The University of Nebraska Huskers were looking for Dmītrijs Milkevičs to do well in the 800-meter event during the Big 12 conference track-and-field indoor championships in Lincoln, Neb.—and he didn’t disappoint.

The 22-year-old freshman from Rīga won the event and set a Big 12 meet record, finishing in 1:48.82, according to the university. His performance helped push the team to first place in the meet.

“It was kind of slow for me,” Milkevičs said after the event, according to the University of Nebraska Sports Information office. “I would have liked for it to have been faster, but I didn’t really have anyone to push me.”

Another Nebraska student from Latvia, Ineta Radeviča, won the triple jump event with a distance of 45 feet, a new school record. It was her sixth consecutive Big 12 title.

Radeviča, a 22-year-old senior, is from Krāslava. She transferred to Nebraska from Wichita State University. Radeviča is married to Huskers volunteer assistant coach Viktors Lācis, also from Latvia.

Other Latvians on the Huskers track and field squad are Artūrs Āboliņš, a freshman from Rīga, and Danute Ceika, a freshman from Valmiera.

An Estonian soldier was killed Feb. 28 by an improvised explosive device manufactured by unknown rebels, a government spokesperson in Tallinn said. He was the first Baltic soldier to die in Iraq.

“This is an extremely painful reminder that the situation in Iraq has not yet stabilized and that joint efforts for peace by the coalition forces are well founded,” Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts said in a prepared statement.

The 21-year-old soldier, Junior Sgt. Andres Nuiamäe, was assigned to the ESTPLA-8 unit in Baghdad, according to the Estonian Ministry of Defence.

Latvia has 120 soldiers serving with coalition forces in Iraq, according to the Latvian Ministry of Defence.

“Dziesma par laimi,” a song written by Guntars Račs and performed by the duo Fomins & Kleins, will represent Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest in Turkey.

The duo won the national runup, Eirodziesma 2004, in telephone balloting during the nationally televized event held in Ventspils. They will now compete May 12 in the Eurovision qualifying round in Istanbul. If they are successful, they will advance to the May 15 final.

Fomins & Kleins were one of 10 acts performing in the national contest in Ventspils (three additional songs were held in reserve). They received a total of 41,297 votes, according to the Eirodziesma 2004 Web site.

Their song was the only one sung in Latvian. All the rest were in English.

Last year, Fomins & Kleins came in second with their song, “Muzikants,” also the only one performed in Latvian.

Second place this year went to the father and daughter act, Johnny Salamander and Meldra, who received 37,839 votes for their song, “We Share the Sun.” Third place, with 18,879 votes, went to Tatjana Timčuka for “Like a Star.”