Four Huskers Travel to World Championships

Four Nebraska track and field athletes will compete at this year’s IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Helsinki, Finland, beginning this Saturday, Aug. 6. The group of Huskers will represent four nations during the nine-day event, which concludes Sunday, Aug. 14.

Becky Breisch, fresh off winning her first national discus title at the U.S. Track and Field Championships, will be the lone NU athlete to represent the United States at this year’s world competition. The Edwardsburg, Mich., native earned the U.S. women’s discus title with a throw of 206-5 on June 23 at Carson, Calif. Breisch’s personal-best mark of 208-5, which she recorded May 5 while competing unattached at the Nebraska Invitational at NU’s Ed Weir Stadium, currently ranks 12th in the world. The women’s discus qualifying round will be held Sunday, Aug. 7 at 3:30 a.m. CT, while the final will take place Tuesday, Aug. 9 at 10:35 a.m.

Priscilla Lopes, a six-time NCAA All-American for Nebraska, will represent Canada in her second consecutive World Championships appearance in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. She earned runner-up honors in the event last month at the Canadian national championships to qualify for the meet, and also competed in last summer’s Athens Olympic Games. The Whitby, Ontario, native ranks 22nd in the world this year with a season-best time of 12.82, which she recorded while placing second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. Her personal-best time of 12.64 would rank ninth among all world athletes in 2005. Qualifying heats for the women’s 100-meter hurdles will be run Tuesday, Aug. 9 at 10:40 a.m. The semifinals will follow on Wednesday, Aug. 10, at 11:45 a.m., while the finals will be held Thursday, Aug. 11 at 1:20 p.m.

The 2005 NCAA outdoor champion in the men’s 800-meter run, Dmitrijs Milkevics will represent Latvia in Helsinki. Milkevics sits 14th in this year’s 800-meter world rankings with his personal-best and Nebraska record time of 1:44.76. The time is also the third-fastest among all European athletes in 2005. The Riga, Latvia, native will compete on the world stage for the second time, as he finished 14th out of 24 competitors in the 800 at last summer’s Olympics. Qualifying heats for the men’s 800 will be run Thursday, Aug. 11 at 12:20 p.m. The semifinal round will be held Friday, Aug. 12 at 11:45 a.m., while the finals will follow on Sunday, Aug. 14 at 11:30 a.m.

Another 2004 Olympian, Egle Uljas will represent Estonia in the women’s 400-meter run competition next week. While Uljas focused mainly on the 800 meters during her freshman season at Nebraska, she did not meet the IAAF "A" qualifying standard for the event. She instead will compete in the 400 meters, the event in which she reached the semifinals last summer in Athens. The Tallinn, Estonia, native’s personal-best time of 51.91, which she recorded at the Olympics, would sit 69th in the 2005 world rankings. Qualifying heats for the women’s 400 are scheduled to be held at 3:55 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7, with semifinal heats slated for 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 8. The 400-meter finals will be held Wednesday, Aug. 10 at noon.

A pair of former Husker NCAA champions will also compete next week, as Ineta Radevica represents Latvia in the women’s long jump, which begins Tuesday, Aug. 9 at 6:15 a.m., and Carl Myerscough competes for Great Britain in the men’s shot put, which begins Saturday, Aug. 6 at 10 a.m.