2000 BIG 12 CHAMPIONS Micah Shanks, Weight Throw Derrick Peterson, 800m (Four-time Champion)
DAY ONE The Missouri men's track and field team was in first place after the first day of Big 12 Championship events with 29 points while the Missouri women were in sixth with 19 points. The Nebraska men were right behind the Tigers with 28 points and MU's women were just behind Texas Tech who had 20.50 points. Head coach Rick McGuire was very impressed with the way his men's team finished the day.
"The men's team was very inspiring," McGuire said. "They worked hard together and put forth great effort."
The most amazing single feat of the day was senior William Hopson's participation in the long jump. Despite having knee surgery Friday, February 18, that was to put him out approximately four weeks, the Kansas City native jumped a career-best 24'9 ?". The jump placed him third in the event and provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Championships.
Junior Micah Shanks also had a career-day, becoming the 2000 BIG 12 CHAMPION in the weight throw with a distance of 64'5 ?". He beat last year's Big 12 Champion Tamel Sisney of Kansas State on his way to a NCAA provisional qualifying standard. Not only did he accomplish all of that, but he broke the Missouri school record for the fourth time this season.
Other top finishers for the men were senior Derrick Peterson and the Distance Medley Relay team (Andy Niewald, Timothy Dunne, Peterson and Ryan Pirtle). Peterson broke the Big 12 Championship meet record in the 800m preliminaries with a time of 1:50.33, a time set by him in 1997 (1:50.66). He, Dunne and Blair Hansard qualified for the 800m finals on Saturday. The Distance Medley Relay took fourth place behind Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Texas Tech. The Tigers tied last year's meet record, set by Oklahoma State, with a time of 9:47.53.
The highlight of the day for the women was senior Anna Gullingsrud's race in the 5,000m. She placed second behind Texas Tech's Leigh Daniel with a provisional qualifying time of 16:45.25. Other Tigers with top place finishes were junior Michelle Moran in the Pentathlon and the women's Distance Medley Relay. Moran took fourth in the Pentathlon with 3,974 total points. The women's DMR finished third behind Kansas State and Texas. The team of Sunny Gilbert, Ada Ibe, Ashley Wysong and Kerry Hils ran a time of 11:24.68 breaking the conference meet record by 8.13 seconds.
DAY TWO The Missouri men's track and field team took third place (86 points) and the women took sixth (55 points) at the 2000 Big 12 Indoor Championships held in Ames, Iowa. The finishes were the highest for either team since the inception of the Big 12 Conference. The men had finished no higher than fifth place (66 points) while the women had finished no higher than seventh (48 points).
The Tigers walked away with several individual honors during the final day of the championship meet. Espen Strindeberg finished second in the Heptathlon with 5,395 points. The senior was just 66 points away from first place finisher, Justin Robinson from Kansas State. Senior Jay Meystedt tied for third in the High Jump with a season-best jump of 7-0 ?. The most spectacular feat of the day however, was Derrick Peterson's 800m race. The senior from Georgia was the Tigers other BIG 12 CHAMPION, taking the 800m title for the fourth straight year. He and sophomore Timothy Dunne, who finished second in the race, broke the Big 12 Championship meet record. Peterson recorded a time of 1:49.00 while Dunne set a time of 1:50.09.
For the women, it was two juniors and a freshman paving the way to a sixth place team finish. Junior Sunny Gilbert and freshman Kerry Hils broke the meet record in the 1,000m with season-best times of 2:47.37 and 2:47.84 respectively. Junior Ashley Wysong recorded the United States' second fastest time in the indoor 800m with a time of 2:06.23, qualifying her for the NCAA Championships.
-- Complete results to follow --
*All results are FIRST PLACE FINALS and MISSOURI FINALS only unless otherwise indicated.
