Missouri Travels To Nebraska For The Big 12 Championships
2/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 22, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri track and field team travels to Lincoln, Neb., for the 2001 Big 12 Conference Championships. The Tiger men place third and the women finished sixth at the 2000 conference championships.
Missouri Men Take Third And Women Take Sixth At The 2000 Big 12 Conference Championships
The MU men scored 86 points and the women scored 55 points at the 2000 indoor championships in Ames, Iowa. It was the highest finishes for both teams since the inception of the Big 12 Conference (the men's previous best was fifth and the women's best was seventh). Derrick Peterson picked up the win in the 800m (1:49.00), the fourth in an illustrious career as a black and gold runner. Micah Shanks took the top spot in the weight throw (64-5.25). Espen Strindeberg placed second in the heptathlon (5,395).
Cantwell, Bell Throw Qualifying Marks At
All-Comers
Sophomores Christian Cantwell and Russ Bell each threw qualifying marks, while going one-two in the shot put at the MU All-Comers track and field meet Saturday.
Cantwell broke his own school record of 62-10.75 set Feb. 10 at Iowa State with a 63-6.75 effort, which is an NCAA automatic qualifier. Bell also went over 60 feet with a 60-2 heave. It is the first time the Tigers have had two 60-foot shot putters in the same season.
Mizzou also got big marks from high jumper Jay Meystedt who went over the seven-foot mark for the second time this season. He recorded a 7-0 mark at the All-Comers and met the provisional qualifying standard at Iowa State last weekend. Senior Ochuko Ekpere (47-5) took the top spot in the triple jump and sophomore Tim McFarlin (23.79) won the 200-meter dash.
Junior Heather Whitehead won the women's shot put with a personal-best 43-7.25. Sophomore Christi Myers picked up the victory and a provisional qualifying mark in the high jump (5-9.75) and sophomore Avis Evans won the 60m dash (7.73), the long jump (16-8) and the triple jump (33-6).
More Bounce To The Ounce
Senior high jumper Jay Meystedt cleared the seven foot mark for the first time this season Feb. 2. He is fourth in the Big 12 Conference. He is also in a tie for 13th place nationally.
Un D?a Soleado
(One Sunny Day)
Senior Sunny Gilbert has quietly made her mark on the 2001 indoor season. The Ellisville, Mo. native, has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 800m. Her time of 2:08.77 is tops in the conference and seventh nationally. She is also a member of the distance medley relay team that qualified at ISU. This marks the second year in a row that she will compete at nationals in the DMR (2000 team finished 10th).
Throwin' Shot Around
Sophomore Christian Cantwell has put up big numbers in the shot and weight all season. He threw 62-10.75 at Kansas State Feb. 16 and threw 63-6.75 the next day at the MU All-Comers.Fellow sophomore Russ Bell also went over the 60 foot mark in the shot put at the All-Comers (60-2). It marks the first time in school history that the Tigers had two 60-footshot put throwers in the same season. Cantwell holds all the indoor school records in the throws. He recorded a school, meet and personal record 70-3.75 (2nd Big 12, 6th nationally) heave in the weight throw at the Triangular Jan. 26. That mark is an automatic qualifier.
Coach's Corner
MU Head Coach Rick McGuire (St. Lawrence University, 1969) is in his 18th year coaching the Tigers. The 2000 Big 12 Conference Indoor Coach of the Year, McGuire has guided 25 Missouri tracksters to 66 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).
