Shadle, Milkevics Win NCAA Gold

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Sacramento, Calif. ? Anne Shadle and Dmitrijs Milkevics finished off their 2005 collegiate track and field seasons in style Saturday with each claiming individual national titles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held at Sacramento State’s Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex. Shadle’s win pushed the Nebraska women to a eighth-place team finish with a total of 24 points, while the NU men placed 18th with 15 points.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

                  

Shadle broke the 13-year old school record of 4:12.38, previously held by Lisa Darley Graham (1992), with her winning time of 4:11.37 in the women’s 1,500-meter run. The South Sioux City, Neb., native took the race lead 500 meters in, then held off a late charge by North Carolina’s Erin Donohue through the final curve before cruising to a two-second victory.

 

“(Donohue) has a monster kick and she’s so strong,” Shadle said. “I just had to keep my form and do what I’ve done. But I had confidence and I was ready for her. Anyone in that race could have won it on any given day.

 

“(My success this year) is still overwhelming. Indoors, I gained more confidence and outdoors, I felt like I worked my way to this point and just got better through the season.”

 

Shadle’s title was the second of her spectatular senior season; she claimed her first-ever NCAA win in the indoor mile back in March. The 1,500-meter victory was also the first at the NCAA outdoor meet for a Husker women’s athlete.

 

“She’s just awesome,” Assistant Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. “It couldn’t happen to a nicer person.”

 

Milkevics followed suit with his first-ever NCAA title in the men’s 800-meter run with a school-record time of 1:44.74. The Riga, Latvia, native was right on the heels of leader Jonathan Johnson (Texas Tech) entering the home stretch, passed up the defending champ shortly thereafter and coasted to the finish. Milkevics’ time surpassed the 16-year old NU standard set by former Husker great Dieudonne Kwizera in 1989.

 

“I don’t know what I’m more happy about, winning or my (time),” Milkevics said. “When I saw (the time) I was pleased. That’s a big-time PR and it’s still early in the season. I just need to execute my form until the World Championships.”

 

The low time also broke the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex record of 1:44.77, which was set at last year’s U.S. Olympic Trials by Johnson. The win was the second outdoor 800-meter victory in NU history. Former Husker Peter Scott claimed the 880-yard run championship in 1966.

 

The Nebraska women also appeared to have a high-finisher in the 800, but Egle Uljas fell during the final stretch of the women’s race and was disqualified. The freshman led much of the race and ran second with as little as 40 meters remaining until she suffered the setback.

 

Ashley Selig earned third place in the women’s heptathlon competition for the second straight year after posting a career-high score of 5,775. The mark finished behind event winner Lela Nelson (Eastern Michigan) and runner-up Jessica Stockard (Georgia), while it elevated Selig to No. 2 on Nebraska’s all-time heptathlon chart. Selig’s previous best of 5,587 was fourth on the list.

                

Sitting in fifth place entering the day’s final event, the four-time All-American went all out in the 800 meters to earn the bronze award. Her time of 2:11.36 passed her previous outdoor best, while it was just shy of her indoor standard (2:11.26).

 

“I knew (Nelson and Stockard) were in reach,” Selig said. “I just wanted to finish out the best that I could. If I got tired, at least I knew I pushed it to the limit.

                        

“I improved my score, so I’m really happy with that. Indoors, it was great to win, but the competition was excellent today. It felt great to get third. It’s something to build on.”

 

Teammate Sara Jane Baker finished in 15th place with a total of 5,328 points, her highest score at the NCAA meet.

 

The high jump duo of Dusty Jonas and Aaron Plas finished sixth and tied for seventh, respectively, to add 4.5 points to the NU men’s team score late in the afternoon. Jonas cleared an outdoor lifetime-best height of 7-3 3/4, while Plas bowed out of the competition at 7-2 1/2. Both Huskers earned their second All-America honors of the season.

 

“Today went great for us,” Head Coach Gary Pepin said. “We had some great performances up and down the line. (Shadle and Milkevics) had fantastic finishes, and I felt Egle was really moving up. It was more like Nebraska’s style of track at the end.”

Team Scores

Women

1. Texas            55

2. South Carolina           48

    UCLA            48

4. Tennessee     40

5. Stanford        29

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8. Nebraska       24

                        

Men

1. Arkansas       60

2. Florida           49

3. LSU              36

4. BYU              34

5. USC              33

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18. Nebraska     15