Jan. 17, 2003
The University of Missouri track teams opened their season, hosting the Missouri Invitational on Friday night. The weather outside was bitterly cold but inside two Tigers broke Hearnes Fieldhouse records.
Tiger junior Jennifer Bennett set not only a fieldhouse record but also a school indoor record with a pole vault of 12 feet, 6 inches. Missouri head coach Rick McGuire said, "Individually Jennifer Bennett's jump was huge. Setting a record in the first meet of the season is huge." Marquis Davis' first meet as a Tiger was an impressive one as he broke the 60-meter dash fieldhouse record by running 6.83. Other Tigers with outstanding performances included Christian Cantwell who won both the weight throw and the shot put, and teammate Russ Bell, who finished second in both events. Tiger sophomore Jesse Sims finished first in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 10.75 inches. Fiona Asigbee, Amanda Bales, Timothy Dunne, Rem Moll, Ryan Hampton, and Christi Myers all had an exceptional meet.
Coach McGuire was very pleased with his teams performance, "This is exactly how we wanted to open the season. We found out we are fit and our stars were stars tonight and our younger athletes got to show their skills. Our sophomores did well and our freshmen did a lot of good things. Our leaders were leaders and we got to start off the season exactly the way we wanted."
The Tigers are in action next at the MU-KSU-KU Triangular next Friday in Lawrence, Kan. when they take on archrivals Kansas and Kansas State.