Jan. 31, 2002

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Missouri men's and women's track & field teams take to the road for the second weekend in a row. This time, the destination is the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

The Meyo Invitational has traditionally been a highly competitive meet, pulling a national pool of talent and has a reputation of being one of the greater events of the indoor track & field season.

Results and a recap from the meet will be available following each day's events on-line at www.nd.edu/athletics and www.mutigers.com.

Meyo in 2001

Last season at the Meyo Invitational, Ann Marie Brooks provisionally qualified in the mile (4:45.04) and Jay Meystedt provisionally qualified in the high jump (7-1). Christian Cantwell provisionally qualified in both the weight throw (67-7.5) and the shot put (58-4.5).

Tigers in the Nation

Missouri currently has a number of athletes ranked in the Top 15 in various events. On the men's side, four athletes are ranked nationally as of Jan. 30. Freshman high jumper Jesse Sims moved into the ranks with his provisional-qualifying leap of 7-1 last Saturday at the KSU-KU-MU Triangular and is ranked 12th. Throwers Christian Cantwell, Russ Bell and Micah Shanks are also ranked for the men. Cantwell is ranked third in both the shot put and the weight throw, Bell is fourth in the weight throw and 10th in the shot and Shanks is eighth in the weight throw for the Tigers.

On the other hand...

The Tigers have some tough competitors scheduled to be at the Meyo Invitational in a number of events.

The Maryland women have a strong pole vaulter in junior Natalie Dye as well as two good throwers, senior Tracy Ojeniyi (shot put) and Ruth Kura (weight throw).

On the men's side, Alabama appears to be a dominating force, with seven athletes in the latest performance lists. The Crimson Tide has ranked athletes in the 60m dash, 60m hurdles, 200m dash, mile run, pole vault, long jump and triple jump.

The 3000m run should be an interesting one with sophomore Steve Shere of Michigan State (ranked third) and senior Ryan Shay of Notre Dame (ranked fifth) participating in the event. Western Michigan senior Dale Cowper will make the throws a little more competitive for the Tiger men. Cowper ranks ninth in the country, right behind Micah Shanks and is in the Top 25 in the shot.

Up Next

The men's and women's next stop for the indoor season is the Iowa State Invitational Feb. 8-9 in Ames, Iowa.