TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State track and field program will step out of their comfort zone and into the 41st annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational for the first time in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The two-day meet will start on Friday, Feb. 5 and features some of the top programs in the country.
"We are trying to see some different competition this weekend," said head coach Greg Kraft. "Coach (David) Dumble had been interested in going to this venue and facing different competition for our throwers.
"It can become stale the same thing over and over. The University of Nebraska has pursued us to come up there for a couple of years. They'll be coming down for our Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge so we just wanted to reciprocate the favor."
The meet will also play host to ranked men's teams like No. 3 Texas, No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 24 Kansas State and the No. 16 Huskers. For the women, they'll compete against No. 5 Texas and No. 6 Kansas State.
However, the level of competition will be arguably one of the highest the Sun Devils have seen this season.
"This competition is a little different than most of the competitions we go to," Kraft said. "Having been a coach in the Big Eight conference in the past, the Jayhawk Conference at the junior college level may be the best in the country. So it's a little bit more of an indoor track and field carnival kind of like our Baldy Castillo Invitational. It gives us a chance to showcase our program to those student-athletes and make contacts with those coaches on a personal level versus emails and phone calls."
Kraft will feature his top athletes in each event after the week off.
Redshirt junior Tim White has won both of his two triple jump events and also tacked on a high jump first-place finish in Flagstaff a week ago. He also has a third- and fourth-place finish in the long jump. He'll compete in the triple and long jump this weekend in Nebraska.
In the sprints, redshirt senior Isaiah Underwood has the top ASU time recorded this season in the men's 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Him and graduate senior teammate Reggie Lewis will be two to watch in those events.
For the women, it will be senior Jasmine Gibbs and junior LaTroya Franklin leading the charge in the women's 200-meter dash along with sophomore Melese Crozier and freshman Sierra Irvin. Gibbs will also run in the 60-meter dash after turning in a 7.46 last week in Flagstaff.
Being the Husker Invite is a larger meet, the Sun Devils will once again adjust to having a preliminary event to qualify for the final. This format mirrors the championship season and is what coach Kraft wants his athletes mentally preparing for.
"I think there's a little bit more urgency," Kraft said. "If you don't come with your best performance in your opening round, you may not be in the finals -- you may be in the stands watching. That's one thing our athletes are rehearsing is more of a championship schedule."
The schedule in Nebraska calls for two days of competition, as the field events will be split into two days while the running prelims, 5000-meter run and 400-meter dash take place on Friday.
For more information, go to Nebraska's meet website here.
NEXT TIME OUT
On Feb. 12-13, the Sun Devils split up with trips to the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa and the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
41st Annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational Feb. 5-6, 2016 Lincoln, Nebraska FRIDAY Men's Weight Throw (4:30 p.m. CT, 3:30 p.m. MT)-Kyle Long Women's Pole Vault (6:00 p.m. CT, 5:00 p.m. MT)
-Haleigh Fritts, Kristiana Warth, Vanessa Davis Men's Long Jump (6:00 p.m. CT, 5:00 p.m. MT) -Josh Dixon, Tim White Women's Long Jump (6:00 p.m. CT, 5:00 p.m. MT) -Keyasia Tibbs, Jessica Barreira Women's 60m Hurdle PRELIMS (6:00 p.m. CT, 5:00 p.m. MT) -Sydney Mosley, Alexandra Williams Women's 60m Dash PRELIMS (6:42 p.m. CT, 5:42 p.m. MT) -Jasmine Gibbs
Men's 60m Dash PRELIMS (6:57 p.m. CT, 5:57 p.m. MT)
-Isaiah Underwood, Reggie Lewis, Ben Trotter
Men's Shot Put (12:00 p.m. CT, 11:00 a.m. MT)
-Ahmed Hassan, Kyle Long
Men's Triple Jump (12:00 p.m. CT, 11:00 a.m. MT)
-Tim White, Josh Dixon
Women's 200m Dash (Sections 1-5; 12:00 p.m. CT, 11:00 a.m. MT)
-Melese Crozier, Sierra Irvin
Men's 200m Dash (Sections 1-5; 12:15 p.m. CT, 11:15 a.m. MT)
-Brandon Hasson, Reggie Lewis, Ben Trotter, Isaiah Underwood
Men's 800m Run (Section 1-2; 1:30 p.m. CT, 12:30 p.m. MT)
-Michael Julian, Trevor Landry, Kyle Elliott, Blake Elliott
Men's Pole Vault (2:00 p.m. CT, 1:00 p.m. MT)
-Matthew Eckles, Nathan Hiett, Jacob Flores, Dillon Groener
Women's Triple Jump (2:15 p.m. CT, 1:15 p.m. MT)
-Keyasia Tibbs, Darreyl Woodson, Jessica Barreira
Women's 60m Hurdles FINAL (2:20 p.m. CT, 1:20 p.m. MT)
-Sydney Mosley, Alexandra Williams
Women's Shot Put (2:30 p.m. CT, 1:30 p.m. MT)
-Magdalyn Ewen, Ashley Weber
Women's 60m Dash FINAL (2:30 p.m. CT, 1:30 p.m. MT)
-Jasmine Gibbs
Men's 60m Dash FINAL (2:34 p.m. CT, 1:34 p.m. MT)
-Reggie Lewis, Ben Trotter, Isaiah Underwood
Men's High Jump (3:00 p.m. CT, 2:00 p.m. MT)
-Mason Ford
Women's 200m Dash (Sections 6-10; 3:20 p.m. CT, 2:20 p.m. MT)
-LaTroya Franklin, Jasmine Gibbs
Men's 4x400 Relay (4:36 p.m. CT, 3:36 p.m. MT)
-Herbert Polk, Brandon Hasson, Isaiah Underwood, Jeremy Wright
-Melese Crozier, LaTroya Franklin, Sydney Mosley, Sierra Irvin