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WICHITA, Kan.  --  Wichita State's track and field trio of Breanne Borman, Nikki Larch-Miller and Hunter Veith will compete Friday at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship beginning at noon on the campus of Texas A&M inside Gilliam Indoor Stadium.

"I am super-excited about our National meet this year," said Steve Rainbolt, WSU's Director of Track and Field and Cross Country. "These three student-athletes are really special, and it's exciting for me that we have three multi-event athletes, two women in the Pentathlon and then Hunter in the men's Heptathlon and long jump. All three of these athletes are super critical to our track team."

The Heptathlon for Veith begins at noon with the 60 meters followed by the long jump, shot put and high jump on Friday. The Heptathlon continues on Saturday at 2 p.m. with the 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and ending with the 1,000 meters at approximately 3:45.

Larch-Miller and Borman compete the entire Pentathlon on Friday beginning at 12:15 p.m., with the 60 meter hurdles followed by the high jump, shot put long jump and ending with the 800 meters at approximately 5:10 p.m.

Veith will also compete in the long jump on Friday at approximately 5:30 p.m.

Hunter Veith is No. 7 in the NCAA this winter in the Heptathlon with 5,813 points, which he earned at the MVC Indoor Championship in the UNI Dome. Veith is also No. 15 in the long jump with a distance of 26-6.25/7.78m. His 5,813 points is also the WSU school record.

"Hunter Veith, a multiple-time Missouri Valley champion, would probably have been even further along right now if he hadn't of had a couple of significant injuries in his career," Rainbolt said. "Now we are seeing really dramatic improvements. It's really exciting to see. If he goes down to this meet and puts it together, performs well, and has a great track meet, he will be very difficult to deal with for the rest of that field. He is going to be in there with a bunch of great athletes, but I see him having a high finish."

Nikki Larch-Miller has the 11th-best point total in the NCAA this winter with 4,143 points, while Breanne Borman has the 16th-best point total with 4,076 points in the Pentathlon. Borman holds the school record of 4,133 points which she set in 2016, while Larch-Miller's 4,121 points ranks second on the WSU all-time list.

"For Breanne Borman, for the second year in a row, and because of a lot of hard work, has had dramatic results," Rainbolt said. "She has gotten much faster, which I think has been the huge part of her success. It affects her hurdles, it affects her long jump. It really affects every event in track and field. It's really been a wonderful time for me to be involved with such a dedicated athlete."

Borman, who earned All-American honors a year ago at the 2016 NCAA Championship with a 12th-place finish in the Pentathlon, won the event at the 2017 MVC Indoor Championship in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Veith is making his first NCAA Championship appearance, and won the MVC Heptathlon at the 2017 Indoor Championship.

Nikki Larch-Miller earned All-American honors at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championship with an eighth-place finish in the Outdoor Heptathlon.

"Nikki Larch-Miller has really been an important part of our team," Rainbolt said. "She's in her fifth year and consistently been a major contributor in Missouri Valley conference competition. She's already also been a first-team All-American in the outdoor Heptathlon and in the 4x100 relays as a second-team All-American. I can't say enough about Nikki and I am really pleased with how her season has gone."

Thursday night at the NCAA championship banquet, Rainbolt accepted his Midwest Women's Coach of the Year award.

"It means a lot to me," Rainbolt said. "When I say it means a lot to me, it's an indicator that our women's team had a great conference championship and a great indoor season. This is really a special indoor team on the women's side, and I think both the men's and women's team will be really, really special teams outdoors. I think that was such an impressive result to the track and field community that it was significant in those coaches around the Midwest region voting. They look around at the different conferences in the Midwest region, and we certainly had a compelling case for one of the best conference championship efforts in this part of the country."

It will mark the third time Texas A&M has served as host of the national track and field meet since 2009, and the first year of Gilliam Indoor Stadium. Each event contested at the NCAA Indoor will include the top 16 qualifiers, while relays feature the top 12 teams, from marks attained this season.
 
The elite fields gathered at Gilliam this weekend include an American record holder as well as nine additional collegiate record holders from action in 2017. There are also 14 returning champions from 2016, seven each for the men and women.