The Big 12 Conference apparently is tired of Nebraska hoisting the league indoor track and field championship trophy at home.

This year’s indoor meet will be held in Ames, Iowa, but that doesn’t mean there will be a big difference in the outcome.

The NU men have won eight of 10 indoor crowns, and the Husker women have won five. 

“It would be nice to be home, but we’re all going with the same attitude that this is the best competition of the season and we want to be on top,” said Husker senior shot putter Jeni Steiner. “Even though it’s not a deal where you automatically qualify for the NCAA meet by winning the Big 12, there is a team pride in winning the conference title.”

Nebraska senior jumper Daniel Roper added: “Nebraska is always in the title chase in football, volleyball, you name it, and this is the same thing. We want the Big 12 championship.”

For Steiner, the meet today and Saturday at the Lied Recreation Athletic Facility is her last chance for a conference indoor title.

She already has an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the shot with a personal-best indoor throw of 51 feet, 7¼ inches. She is ranked 22nd in the NCAA and fourth in the Big 12 this year, and has improved her best throw by 2 feet since January.

The Columbus grad, who is the daughter of former NU football player Dan Steiner and former track standout Jackie (Paprocki) Steiner, believes she has the technique in her event and now just needs that perfect timing

After five years of perfecting her throws, Steiner is confident she can throw 100 percent without losing any energy to worry.

“The growth in my confidence makes me believe that I can do anything,” she said. “And with four months left in my college track career, I want to make a mark.

“Besides, I’ve got more than 100 Goodrich Middle School seventh-graders to make an impression on.”

Steiner is a student teacher during the day and track athlete at night and on the weekends. “We’re working on bacteria and viruses in class, and I’m working on qualifying for the NCAA meet,” she said.

Roper, from Plantation, Fla., said he has hopes of winning both the triple jump, where he is defending Big 12 indoor and outdoor champion, and the long jump. He is Nebraska’s first three-time Big 12 champ in the triple jump.

He is ranked third in the Big 12 in both events and posted NCAA provisional qualifying marks in both.

“I’m at that stage in my career where I know all the technical stuff, and now it’s just timing and getting that perfect jump,” Roper said. “Every once in a while, you get that jump where you don’t have to look at the scoreboard or even back at the pit. You know you did it just right.

“I’m ready for a weekend where that happens in the long jump and triple jump both,” he said.

Texas won both the men’s and women’s team titles last year and is expected to challenge Nebraska this weekend.

Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.