May 3, 1999

Columbia, Mo. - University of Missouri Head Track and Field Coach Rick McGuire has announced the signing of seven outstanding recruits to National Letters of Intent for the coming 1999-2000 academic year. According to McGuire, "Our focus was on quality rather than quantity and we believe that in these seven kids we may have one of the greatest recruiting classes in the history of Missouri Track and Field! Each of these kids can make an immediate contribution to our team, and should also go on to compete successfully at the national level! These were all highly recruited individuals, but our staff knew what we wanted and worked very hard to help these great athletes understand that Missouri was the place that they wanted to be! We're all really excited!" Headlining the group are two current national leaders, as well as several Missouri state high school champions.

Russ Bell of Jefferson City, Missouri, the two-time defending state high school champion in the discus, will join the Tigers. He currently owns the longest discus throw in the nation this season by a high school athlete, 202-11. Along with his two state championships, Russ was also second in the State Meet in the shot put, where he has a best toss of 61-7. At Missouri, Bell may expand his throwing repetoire to include the hammer and javelin throws as well. The 6'3", 255 lbs. Bell was also a first team All State selection in football, starring for the Jays' State Champions in 1997 and State Finalists in 1998! He was recruited by over 40 universities for track, choosing Missouri over Ohio State, South Carolina, Syracuse, and Georgetown.

Missouri throws coach, Brett Halter says, "Aside from Russ's extraordinary physical and athletic capabilities, we're most excited about Russ the person and what he will add to our team on a daily basis, with his passion for the sport and his leadership qualities. We believe that Russ is one of those athletes that has the ability to make everyone around him better simply through his presence on the team."

Bell continues a long, rich tradition in the discus at Missouri including former Olympians Dick Cochran and current American record holder, Ben Plucknett, as well as recent high school stars Bart Harris, Harold Cronin and current Tiger Scott Bartlett.

Gary File of Beloit, Kansas is the current national high school leader in the javelin with a throw of 232 feet, nearly 17 feet farther than the second longest thrower. File was the 1998 Kansas state high school champion in the javelin. The 6'2", 225 lbs. File is also a very versatile athlete, starring for Beloit in football as well. Gary is the brother of Missouri Track and Field All-American jvaelin thrower and team captain, Darin File.

Coach Halter says, "We're thrilled to ahve the opportunity to work with Gary in this next step of his career. Obviously, Gary is a phenomenal javelin thrower, but he has expressed an interest in throwing the hammer as well-an event which demands the extraordinary athleticism which Gary has demonstrated throughout high school. Having coached Darin now for four years has provided us the opportuniy to build a strong relationship with the File family. Above Gary's athletic talents, we're most excited to have the File family as a part of the Missouri Track and Field Family for the next four years!

Abbe Ohneck of Rock Bridge High School in Columbia is certainly a familiar figure to local sports fans! Abbe won three individual state championships in 1998, earing titles in the Long Jump, Triple Jump, and the High Jump. Her personal best jumps included a 19'3" effort in the long jump, a 39'6" triple jump and a 5'6" high jump. A three sport star in high school, Abbe has also led her teams in volleyball and basketball. Ohneck intends to utilize these multiple talents in college as she pursues her interest in the Heptathlon, where she will join a group that currently has five of the top heptathletes in the Big 12 Conference. She chose Missouri from a final group including North Carolina, Arizona State, Texas, Arkansas, Indiana, and Kansas.

"Abbe fits perfectly into our team. We have a long tradition of having great heptathletes at Missouri and Abbe will keep that legacy in tact," says Coach McGuire. "She is certainly a fantastic athlete. But to be a great Heptathlete it takes more than just being multi-talented. It also takes being a great person. The psycho-emotional demands of learning and training in so many areas, and then competeing over a two day period are possibly the greatest challenge to becoming a top level heptathlete. Abbe is an exceptional person! She's the whole package! I couldn't be more excited about her decision to stay in COlumbia and come to Missouri! We're all looking forward to having her with su!"

