Feb. 24, 2002
LINCOLN, Neb. - In just her second 3000m race of the indoor season, senior Ann Marie Brooks has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with her first-place finish in the women's 3000-meter run Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Brooks, who finished the event in 9:25.67, defended her Big 12 Indoor Championships title in the 3000m. Her time in the 3000m in 2001 is the Big 12 record (9:16.47).
"I guess I'm just amazed at what my body can do after I haven't trained or worked out that much," Brooks said. "I just surprise myself. It's not just the physical side, but the mental side of it."
Brooks said the 2001 race was virtually identical to the 2002 race. Colorado's Sara Gorton led most of the 3000m in 2001 and 2002, only to have Brooks take the lead around the final turn.
"The gun went off and I was in the lead, and that kind of freaked me out," Brooks said. "There's just so much that goes into a fifteen lap race -- the last thing I wanted to do was go out and lead. I do much better at the end when I'm in second."
Brooks' time Saturday is about three seconds off the automatic qualifying time in the event (9:23.20).
"The main concrete goal was to qualify for nationals," Brooks said. "It's hard to think about last year because I was in such good shape then and been training so much. It felt so different this year."
Junior Christian Cantwell had an extraordinary day in the men's shot put, throwing a personal-best mark and school record 67-5.25. Cantwell finished second to Nebraska thrower Carl Myerscough, who won the event with a Big 12 record-throw of 69-2. Both marks were automatic qualifying marks, Myerscough's mark is third in the world and Cantwell's is sixth in the world. Junior Russ Bell had another provisional mark in the shot, with his toss of 60-11.25.
"Anytime you get a PR, it's a good thing - I'm as happy as can be about that," Cantwell said. "But, I don't think I've thrown as far as I'm going to throw by any means."
Other highlights from the final day of the Big 12 Indoor Championships
Senior Becky Froelker and junior Jennifer Leerssen scored for the women Saturday, as Leerssen placed third (2:54.74) and Froelker finished fourth (2:54.84) in the women's 1000m run.
Sophomore Christi Myers also scored for the women with a fifth place finish in the high jump. The Raytown, Mo., native leaped for a final height of 5-8.5
In the men's 800m, Stewart Kimball was third in a time of 1:53.45 and Timothy Dunne was fourth with his time of 1:54.11. Also in middle distance, freshman Rem Moll placed sixth in the men's 1000m with his time of 2:28.31.
Freshman Jesse Sims and sophomore Jason Edmonds were scorers in the men's high jump. Sims placed third and Edmonds placed fifth with a height of 6-11.75, with Sims placing higher based on fewer misses.
Senior Ben Dean also scored for the Tigers, as he placed sixth in the men's triple jump with a mark of 48-6.25.
Chris McCurley had a season-best 22.59 in the 200m to place seventh in Saturday's finals.
To put things into perspective, the 2002 Big 12 Indoor Championships produced eight automatic qualifiers and 48 provisional qualifiers in two days.
Women's Team Scores Place School Points 1 Texas UT 107 2 Nebraska NU 103 3 Kansas State KSU 89 . 50 4 Baylor BU 66 5 Colorado CU 64 6 Kansas KU 62 7 Iowa State ISU 60 8 Texas Tech TTU 51 9 Missouri MU 40 10 Texas A&M ATM 38 . 50 11 Oklahoma State OSU 30
Men's Team Scores Place School Points 1 Nebraska NU 105 . 50 2 Texas UT 97 3 Kansas State KSU 93 . 50 4 Baylor BU 69 5 Missouri MU 66 6 Colorado CU 65 7 Kansas KU 60 8 Texas A&M ATM 57 9 Oklahoma OU 41 . 50 10 Texas Tech TTU 39 . 50 11 Iowa State ISU 22