Tiger Track Competes At Mt. SAC Relays and Mule Rlays
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
April 15, 1999
Columbia, Mo. - As Missouri Tiger Track & Field gets into the meat of their outdoor schedule, the team will split up and head for two relay meets this weekend. A dozen athletes will head for Los Angeles, California and the Mt. SAC Relays, while the bulk of the Tigers will compete at the Mule Relays, hosted by Central Missouri State.
Among those competeing at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays will be teams from 37 colleges and universities from around the country, including Big 12 brethern Colorado, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas State, and Kansas and indoor NCAA team champion Arkansas. The relays begin Friday and continue through Sunday evening, Missouri will compete throughout the event and results will be released as they are available. At last year's meet, MU earned three NCAA qualifying marks, as Ray Hughes ran a school-record 8:41.4 steeplechase, Ryan Pirtle followed with an 8:47.6 in the event and Darin File recorded a 222 ft. javelin throw, all three men went on to compete at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Mule Relays in Warrensburg will feature several area college and universities, but it will be Missouri first trip to the event in several years. Many of MU's young talents will participate in search of marks that will bettered their standing in the conference as the Big 12 Outdoor Championships draw closer. The Tigers will be looking to continue the success they have begun throughout the outdoor season thus far, after three strong showings in California to start the season, and both a men's and women's victory last weekend at the 3rd Annual Tom Botts Invitational.
ALL-AMERICANS LEADING THE WAY
As might be expected, the Tigers have been led by their trio of all-Americans early in this outdoor season. NCAA Indoor 800m Champion and four-time all-American, Derrick Peterson has won both of the 800m races he has entered, posting NCAA provisional qualifying times in both races. The junior's best time came last weekend when he ran a 1:48.28 to win the Tom Botts Invitational. Three-time javelin all-American Darin File has won all three javelin competitions he has entered, posting provisional qualifying marks on two occasions and a season best of 225-11 at the Fresno State Invitational to open the season. 1999 indoor all-American Ahsley Wysong has also turned in two strong performances: a second place finish at Satnford, and a first place win last weekend at Tom Botts.
PETERSON #1 AMERICAN IN THE WORLD INDOORS
Not only is Derrick Peterson the fastest 800m runner in the Big 12 Conference and in the the NCAA, but his American Collegiate record run of 1:45.88 at the national indoor meet is the fastest 800m time to date run in the world by a U.S. runner, the time also ranks him third in the world overall. Said Peterson after winning the NCAA title, "After the day I was born, this is best day of my life."
HOPSON NAMED TO NCAA FOUNDATION LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Missouri junior long jumper William Hopson has been named has been selected to participate un the third annual NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference to be held May 31-June 4 at Disney's Wide World of SPorts and Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The mission of the conference is, through challenging and thought-provoking dialouge and activities, to prepare a diverse group of student-athletes to take an active leadership role on their campuses and in their communities. It will provide NCAA student-athletes with the opportunity to disucss and explore critical issues facing them: to enhance their leadership skills: and to promote better communication among student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty and communities. A total of 300 student-athletes have been invited to attend. Student-athletes were nominated by member institutions that participate in the CHAMPS/Life Skills Program. Hopson was selected from approximately 850 nominations. William is also one of 36 NationsBank Community Champions from the Big 12 Conference. Each Big 12 school nominates their athletes for three spots to represent the school as Community Champions. Hopson joins women's basketball forward Julie Helm and football quarterback Corby Jones as MU's representatives. Along with being an all-Big 12 selection last year indoors on the track, Hopson is one of MU's most active student-athletes off the track making appreances as a guest speaker throughout the Columbia and Central Missouri area. NationsBank will now select one athlete of the 36 Community Champions as the Community Champion fo the Year.
MISSOURI COACHING STAFF
Head coach Rick McGuire is in his 16th season at Mizzou. He came to Columbia in 1983 as the women's coach and assumed the men's team responsibilities as well in 1988. While at Mizzou, McGuire has coached come 52 All-Americans, two NCAA individual champions and 51 conference individual and relay champions. Assistant coach Jeff Pigg is in his nineth year at Missouri, coaching the distance runners and cross country teams. This past fall he led both the men's and women's cross country teams to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history. Pigg is a three-time NCAA Midwest Region Cross Country Coach of the Year. Assistant Coach Natasha Brown is now in her sixth year as a full-time assistant coaching the Tiger sprinters. As a Mizzou athlete, Natasha was a six-time All-American and a five-time Big 8 champion. She also brings her experience from international competition as a silver mealist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and as a World Champion as amember of the 1,600m relay team at the 1993 World Championships. Assistant coach Brett Halter coaches MU's throwers for the second season as a full-time assistant, his sixth with the Missouri program. In just the last three years, Mizzou's throwers have established eight school records, have earned two conference championships and earned All-American status three times.
HEARNES FIELDHOUSE RENNOVATED In late 1998, the Hearnes Building Fieldhouse received a major facelift for track seasons to come. It now features a Martin ISS-2000 enscapulated, polyurethane surface for a six lane, 200 meter track. The resurfacing and updating of the facility has escalated it into a top-notch indoor track environment. Now along with the Audrey J. Walton Track and Soccer Complex, Missouri Tiger track has two teriffic homes for its program.
