June 22, 2003

PALO ALTO, Calif. - The last two days of the USA Track and Field Championships have been interesting for members of the University of Missouri track team. On the nation's biggest stage for track and field, Missouri qualified six former or current Tigers for the senior nationals and two for the junior nationals. Mizzou had two top 10 finishes in the senior nationals, and both of Mizzou's junior national representatives, Jessica Stockard and Ashley Patten, will finish in the top 8 in their respective events.

Christian Cantwell (Eldon, Mo.) missed having a spot in the U.S. IAAF World Championship team in the shot put by an inch-and-a-half. Cantwell finished fifth after throwing 67 feet, 6 inches on his fourth throw. Ordinarily, the top three in each event qualify for the World Championships; however, second place finisher John Godina won the 2002 World Championship in the shot, earning him an automatic position in the competition and making the top four eligible. Adam Nelson placed fourth and prevented Cantwell to make the championship after throwing 67 feet, 7? on his second throw. Nelson fouled on his remaining five throws. After finishing second in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Cantwell had the third best throw in the nation on the outdoor year.

"Obviously it was disappointing," said throws coach Brett Halter. "For Christian this is a learning experience. It's the not the end of the world for him, he's still has a lot to look forward to. Christian is now going to be on a world stage, he's going to start traveling around the world in the next week and start his professional career."

Cantwell, a seven-time All-American, is currently 11th in the world rankings and is the youngest of the top 20. Next for Christian is now a trip to the Czech Republic where he is going to join the IAAF Grand Prix tour. Cantwell can still qualify for the August world championships in Paris by moving up to the top eight in the point standings.

"He's got a year to develop his talents on the world stage, come back to California in June 2004, and try to qualify for the Olympics," Halter said.

Fellow throwers, Russ Bell (Jefferson City, Mo.) and Janae Strickland (Houston, Texas) both placed 18th in the shot put. Bell threw for 58 feet, 10? inches; Strickland's best was 49 feet, 9 inches.

After finishing ninth in NCAA Championships, Fiona Asigbee (Walford, Iowa) had a strong eighth place showing in the heptathlon. She placed in the top 10 in her first four events.

Timothy Dunne (Jerome, Idaho) and Mizzou track volunteer coach Derrick Peterson ran in the 800 meter semifinal and was unsuccessful to make the top eight for the finals. Peterson finished tenth with a run of 1 minute, 48.93 seconds and Dunne completed his run in 1 minute, 51.07 seconds placing him 16th.

After freshman Jessica Stockard (Godfrey, Ill.) had a strong fourth place finish in the junior national heptathlon, fellow freshman Ashley Patten (Clarkston, Michigan) qualified for today's junior national 800 meter final. Patten ran the 800 in 2 minutes, 10.66 seconds yesterday for the seventh best qualifying time. Today's final will be run at 9 p.m. central time.

With the completion of today's action, Missouri's track and field season will be over. The next focus will be Cantwell's world tour and the upcoming cross country season. Sophomores Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa and Valerie Lauver (Allen, Texas) will hope to continue their successes after leading the Tigers to a 16th place team showing in last year's NCAA Cross Country Championships. Junior Ryan Hampton (Liberty, Mo.) and sophomore Tim Ross (Alto, Mich.) will lead the men's team.

Soon on www.mutigers.com look for a season wrap-up and complete coverage of Christian Cantwell's world tour.