March 11, 2003

The University of Missouri track and field team is sending six athletes to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. Two Tigers qualified automatically and four were provisional qualifiers.

On the women's side, sophomore Amanda Bales was an automatic qualifier in the 3000 meter run. Bales qualified for the event in her first ever attempt at the 3000 meters and currently has the fastest time in the Big 12 in that event. Juniors Jennifer Bennett and Janae Strickland qualified in the pole vault and shot put, respectively, after Strickland had a tremendous throw last weekend at the NCAA Qualifier Meet in Ames, Iowa.

On the men's side, both Christian Cantwell and Russ Bell qualified in the shot put and weight throw. Cantwell, who leads the Big 12 in the weight throw, automatically qualified in the shot put with a throw of 68 feet, 5 inches. High jumper Jesse Sims also qualified with a season-best jump of 7 feet, 1.5 inches.

The events start Friday and conclude on Saturday. This will also mark the conclusion of the indoor track season.