Peterson, Wysong Earn All-America Honors
6/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
June 2, 2000
Day three of the NCAA Championships was very successful for the Missouri track and field teams. Two Tigers claimed All-American honors while one completed day one of the decathlon and another turned in a top-12 finish. This was all accomplished on a very hot Friday evening.
Senior Derrick Peterson ran his last race in a Tiger uniform and made the Black and Gold proud. Peterson came off the final turn in fifth place and had an outstanding final 100m to finish second overall to Patrick Nduwimana (1:45.08). His time of 1:45.18 was not only a Missouri school record, but it was the fastest time run this season by a collegiate American. It is also the fastest time run by an American in the world this year. Peterson broke Scott Davis' record of 1:46.30 that was set back in 1983.
For the women, Ashley Wysong had an outstanding performance in the half mile as well. The junior ran to a third place finish with a time of 2:02.94 and her fourth consecutive All-American honor. It was also the first time Wysong has broken the 2:03 barrier. Her time is a new Black and Gold school record as well as the fastest American collegiate time during the 2000 season. Wysong has now dropped the school record by two and one half seconds.
In the steeplechase, Ryan Pirtle ran to a 12th place overall finish in a time of 9:01.54. For Pirtle, the MU school record holder in the event, it marked the senior's highest finish in the event at the NCAA meet. Pirtle also ran the steeplechase at the 1998 NCAA Championships.
Espen Strindeberg completed five events of the decathlon today and stands in 17th place with 3,493 points. Day two's events in the decathlon consist of the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m run. For Strindeberg, the final five events are his strongest of the ten. Strindeberg is the lone Tiger competitor on Saturday as the NCAA Championships are concluded.
