Contributor: The Nerd
We don't want to pull a muscle by starting the track season too fast, so here's a short Nerdsletter for your entertainment.
Top marks of the open high school season
We've scoured the internet for high school meet results and listed the best marks in each event. Because these indoor meet results don't list the high school names for athletes, it's likely we're missing a few Nebraska athletes from this list. If we have made an error, please DM or e-mail us at jayslagle@hotmail.com and we'll get it corrected. Here's the list.
Notable results from last week's UNL meet
Juan Gonzalez, a senior at Fremont, ran in a mile heat with a handful of his future Oregon teammates. He told me prior to the race that he had no time goal in mind; his times in 2024 have already qualified him for any elite indoor meet he wants to attend in the next few months. The race unfolded quickly, with the UO athletes settling into a 4:00 pace. Juan fell off the back after about 400 meters but gutted out a solo 4:13 result. We likely would have seen a faster time if he had the advantage of pack running.
A number of post-graduate athletes ran well on Friday. NWU alum Andy Vasquez met his 4:20 pre-race goal by running a 4:18 mile. Boston Small, a CU alum and current medical student, broke 9:00 in the 3000 meters. Christina Elder, a masters athlete with numerous World Championship medals, opened up her season with a 1:02 400.
It was interesting to see Oregon at the Graduate Classic. They historically have run at the Washington meet, where at least a dozen men broke 4:00 in the mile last weekend, but one of their media guys told me that they came to Lincoln for the opportunity to run on a banked track.
Photos
Speaking of media, since XC ended we've posted albums of the following indoor meets at our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/PrepRunningNerd/photos_albums:
12/15/24 - Concordia high school meet (Dr. Nerd)
1/11/25 - Doane collegiate meet (Nerd Dawg)
1/12/25 - CSM high school meet (Nerd)
1/17/25 - UNL Graduate Classic (Nerd)
1/18/25 - Concordia collegiate meet (Nerd Dawg)
1/19/25 - CSM high school meet (Nerd)
High school meets this weekend
Concordia is hosting the only Nebraska-based high school meet this weekend. The registration deadline is Saturday at 5:00 p.m. Here's the info link for Concordia.
Links to all of the high school meets scheduled for this winter can be found at https://www.preprunningnerd.com/post/indoor2025.
College meets this weekend
Prairie Wolf Invite at Bob Devaney Center - schedule
Friday - Field events start at 1:00, race start times 1:00-6:10
Concordia Classic in Seward (15 teams) - schedule
Friday - Multi-events only - event start times 2:00-5:05
Saturday - Field event start times 10:00-4:00, race start times 12:00-8:35
Mark Colligan Invite at Bob Devaney Center - schedule
Saturday - Field events start at 10:45, Kids race at 11:30, race starts time 12:00-5:05
On the college hunt?
If you're a junior or senior looking to compete in college, or a really proactive sixth grader, we can help. Consider these resources:
Navigating the College Selection Process for Distance Runners - we wrote this in 2017 and it still seems to be appropriate for athletes in almost any sport. Unless you're a big-time star in a marquee sport (no, T&F is not a marquee sport), there are not many financial rewards for competing in college. However, we discuss the are dozens of other reasons you might consider it.
College Distance Running Guide for Nebraska High School Athletes - this slightly outdated article lists all of the Nebraska T&F/XC programs, as well as a number of colleges in surrounding states. You should find this listing useful in you're competing in any T&F events.
Collegiate XC & T&F facing big changes - A number of recent lawsuits are about to change the nature of collegiate sports, and most of those changes aren't great. If you had any expectations that track and field was your ticket to riches, this article should reset your thinking.
Odds and ends
Three-time Class B XC champ Madison Seiler of Gering now competes for Kenesaw State. KSU is part of the Colligan Invite at the Devaney Center on Saturday. Madison is scheduled to run the 3000.
The 15-team meet at Concordia on Saturday likely includes at least 200 former Nebraska high school tracksters. If you love track, you can get your fill on Saturday in Seward.
At last week's Graduate Classic at the Devaney Center, I saw six UNL staffers and students creating and posting photos and videos of the meet. Oregon sent two creators and the Creighton student newspaper had a reporter at the meet. If we want to build enthusiasm for our sport, that is how it happens.
We're still looking to add Nerds to our team for the outdoor track season. We've probably got enought for Omaha and Lincoln but we'd love to have more photographers in small towns that aren't close to Omaha. Here's what we're looking for in potential Nerds: (a) a good camera and sports lens, (b) access to editing software and (c) you love T&F so much that you'll do this for a lousy t-shirt. Here's our perfect Nerd candidate: a track parent who already takes pictures at their school's meets and likes it enough that they are willing to take pictures of all the schools at the meet. Interested? E-mail jayslagle@hotmail.com and I'll send you more info.
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First published at www.preprunningnerd.com by Jay Slagle on January 23, 2025. If you find an error, shoot us an e-mail at jayslagle@hotmail.com and we'll get it fixed.
Like this coverage of the Nebraska T&F and XC scene? There's more of this at www.preprunningnerd.com. Check out the Blog tab for our frequent stories and the Results tab for every Nebraska high school meet we can find. If you want to see meet photos or just need to kill a few hours on social media, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PrepRunningNerd or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/preprunningnerd.
Finally, if you think runners, jumpers and throwers are the best things on earth, you'll enjoy our two most popular articles. In 2018 we published "The Runner with the Broken Heart" about a high school boy who finished last in nearly every race he ran. In 2022 we published, "The Fall and Rise of Emmett Hassenstab," a story about a high school triple jumper who became a quadrapalegic after a swimming accident.