W-Pentathlon 1. Barbara Szlendakova (ISU) 4,070 points 4. Michelle Moran 3, 974 points 10. Eli Sommerfeldt 3,659 points 11. Jill Aholt 3,631 points 12. Abbe Ohneck 3,385 pointsM-Heptathlon 1. Justin Robinson (KSU) 5,461 points 2. Espen Strindeberg 5,395 points 9. Knut Harold Sommerfeldt 5,222 points
W-60m High Hurdles (Prelims) 1. Nicole Hoxie (UT) 8.19 % 13. Fiona Asigbee 8.88 14. Daarina Al-Uqdah 8.91
W-60m Dash (Semi-Finals) 1. Lakeesha White (UT) 7.41 # 13. Avis Evans 7.71
M-60m Dash (Semi-Finals) 1. Chris Chandler (NU) 6.63 14. Carlos Posey 6.96
W-200m Dash (Prelims) 1. Lakeesha White (UT) 23.65 # 22. Avis Evans 25.74
W-Mile Run 1. Liz Diaz (UT) 4:40.12 * 4. Ann Marie Brooks 4:49.51 6. Katie Meyer 4:56.97
M-Mile Run 1. Charlie Gruber (KU) 4:04.78 # 5. Joel McCune 4:10.68
W-600yd Run (Prelims) 1. Nakiya Johnson (UT) 1:20.72 12. Ada Ibe 1:25.01
M-600yd Run (Prelims) 1. Floyd Thompson (BU) 1:09.16 10. Josiah James 1:12.98
W-800m 1. Liz Diaz (UT) 2:05.53 * 2. Ashley Wysong 2:06.23 *
M-800m 1. Derrick Peterson (MU) 1:49.00 %# 2. Timothy Dunne 1:50.09 % 8. Blair Hansard 1:52.63
W-1,000m 1. Korene Hinds (KSU) 2:45.78 % 2. Sunny Gilbert 2:47.37 % 3. Kerry Hils 2:47.84 %
M-1,000m 1. Mike Hummel (A&M) 2:22.53 % 5. Stewart Kimball 2:24.84 6. Phil Councilor 2:25.99
W-3,000m 1. Leigh Daniel (TTU) 9:23.78 % 5. Anna Gullingsrud 9:32.85 # 12. Justa Dahl 9:57.43 29. Kim Moore 10:16.60
M-3,000m 1. Charles Sloan (OSU) 8:04.26 # 4. Ryan Pirtle 8:09.45 # 10. Adam MacDowell 8:18.49 13. Nick Smith 8:24.30 30. Mike Larson 8:37.66 38. Steve Wade 8:40.46
W-5,000m Run 1. Leigh Daniel (TTU) 16:39.91 # 2. Anna Gullingsrud 16:45.25 # 11. Kim Moore 17:24.24 16. Amy Chipman 17:35.70 17. Justa Dahl 17:41.90
M-5,000m Run 1. Jorge Torres (CU) 14:05.56 # 5. Nick Smith 14:27.26 14. Mike Larson 14:52.88 18. Ryan Fitzgerald 14:55.59
W-4x400m Relay 1. Baylor 3:34.29 %* 7. Missouri 3:45.29
M-4x400m Relay 1. Baylor 3:04.46 % * 10. Missouri 3:15.15
W-Distance Medley Relay 1. Kansas State (Mortimer, Holmes, Crouse, Hinds) 11:20.71 % 3. Missouri (Gilbert, Ibe, Wysong, Hils) 11:24.68 %
M-Distance Medley Relay 1. Oklahoma State 9:45.56 # 4. Missouri (Niewald, Dunne, Peterson, Pirtle) 9:47.53 %
W-Weight Throw 1. Melissa Price (NU) 66-2 ?% 11. Brooke Ennen 50-1 ?
M-Weight Throw 1. Micah Shanks (MU) 64-5 ? ^# 5. Christian Cantwell 61-6 ? 10. Russ Bell 57-2 ?
M-Shot Put 1. Jamie Beyer (ISU) 62-1 %# 2. Christian Cantwell 60-5 ? # 8. Micah Shanks 55-1 9. Russ Bell 53-7
M-Pole Vault 1. Jacob Davis (UT) 17-11 # T15. Kent Shelton 15-1 ?
W-Long Jump 1. Dalhia Ingram (NU) 20-11 ? % 15. Fiona Asigbee 16-11 ?
M-Long Jump 1. Sheldon Hutchinson (NU) 25-2 ? # 3. William Hopson 24-9 ? # 9. Shomari Benton 22-10 ?
W-High Jump 1. Erin Aldrich (UT) 6-1 ? * T12. Michelle Moran 5-5 ?
M-High Jump 1. Mark Boswell (UT) 7-6 ? T3. Jay Meystedt 7-0 ?
W-Triple Jump 1. Dalhia Ingram (NU) 44-6 9. Lindsey Miller 39-0 ? 11. Eli Sommerfeldt 38-4
# - NCAA Provisional Qualifier * - NCAA Automatic Qualifier % - Big 12 Meet Record ^ - Missouri School Record