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Myklebust and Nemeth to represent Memphis at NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
June 8, 2004 AUSTIN, Texas-Two Tiger athletes will represent the University of Memphis at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by the University of Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium on campus. The meet will begin Wednesday June 9 and commence Saturday, June 12. Tiger Senior discus thrower Gaute Myklebust (Sand, Norway) enters the meet ranked fifth in the nation. Fresh off his NCAA Mid-East Regional Championship with a winning mark of 60.42m in Baton Rouge two weeks ago, Myklebust will be a contender to win the ultimate prize, and individual national championship in the discus. A pair of discus throwers representing SMU are the favorites entering the meet. Junior Hannes Hopley (67.66m) and Sophomore Michael Robertson (64.89m) hope to give the Mustangs a 1-2 finish in the event. The duo has sat atop the national performance rankings for most of the 2004 outdoor season. Texas Tech's Jason Young (62.91m) and Texas A&M's Josh Ralston (62.09m) also rank ahead of Myklebust. The quartet of Texan's all hail from the Mid-West Region. Myklebust will need to have his best effort to compete for the event title, something his coach feels he is capable of. "He (Myklebust) is on the verge of throwing 210 feet," said Assistant Coach Kevin Robinson after Myklebust's victory at the regional meet in Baton Rouge. "His mechanics are improving every week and he is on the cusp of unleashing his full potential and hitting a mark that could challenge the best in the country. I'm very excited that he will have an opportunity to compete in Austin." Though the regional format is only two years old beginning in 2003, Myklebust became the first Memphis Tiger to win a regional championship at the NCAA Mid-East Regional on May 29 with his victory in the discus. This accomplishment compliments a long list of accolades that Myklebust has achieved in the past two years at the University of Memphis since transferring from Southern Illinois in 2003. He holds the school records in the discus (60.85m) and shot put (18.78m), was twice named the C-USA Male Outdoor Athlete of the Year, was named a second team honoree on the Co-SIDA Academic All-District IV, named the 2004 Conference USA Men's Track and Field Co-Scholar Athlete Award Winner, holds five C-USA crowns; two outdoor discus titles, two outdoor shot put titles and one indoor shot put title, and has qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year. Myklebust will try to become the first Tiger to win an individual championship since Terron Wright won the 200m dash at the outdoor championships in 1981. In 1973, Ed Hammonds won the 100-yd dash championship and Hammonds, Maurice Knight, Lynn Fox and Ed Taylor won the 440-yd relay at the outdoor track & field championships representing the only other event championships held by Memphis Tigers in school history. In 2003, Myklebust placed 14th in the discus competition at the outdoor championships in Sacramento, Calif. Senior Distance runner Mate Nemeth (Szekszard, Hungary) will compete in the 3000m steeplechase. The Tigers top distance runner the past two years enters the meet ranked 14th in the nation with a season best time of 8:45.88. Ohio State's Aaron Fischer, whom Nemeth raced against at the NCAA M id-East Regional, enters the competition with the best time of 8:37.33. Nemeth holds the Memphis school record in the steeplechase with a time of 8:37.53 that he ran at the Stanford Invitational in 2003, a time that is comparable to the best times in the country entering the 2004 outdoor championships. Nemeth has battled a number of injuries this spring including knee and ankle sprains and shin splints. He successfully rehabilitated from an off-season surgery last summer to correct a problem with his sinuses. Entering the championships in Austin, Nemeth feels he is as healthy as he has been in 2004. "I haven't been 100 percent for any of this outdoor season," said Nemeth. "I felt good going into the regional, but the humidity in Louisiana was tough to deal with and I was disappointed with my performance. I hope to run better at the championships and approach my best time. If I run my best I know I have a chance to do very well." Nemeth placed fifth in the 3000m steeplechase at the NCAA Mid-East Regional with a time of 9:02.15. Nemeth, one of 11 Hungarians on the Memphis Track & Field roster is a transfer from Northern Iowa. He arrived at Memphis in the fall of 2002 and has excelled on the track as a Tiger. Nemeth is a two-time double-medalist as he has won the 3000m steeplechase and 5000m run C-USA championships each of the last two years and won the indoor 3000m C-USA championship in 2003. He holds school records in the 3000m steeplechase and indoor 5000m (14:52.78). Competition begins in Austin at 1 p.m. Wednesday June 9 with the Women's Javelin throw. Qualifying for the Men's discus will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday and the final round will be Friday at 6 p.m. The Men's 3000m Steeplechase preliminary round will take place at 9:10 p.m. Wednesday with the steeplechase finals at 8:05 p.m. Friday. The final event will be the Men's 400m relay Saturday at 9:45 p.m. Results can be found here at www.gotigersgo.com and live scoring can be found at www.texassports.com/results/ncaa2004/.
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Memphis Tigers
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