March 29, 2001

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri track and field team opens the 2001 outdoor season at the Stanford Invitational Sun., Mar. 31. Sophomores Christian Cantwell and Knut Harald Sommerfeldt have already posted NCAA qualifying marks this season. Cantwell, the defending Big 12 outdoor shot put champion, recorded a 61-0.25, which is a provisional mark Mar. 15-16, at the Texas A&M Multi Event Festival. Sommerfeldt qualified in the decathlon with 7,367 points at A&M, which set an MU school record.

A Look Back At The 2001 Indoor Season
The Tigers are coming off an indoor season that saw the women's distance medley relay team win the national championship and the entire women's team ranked 10th in the final national poll.

Five Tigers earned All-American honors during the indoor campaign: sophomore Christian Cantwell in the shot put and the women's DMR team (Kerry Hils, Ashley Wysong, Sunny Gilbert and Ann Marie Brooks). Brooks and Wysong also garned individual All-American honors in the 800m and 3000m respectively.

A Look Back At The 2000 Outdoor Season
The Missouri men finished fourth in the Big 12 while their female counterparts placed fifth. Derrick Peterson picked up his fourth Big 12 Championship in the 800m. Ashley Wysong set the Big 12 Championships record and picked up the win in the 800m. Also on the record setting day at the conference championships, Michelle Moran racked up 5,590 points en route to the Big 12 Championship in the hepthalon. The point total is a school record and an NCAA qualifying mark as well as an Olympic Trials mark. Christian Cantwell was the other Big 12 champion for MU. He set a conference record in the shot put with a throw of 64-6.5. The Tiger men tied for 30th place nationally and the women tied for 38th.

Four Tigers earned All-American honors in 2000: Derrick Peterson, Ashley Wysong, Michelle Moran and Sunny Gilbert. Mizzou also had six athletes compete in the Olympic Trials: Christian Cantwell (shot), Kerry Hils (steeplechase), Michelle Moran (heptathlon), Derrick Peterson (800m), Ryan Pirtle (800m) and Ashley Wysong (800m).

Breaking Down The Tigers
Middle Distance
Three members of the men's 4x800 meter relay team that was ranked number one in the nation last season return this season. Junior Timothy Dunne (NCAA qualifier in the 800m) will anchor the relay team along with seniors Blair Hansard and Phil Councilor. Hansard and Councilor were All-Big 12 performers in 2000. In addition, Sophomore Stewart Kimball re-turns stronger and faster for the Tigers and looks to be a major force on the track. MU coaches hope these four men will lead the Tigers' strong middle distance corps. Added to the already solid group is fifth-year senior Joel McCune, who runs the 1500m and mile.

Transfer Lee Tittle will run the mile as well as the distance medley and 4x800m relays. Se-nior Jason Franken has been a solid performer the last two years and will be counted on to contribute this season. Sophomore Josiah James will also add depth.

Senior Ashley Wysong is the school record holder and Big 12 champion in the outdoor 800m. She is a four-time All-American, Drake Relays Champion, finished third at nationals, qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials and was a member of the school record-holding 4x400m and 4x800m relay teams. Wysong is also strong in the 400m, 600yd and 1000m and may run the 1500m and mile. Another senior All-Ameri-can in the mid-distance mix is Sunny Gilbert, a two-time national qualifier and an All-Ameri-can in the 800m. Gilbert and Wysong provide the Tigers with a formidable 1-2 punch in the 800m.

Sophomore Kerry Hils has versatility and strength to help the Tigers from 800m and up. She has demonstrated her strength as a miler over the past year and also as a steepler, with an Olympic Trials qualfying mark. Senior Katie Meyer is also a key player for the Tigers in the mile and steeple and could be a factor at the Nationals in either event. Juniors Jennifer Leerssen and Becky Froelker and freshman An-gela Naeth add to the middle distance depth and will continue the 4x800 success.

Distance
Senior Nick Smith and junior Adam MacDowell are the top returners for the distance squad. Smith was second in the 10,000m at the Big 12 Championships and fourth in the 5000m indoor in 2000. MacDowell, who is very strong in the steeplechase, may also run the 5000m and 10,000m. Junior Mike Pitts has been hampered by health, but is ready to become an outstanding distance runner. Junior Ryan Fitzgerald, who earned All-Big 12 honors last season with an eighth place finish in the 10,000m at the conference championships, is primed for a breakout season. Junior Steve Wade should be strong in the steeplechase.

Freshman Jason Edwards leads a group of talented newcomers. Edwards along with Ryan Hampton and Jordan Millam should make their marks in the track program in the future.

Senior Ann Marie Brooks anchored the NCAA qualifying distance medley relay team and will run the 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000. Junior Kim Moore was a national qualifier in the 10,000. Junior transfer Lisa Buffington is out-standing in the 3,000 and 5,000. Also in the 10,000 is senior Justa Dahl and sophomore Amy Chipman">Amy Chipman will contribute in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000. Junior Ashley McLeod should also score for the Tigers.

Freshmen Katherine Bonugli, Erin Hagan, Amanda Holferty, Sarah McCann are all pros-pects that could establish themselves as con-tributors this year.

Throws
Senior captain Micah Shanks is the Big 12 weight throw champion and holds school records in the weight and hammer. He is also a three-time all-conference performer in the shot put.

Sophomore All-American Christian Cantwell is the Big XII outdoor shot put Cham-pion. Cantwell's conference winning throw set the Big XII record as well as qualified him for the Olympic Trials. Cantwell's outstanding performances in the shotput, weight throw and discus garnered him Big XII Freshman of the year honors in both indoor and outdoor.

Sophomore Russ Bell also put up impressive numbers last year as a freshman. He moved onto the school's top five list in three events. Bell's mark in the discus ranked him in the top 10 on the junior world list for 2000. Bell was a three-time USATF Junior All-American and competed for the U.S. in Montreal.

Coach's Corner
MU Head Coach Rick McGuire (St. Lawrence University, 1969) is in his 18th year coaching the Tigers. He led the 2001 women's indoor distance medley team to the national championship.The 2000 Big 12 Conference Indoor Coach of the Year, McGuire has guided 27 Missouri tracksters to 73 All-American honors. He has been inducted into the Missouri Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Drake Relays Hall of Fame and has been a member of the 1992 and 1996 Olympic staffs. McGuire is joined on the sidelines this season by assistant coaches Brett Halter (8th year), Jared Wilmes (1st year), Rebecca Wilmes (2nd year), Matt Candrl (1st year) and Chad Shade (1st year).