| Men's | 1995 Indoor | Petar Malesev | High jump |
| Women's | 1995 Outdoor | Nicola Martial | Triple jump |
| Men's | 1996 Indoor | Miklos Roth | Distance medley relay |
| Men's | 1996 Indoor | Alex Lamme | Distance medley relay |
| Men's | 1996 Indoor | Jonah Kiptarus | Distance medley relay |
| Men's | 1996 Indoor | Balazs Tolgyesi | Distance medley relay |
| Women's | 1996 Indoor | Angee Henry | Long jump |
| Women's | 1996 Indoor | Nicola Martial | Triple jump |
| Women's | 1996 Outdoor | Angee Henry | Long jump |
| Women's | 1997 Indoor | Tressa Thompson | Shot put |
| Women's | 1997 Outdoor | Tressa Thompson | Shot put |
| Women's | 1998 Outdoor | Tressa Thompson | Shot put |
| Men's | 2002 Indoor | Carl Myerscough | Shot put |
| Men's | 2003 Indoor | Carl Myerscough | Shot put |
| Men's | 2003 Outdoor | Eric Eshbach | Pole vault |
| Men's | 2003 Outdoor | Carl Myerscough | Shot put |
| Women's | 2003 Outdoor | Ineta Radevica | Triple jump |
| Women's | 2003 Outdoor | Becky Breisch | Shot put |
| Women's | 2004 Indoor | Priscilla Lopes | 60 meters hurdles |
| Women's | 2004 Indoor | Ineta Radevica | Triple jump |
| Men's | 2004 Outdoor | Carl Myerscough | Shot put |
| Women's | 2004 Outdoor | Ineta Radevica | Triple jump |
| Women's | 2004 Outdoor | Becky Breisch | Discus throw |
| Women's | 2005 Indoor | Anne Shadle | Mile run |
| Women's | 2005 Indoor | Ashley Selig | Pentathlon |
| Men's | 2005 Outdoor | Dmitrijs Milkevics | 800 meters |
| Women's | 2005 Outdoor | Anne Shadle | 1500 meters |
| Men's | 2006 Indoor | Arturs Abolins | Long jump |
| Men's | 2006 Outdoor | Arturs Abolins | Long jump |
| Women's | 2006 Outdoor | Dace Ruskule | Discus throw |
| Men's | 2008 Indoor | Dusty Jonas | High jump |
| Men's | 2009 Indoor | Nicholas Gordon | Long jump |
| Men's | 2012 Outdoor | Chad Wright | Discus throw |
| Men's | 2014 Outdoor | Miles Ukaoma | 400 meters hurdles |
| Men's | 2016 Outdoor | Nicholas Percy | Discus throw |
| Women's | 2023 Outdoor | Axelina Johansson | Shot put |
| Women's | 2023 Outdoor | Rhema Otabor | Javelin throw |
| Men's | 2024 Outdoor | Darius Luff | 110 meters hurdles |
| Women's | 2024 Outdoor | Rhema Otabor | Javelin throw |

### Academic All-Americans

Track & Field/Cross Country (M)
* Alex Lamme (1996)
* Bjorn Barrefors (2011–13)
* Brady Bonsall (1996)
* Issar Yazhbin (2007)
* Levi Gipson (2014-2016)
* Nate Polacek (2012)
* Nate Probasco (2007)
* Nicholas Gordon (2010)
Track & Field/Cross Country (W) (First Team)
* Nicola Martial (1996)
* Kathy Travis Miiller (1996)
* Janet Blomstedt (1997)
* Jill Myatt (1997)
* Stella Klassen (2000)
* Tia DeSoto (2004)
* Ashley Selig (2006-07)
* Jenny Green (2007)
* Kim Shubert (2008)
* Natalie Willer (2011)
* Anne Martin (2014)
* Axelina Johansson (2024)