June 3, 2003

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - - Juniors Gaute Myklebust and Mate Nemeth will represent The University of Memphis men's track and field team in three events at the NCAA Championships, which are set to begin June 11th in Sacramento, Calif.

Myklebust will represent the Tigers in both the discus and the shot put. The Conference USA Men's Track athlete of the year, Myklebust will first compete in the shot put, Wednesday, at 8:35 p.m. (PDT). The junior was the second-highest qualifier after all the automatic qualifiers were in following last weekend's regionals. Myklebust finished seventh in the shot at the Mid-East Regional. His best effort of the season, a 18.78 meter effort at the regional, seeds him 15th out of 27 qualifiers in the shot.

Myklebust won the shot put and discus throw at the C-USA Outdoor Championships, helping Memphis to a fourth-place finish. He set new school records in 2003 in both events, first breaking Tyler Higgins record from 1973 in the discus with a throw of 58.33m at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn. Hethen broke Kevin Robinson's record from 1997 in the shot put with a toss of 18.78m at C-USA Championships. Myklebust then went on to become the first men's track and field athlete since Robinson to win the C-USA Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year Award. Robinson won the same award following the indoor conference meet in 1996.

The Sand, Norway, native also automatically qualified for the national championship meet in the discus after finishing third in the event at the Mideast Regional. Myklebust is seeded 15th in the discus, which starts competition, Thursday, June 12th, at 10:15 a.m. (PDT). In addition to the on-the-field accomplishments, Myklebust was also a member of the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll in his first year as a Tiger for having a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Fellow junior newcomer Mate Nemeth will also travel to Sacramento for the Tigers. The distance runner is seeded 5th overall out of 26 runners in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a best time of 8:37.53. The Mideast regional is well-represented in the final draw sheet for the NCAA meet, with four of the top six runners qualified coming from last weekend's Mideast Regional in Columbus, Ohio. Arkansas' Dan Lincoln leads all qualifiers after his time of 8:29.57 last weekend.

Nemeth was also a double gold medallist for the Tigers at the last C-USA Outdoor Championships, winning the 3000 meter steeplechase and the 5000-meter run.