Tigers Open Outdoor Season At College Station Relays
3/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
March 16, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. - University of Missouri track and field will open their 2004 outdoor season with the College Station Relays, hosted by Texas A&M University this upcoming weekend. The three-day event this weekend will showcase relay events, but will also have a deep field in the heptathlon and decathlon. Missouri will participate heavily in the combined events and will send several throwers down for the competition.
Recapping the NCAA Indoor Championships
At the NCAA Indoor Championships this past weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., the Tigers added two more to the all-American list in sophomore Ashley Patten and junior transfer Conrad Woolsey.
Patten (Clarkston, Mich.) finished eighth in the 800-meter run for her first all-American honor of her career.
Woolsey (Excelsior Springs, Mo.) placed eighth in the men's shot put event where scored his first national point as a Tiger. Woolsey has now gained five all-American honors, four of which came in his first two years of eligibility at Northwest Missouri State where he obtained three in the shot put ring and one in the discus ring. Woolsey was the 2002 NCAA Division II Indoor Champion in the shot put.
Senior Jennifer Bennett (Ashland, Mo.) took 12th in the women's pole vault after clearing the 12 feet, 11? inch (3.95m) bar. She had to forego her remaining attempts after a back strain.
Head Coach, Dr. Rick McGuire, now has claim to have coached 95 all-Americans in his 21-year career. In no year have Missouri gone without having an all-American.
About the Decathlon/Heptathlon
In the decathlon event, sophomore Hans Uldal will make his first appearance of 2004 for the Tigers in the ten-event challenge. Uldal competed in the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon, but had to sit out the 2004 indoor season due to illness. Sophomore Bjorn Sommerfeldt, junior Brandon Goebbert, and senior Marcus James will also compete for the Tigers in the event. Bjorn Sommerfeldt finished sixth at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in the heptathlon, Goebbert took eighth. Tiger post-collegian Knut Sommerfeldt will compete along side his brother Bjorn. The older of the two, Knut won four Big 12 Championships in the combined events.
On the women's side in the heptathlon, sophomores Jessica Stockard and Liz Young will take on a 19-athlete field. Stockard finished sixth at this year's Big 12 Indoor to earn her sixth all-Big 12 honor. Tiger post-collegians Fiona Asigbee and Michelle Moran will also compete in this weekend's field.
The meet will also be one of the five that combined event Tigers have a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Only in the decathlon, heptathlon, and 10,000-meter run will national championship qualifying be based on the provisional/automatic system. Whereas, scoring 7,500 points in decathlon earns automatic entry into June's Outdoor NCAA Championships, a score of 7,000 is a provisional mark. For the women, the heptathletes need to score at least 5,000 points for a provisional mark and 5,500 for an automatic bid.
About the Relays
The Tigers plan on sending their throwing contingent along with the combined event athletes to this weekend's relays. What should be one of the bigger storylines this weekend will be the first views of freshmen Bobby Musil and Melanie Uher. Musil broke the all-time high school Nebraska record in the discus last season; Uher has the third best all-time national high school mark in the event. Also slated to compete is Conrad Woolsey who finished eighth at last weekend's NCAA Indoor Championships in the shot put event.
The Competition
SMU, Nebraska, and Texas A&M, should be among some of the teams competing with Missouri's thrower group. Schools sending combined event athletes include Nebraska, Alabama, Texas, and LSU, among others.
More Events Outdoor
Taking it outdoors means adding more events to a normal meet. Of course, when it comes to the running events, the short-sprints go from 60 meters in distance to 100 meters. The indoor mile becomes transforms into the outdoor 1500-meter run. Always an interesting event, the 3000-meter steeplechase poses as a middle-distance hurdle race with water hazards, a fun race to watch. Also in the outdoor season, distance runners add a 10,000-meter run to their lexicon.
For throwers, the weight throw is replaced with the hammer throw. The hammer is basically a smaller ball than that of the weight used in the weight throw, but the hammer ball is lighter and is on a metal wire that extends about three-feet out. A good hammer throw for men is about 180 feet, opposed to the weight which goes about 60 feet for a decent toss. Outdoor seasons also bring the discus and javelin throws to the table.
Watch for the Tigers to reap the benefits of the added events as it plays well to their strengths. Likely, the Tigers should have stronger outdoor conference and national finishes with the events that go in their favor. More will be discussed on this topic later in the season.
Accu-SID Forecast
With the beginning of the outdoor season brings the beginning to the weekly weather forecasts for Tiger travel. What a week to start the outdoor season in College Station, Texas, the weather, expected to be near perfect. High temperatures will be the warmest Thursday, when the thermometer could reach the low 80s. Yeah, break out the shorts. It will cool for the remaining two days into the low 70s, ah, too bad. Lows should only dip down to the 50s all three nights. And, the most important thing, it's not going to even come close to raining.
Outdoor Schedule
Outdoor season in an Olympic year lasts from March to August. Yes, an additional six months of track and field on top of the three-month long indoor season. In a nutshell, March is used for training and specialty meets, April brings the Drake Relays and Big 12 Championships, the end of May is the NCAA Regional Championships, June is the NCAA Championships, July is the USATF Olympic Trials, and August, the Olympic Games.
For more information on start times with the complete meet schedule, meet information, and venue site links, visit mutigers.com, click on the track and field page, and the follow the results/schedule link near the top of the page.
About The SID
Track & Field SID, Tom Lewis, will be accompanying the team to College Station, departing on Wednesday and returning on Saturday. To reach Lewis, call his cell phone at (573) 424-9447. Lewis will also be out of town the following week, and will also be following the team to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational.
For more information and complete results, visit aggieathletics.com and mutigers.com.
Missouri Entries MEN Event Name Decathlon...... Bjorn Sommerfeldt (Fr.) Marcus James (Sr.) Brandon Goebbert (Sr.) Shot Put....... Adam Burla (Jr.) Bill Hobson (So.) Conrad Woolsey (Jr.) Discus......... Bobby Musil (Fr.) Hammer......... Bobby Musil (fr.) Adam Burla (Jr.) Javelin Gary File (Sr.)WOMEN Event Name Heptathlon..... Jessica Stockard (So.) Liz Young (RS So.) Shot Put....... Lindsey Markworth (Jr.) Janae Strickland (Sr.) Discus......... Lindsey Markworth (Jr.) Melanie Uher (Fr.) Jamie Wynn (So.) Hammer......... Holly Scherder (Sr.) Ann Snider (Sr.) Jamie Wynn (So.)
MEN (Tiger Post-Collegians) Event Name Decathlon...... Knut Sommerfeldt (4x Big 12 Champ)
WOMEN (Tiger Post-Collegians) Event Name Heptathlon..... Michelle Moran (All-American, 2000) Fiona Asigbee (4x Big 12 Champ)