Fione Asigbee of Walford, Iowa and Cedar Rapids Prairie High School, is also a multi-talented athlete choosing to join the Missouri program! An outstanding hurdler and long jumper, Fione will make an immediate contribution to the Tiger's competitive fortunes, bringing her 14.40 clocking in the hurdles and 18'10" effort in the long jump, as well as her speed to several of the relays. Another versatile athlete, Asigbee has also been outstanding for her high school basketball and soccer teams. She, too, may pursue an interest in the heptathlon. She chose the Tigers over the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.

The middle distance events have traditionally been very strong at Missouri and they look to be event stronger in the future with the signing of Stewart Kimball of Eureka, Missouri. Stewart was the 1998 State Champion in the 800 meters and the 1600 meters last spring as a junior, and the State Cross Country Champion this fall as a senior. He has persoanl bests of 4:15 in the mile, 1:52 in the 800 meters, and 48.80 in the 400 meters. He finished sixth in the 800 meters at the USA Track and Field National Junior Championships last June, the top high school finisher in that event. With Kimball joining current NCAA 800 meter Champion Derrick Peterson and a bevy of other top returning middle distance runners, Missouri should continue its prominence in major relays events as well. One of the very top middle distance prospects in the country this year, Stewart chose Missouri over notable track powers Arkansas, Stanford, Georgetwon, and Georgia Tech.

Miidle distance coach Jeff Pigg says of Kimball, "Stewart is one of the greatest runners ever in Missouri. He has great range, with outstanding speed and performances from the 400 meters through the 5000 meters in cross country. He is a great finisher, which wins races! And, he is an absolutely top quality person who we are thrilled to add to our strong middle distance group and cross country team."

Kerry Hills of Moberly is the two-time defending 3A State Champion in the 100 meters hurdles. She also placed third at the 1998 state cross country championships. This unique combination is what most attracted the Tiger staff, as Kerry has been recruited to move up to the 400 meter hurdles, the 800 meters, and most specifically, the 3000 meter steeplcahse, a new event for women in the NCAA next year.

Coach Pigg coments, "We'e had a lot of fun building a strong steeplchase group with the men, and we're intending to do the same thing with the women. Kerry fits perfectly into those plans. She's a top notch athlete and a tremendous person who will be a great addition to our cross country and track teams."

Certainly not the last, and in fact the very first official track signee of the year, having signed during the early signing period last November, 1998 4A Cross Country Champion Amy Chipman of Blue Springs, Missouri joins the Tigers. One of the top female distance prospects in the U.S., Amy will join in the Tigers' efforts to climb even higher in the final placings at the NCAA Cross COuntry Championships next November in Indiana. On the track, Amy brings strong performances in the 1600 meters and 3200 meters, and is capable of becoming a great collegiate runner in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters as well. She chose Missouri over national powers North Carolina State, Arizona, and Arkansas.

Coach Pigg says, "Everyone in the country knew that Amy was a great runner. But when I visited her home, and met Amy and her family, I knew that we needed to have her here at Missouri! She's just a great person from a great family, a "must get kid" for us! I feel so good that she wanted to be with us and picked Missouri. Now, I can't wait to coach her! She has a gret future ahead of her!"

While Missouri's cross country and track teams have experienced many prominent success recently, Coach McGuire believes that this group of athletes will add significantly to the Tigers' efforts to move even higher in the Big 12 Conference and nationl rankings.

"I believe that these kids recognized a philosphy, a style, an approach and an environment of which they wanted to be a part. They wanted to be with the special kids and coaches that we have here! But, it sure is a lot easier to recruit great athletes now that we have such great facilities for both indoor and outdoor track and field, as well as all of the support areas. The whole athletics atmosphere at the university of Missouri is now so exciting, everything is moving forward and moving up. These's a real commitment to achieving excellence, and I know that these kids recognized it and wanted to be a part of it! It really is a great time to be a Tiger!"

McGuire also is proud of the continued commitment to build a strong track and cross country program at the University of Missouri around kids from Missouri. "There are very fine track and field athletes in Missouri right now, and we know that we don't have enough scholarship money to get them all. But we're very pleased that we've signed these seven right up front, and hope that maybe we can add a couple more before we're done."

McGuire adds that the staff hopes to sign 3-4 more athletes before the signing period closes August 1.