TAMPA - The addition of a junior national decathlon champion to the University of South Florida track and field team gives the Bulls firepower in the combined events for the 2010 season.

Rookie Neamen Wise brings to the Bulls a long resume of success at the junior level, as the 2009 Florida Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year won both the Nike Indoor National Championship in the pentathlon and the USATF Junior Olympic Championship.

In addition, Wise also finished third in the USA Junior National Championships in the decathlon and won state titles in the 300 hurdles and long jump all as a senior. Wise will be counted on to replace the production of senior Grant Scelzi, who set the school record in the decathlon with 6,532 points at the Bulldog Decathlon last season.

Junior Rachel Etienne anchors the women's side for USF in the combined events, as she ranks second in the pentathlon and fifth in the heptathlon in USF's all-time record book. Etienne took seventh in the heptathlon at the BIG EAST Championships and also owns the fourth-longest long jump mark in school history.

Sophomores Alexandria Ware and Alex Rosenberger will switch to the combined events for USF in 2010 to provide more depth there. Rosenberger previously competed in the high jump and the 400 hurdles for the Bulls in her first season, while Ware is a former high school hurdler after not competing in 2009.

USF will kick off its 2009-10 season this weekend when the Bulls travel to Ohio to take part in the Oiler Invitational Friday and Saturday in Findlay, Ohio.