June 4, 2003

COLUMBIA, MO. - The University of Missouri track and field team will send 11 members of the team to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, California next week. Five seniors will end their Tiger careers at the championships in California's capital city. All five Tigers who won Big 12 titles will represent Missouri at the championships.

Christian Cantwell, Russ Bell, Timothy Dunne, Knut Sommerfeldt, Jesse Sims, and Hans Uldal are the Tiger men who will represent the Tigers. Cantwell, the Big 12 Outdoor and NCAA Mideast Regional shot put champion, is ranked #1 in the country in the shot put. Teammate Russ Bell, the Big 12 Outdoor hammer throw champion, will join Cantwell in the shot put as well as competing in the hammer throw, and the discus. Senior co-captain Timothy Dunne will run for the Tigers in the 800 meters. Sophomore Jesse Sims, who has jumped 7 feet, 2.5 inches this year, will vie for the high jump title. Three-time Big 12 decathlon champion Knut Sommerfeldt and Tiger teammate and fellow Norweigian countryman Hans Uldal will both compete in the decathlon.

Fiona Asigbee, Jennifer Bennett, Janae Strickland, Jenny Bybee, and Jessica Stockard comprise the female coningent of Tigers at the meet. Asigbee, the Big 12 champion in the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon, will compete along with freshman Jessica Stockard in the heptathlon. Asigbee is ranked fourth in the country in the heptathlon. Jennifer Bennett, the Big 12 champion in the outdoor pole vault and NCAA Mideast runner-up, will attempt to duplicate her All-American performance she earned at the indoor championships. Strickland, the NCAA Mideast runner-up and school record holder in the shot put, will vie for the shot put and sophomore Jenny Bybee makes her NCAA Outdoor Championships debut in the high jump.

The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held June 11th through the 14th at Hornet Stadium on the campus of California State University-Sacramento.