Milkevics Breaks Collegiate Record at Husker Invite

The final day of the 30th annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational proved to be finest of the indoor season for the Nebraska men’s and women’s track and field teams. Several NU athletes left their marks on a number of events Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Track, with one Husker storming into the national record books.

Sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics, a 2004 Olympian who represented Latvia in the men’s 800-meter run, set a collegiate record of 1:15.60 in the men’s 600-meter run, breaking Tom Gerding’s previous standard of 1:16.19 set in 2001 for Minnesota. Milkevics’ time also broke the Nebraska, Big 12 Conference, Husker Invitational and BobDevaneySportsCenter records, while falling just 0.48 shy of Nico Motchebon’s (Germany, 1999) World Record (1:15.12). The former Husker record of 1:19.05 belonged to Jerry Marsee, who recorded the performance at the DevaneyCenter on Feb. 10, 1990.

Milkevics was named the Co-Male Most Valuable Performer of the meet along with Baylor’s Darold Williamson, who won the men’s 400-meter dash and ran the anchor leg of the Bears’ winning 4x400-meter relay.

 

“It was great,” Milkevics said. “The crowd screaming helped a lot, and I heard the announcer say it was a World-Record pace. The 600 meters is an unusual event for America.”

Milkevics has competed sparingly thus far during the 2005 season, but Head Coach Gary Pepin said he showed today that he’s one of the NCAA’s best athletes.

“Dmitrijs’ effort speaks for itself,” Pepin said. “He ran a terrific race. Right from the sound of the gun, he led it all the way and did a great job.”

Along with Milkevics, several other NU athletes also registered elite performances. Junior Ray Scotten recorded the second-best height for the indoor men’s pole vault in Nebraska history when he cleared 18-0 ?. Scotten became NU’s third NCAA automatic qualifier on the season, joining juniors Priscilla Lopes (women’s 60-meter hurdles) and Ashley Selig (women’s pentathlon). Scotten’s mark currently ranks third-best among NCAA athletes.

Lopes once again dominated the women’s sprint field by winning gold in both the 60-meter hurdles (8.12) and 60-meter dash (8.34). Lopes’ 60-meter time vaulted her to the top of the Big 12 performance list in the event, while she remained No. 1 in the 60 hurdles. She was named Female Most Valuable Performer for her efforts during the two-day event.

The Huskers also added a glut of first-time NCAA provisional qualifiers on the day. Senior Richard Davidson, Jr., notched his first-ever provisional mark in the men’s 60-meter hurdles when he claimed second place in a career-low 7.85. Davidson twice broke his previous best of 7.92 on the day, first running a 7.90 in the event’s semifinals.

Another senior, Anne Shadle, broke past the provisional-qualifying standard in the women’s mile with a time of 4:45.23. Her time currently ranks No. 1 among Big 12 athletes, as well No. 3 in the NCAA.

Freshman Peter van der Westhuizen, a recent addition to the Nebraska roster, finished second in a tightly-contested men’s mile race. His personal-record time of 4:04.85 just met the provisional standard. Sophomore Nate Probasco, a 2004 NCAA Outdoor All-American, also claimed his first provisional mark in the 200-meter dash. Probasco finished first in a personal-best 21.22.

Sophomore Gabe Baldwin also added his first-ever NCAA provisional-qualifying mark by finishing second to Scotten in the men's pole vault with a personal-best height of 17-4 1/2.

Other winners for the Huskers on Saturday included redshirt freshman Bubba Kramer (57-11 ?) in the men’s shot put, as well as the NU women’s 4x400-meter relay (3:39.01), which also hit the NCAA provisional-qualifying mark with members Justine Roach, Sheryl Morgan, Selig and Egle Ulgas.

“It was a very good meet,” Pepin said. “There have been a lot of highlights for our team, many more positives than negatives. It’s that time of the year for us where we have to start picking it up and we had a lot of kids do that this weekend.”

The Huskers will split up into three groups next weekend, with the majority of the squad attending the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. A few Huskers will also travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Invitational, while another large group will remain in Lincoln for the Prairie Wolf Invitational, hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan.