The Nebraska track team will host the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational this weekend, and it's one of the Huskers’ biggest indoor meets of the season.
But not very many of best track programs in the country will be there, or some of the other programs from big-time athletic departments in the region. Texas won’t be there, like they were last year for this same meet, or Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado or Kansas.
And while that may mean a chance for the Huskers to place better in more events, Nebraska coach Gary Pepin wishes more of those programs were coming.
“Oh, yeah,” Pepin said. “We really liked to have good teams.”
There are 27 teams set to compete in the meet. The NCAA Division I programs are Arizona State, Central Florida, Drake, Iowa, Iowa State, Maryland, Missouri State, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Omaha, South Dakota State and Wisconsin. There are still several individuals who rank in the top of their event nationally, including Arizona State’s Maggie Ewen, who holds the best shot put mark in the nation this season at 61 feet, 3 inches.
It’s getting more difficult for Nebraska to get the really good track programs to come to Lincoln for indoor meets because there are now more schools with nice indoor tracks hosting meets.
Nebraska has one of the best indoor track facilities in the nation at the Devaney Sports Center. That includes a 200-meter track that is one of the world’s fastest banked tracks. The facility is also more spectator-friendly than many indoor tracks, with lots of good seating close to all the action.
But more schools are building nice indoor track facilities. So now teams may not have to travel to Lincoln to get in a good meet on a fast track.
“Even five or six years ago, and certainly 10 years ago, there weren’t many facilities like this,” Pepin said. “Well now that whole landscape has changed. There are all kinds of really nice, new indoor facilities that are going up. And so those schools, in the time where it costs so much to go somewhere, and particularly in the winter time where travel can get tough coming into Lincoln with the weather, they’re going close to home. You see a school like Arkansas, for example, well they got so many schools close to them that’s an easy trip for them.”
Kansas has renovated its indoor track. Michigan just opened a new track, and is hosting several meets. Texas A&M has a newer facility that will host the NCAA Indoor Championships, and Clemson has a newer facility.
Pepin still thinks Nebraska has one of the top-5 indoor tracks in the country. The others on his list are Michigan, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Liberty.
The coaching staff works hard to get the best teams to come to Lincoln.
“Colorado State used to always come. Now Colorado has a track, Air Force has a track, so they go to those schools,” Pepin said. “Colorado used to come, and they don’t come anymore. Air Force isn’t coming. They used to come all the time.
“And the other thing that some of the people want is if they’re going to come here indoors, they want you to go there outdoors. Well, that makes it even more complicated. I don’t know quite where it’s all going to go, but it’s a lot different than what it used to be.”
For Nebraska, it's an advantage to host meets so they don’t have to travel and miss as much class. The Huskers usually host more meets during the indoor season, and then travel more during the outdoor season.
Nebraska used to also regularly host the Big 12 indoor championship, but hasn’t got to host the conference championship as often in the Big Ten. But Pepin thinks there are changes coming that may mean Nebraska will get to host the Big Ten indoor meet more often.
