“This is the first time that I have had a season like this, where the competitions are every week,” Leitis said following last week's Holiday Inn Invitational. “So I have to be able to prepare my body to be able to compete every time and show my best performance. Right now, I’m quite satisfied with my results, but just like every athlete, I want to improve with every meet.”

Leitis, who grew up in Riga, Latvia, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe, was very pleased with his debut. The senior won the long jump and the 200 meters at the Holiday Inn meet.

Leitis competed for his home country in the 2012 Summer Games in London, advancing to the quarterfinals in the 400, where he finished in 46.41 seconds. Though Leitis specializes in the long jump, he was unable to qualify for the Olympics in that event due to a hip flexor injury.

“Janis is very talented,” NU coach Gary Pepin said. “He can run any of the sprint races and do well, and he could do any of the jumps and do well. He’s really a nice young man, too.”

Leitis graduated from Riga Stradins University with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and exercise, and he is now continuing in that field of study as a graduate student. But this will be the only year of NCAA eligibility for Leitis, who turns 24 in April.

After just one event this year Leitis has recorded a personal best in the 200 (:21.37), and was quarter-inch away from tying his personal best of 25 feet in the long jump. He attributes his success to the facilities at Nebraska that allow him to be in better physical shape, adding that the surface of the Devaney Sports Center indoor track is much better than what he ran on in Latvia.

“I’ve tried to do indoor before, but it’s really hard to explain our indoor facilities back home,” Leitis said. “After that, this place looks like paradise. It’s warm inside, and I think this is one of the key elements helping me improve so much. This facility is just amazing. If you are here, it’s a shame on you if you are not using this facility and not improving.”

The track program has a long history of recruiting athletes from other countries. Leitis’ long-time girlfriend, Mara Griva, competes in the triple jump and long jump for the Huskers and is also from Latvia. Mara Weekes, a 2012 All-American who won the 200 and 400 in last Saturday’s meet, is from Barbados.

As for future Olympics, Leitis says that it depends on whether or not he can get the needed financial support from his country that would allow him to keep training after college. His next major event outside of the college season will be the European Championships in 2014, where he will try to post a good mark in the long jump. Leitis also has his sights set on the Latvian indoor 200 record this season, which is :21.26, a little more than one-tenth of a second better than his current personal best.

Nebraska won 21 events in the opening meet of the indoor season, and the Huskers head to the Nebraska Wesleyan Invitational at 3 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, NU will compete in the adidas Classic at noon. Both events will be held at the Devaney Center.

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Leitis brings Olympic experience to Husker...