Feb. 25, 2004
Complete Post-Season Guide (PDF) | Live Results
Meet Schedule | Nebraska Meet Coverage | Big 12 Track & Field
Big 12 Performance List
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri track and field teams will send 26 men and 26 women to the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships to be held in Lincoln, Neb., Friday and Saturday. Some of the best teams and some of the best athletes in the nation will be competing along side the Tigers in what should prove to be an interesting weekend for Missouri. Seven of the men's Big 12 teams are ranked in Trackwire's Top 25. Several Tigers are ranked in the top three in many events on the Big 12 performance list and are looking for their first Big 12 Championship titles.
They Don't Call it the BIG 12 for Nothin'
It's tough to say that the Big 12 is not one of the best conferences when it comes to track and field, especially by the latest Trackwire Top 25. Seven Big 12 men's teams are on the poll with Baylor receiving the highest ranking in the conference at sixth. Three women's teams are in the top 25. Nebraska's women surged to number two over the weekend with Texas' women following close behind at fourth. Either way it should be an exciting Big 12 Championship.
The Schedule
The championships will begin Friday with the combined events at 9:30 a.m. Field events begin Friday at 2:45 p.m., and track events begin at 2:00 p.m. Most track events on Friday are preliminary rounds with the exception of the 5000-meter run and the distance medley relay that will be ran as finals. On Saturday the men's heptathlon will conclude beginning at 9:30 a.m., field events begin at 1:30 p.m., and the running events start at 3:00 p.m.
Last Year at Big 12 Indoor
Missouri had a good go at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in 2003. Missouri's men took fourth place, in part to first place finishes by Knut Sommerfeldt in the heptathlon and Christian Cantwell in the weight throw. The Mizzou men also had six additional finishes in the top three.
The Missouri women took seventh as team last year. Fiona Asigbee won the pentathlon event. Amanda Bales finished second in the mile run. Ten other Tigers turned in all-Big 12, top eight, performances.
Championship History
The Missouri men and women have yet to win a Big 12 title, either indoors or outdoors. Missouri's best indoor Big 12 finish came for both the men and women in 2000 when both teams finished third. The women Tigers are still waiting for their first conference track and field championship in team history. The men's last title came as part of the Big 8 Conference in 1979 under Coach Bob Teel.
Texas and Nebraska have been the two teams that have went back-and-forth in claiming Big 12 titles. The two teams both have three indoor men's titles, allowing one to Texas A&M in 2001. On the women's side, Texas has four titles to Nebraska's three.
Bales Tops in the Mile Run
Junior Amanda Bales currently ranks number one on the Big 12's Performance List in the mile run. Her time of 4:45.00, set at the Iowa State Classic, leads the conference by one tenth of a second. Bales' closest competition on the list is Oklahoma freshman Jessica Eldridge who clocked in with a time of 4:45.10 in Fayetteville, Ark., in the Tyson Foods Invitational on February 13.
Women's DMR Look to Dominate
The Missouri women's distance medley relay team currently ranks number one in the Big 12 as well. The team of Jill Petersen, Ashley Patten, Jessica Stockard, and Amanda Bales took first place at the Iowa State Classic with a time of 11:18.24. That time leads the conference by 12 seconds over nearest competitor, Oklahoma.
Woolsey Improves NCAA Mark, First Big 12 Meet Ahead
Junior transfer Conrad Woolsey improved his NCAA provisional qualifying mark by over 18 inches at last weekend's Missouri All-Comers. Woolsey is currently ranked eleventh in the NCAA with the throw. For Woolsey, a transfer from Northwest Missouri State University, this is his first Big 12 Conference meet, and his first look at the tough competition that goes with. Woolsey is currently third on the Big 12 performance list in the event, behind conference and national leader, Nebraska's Carl Myerscough who is looking for his third consecutive indoor Big 12 title in the event. With Tiger Christian Cantwell out of eligibility, it is likely we will not see another classic battle between a Husker and a Tiger this year with Myerscough leading the conference by over five feet, but, then again, who knows what will happen.
Mizzou Women Return Nine All-Big 12
The Missouri women are looking to push for a top spot in the Big 12 standings for this season thanks to nine returning indoor all-Big 12 team members from 2003. Returning from a fourth place finish in the 800-meter run, sophomore Ashley Patten will be competing in one of the closest events of the championships.
Young Men's Team Seeing Freshmen Step Up
Freshmen men Tipper O'Brien, Marcus Mayes, and Jimmie Jones have made an immediate impact on this young Tiger team. O'Brien is fifth in the Big 12 on the 1000-meter run performance list and should be in contention with junior Neville Miller for top spots in the event. Mayes and Jones have held their own all season and should push for top scoring events in some of the middle-distance races.
Elsewhere This Weekend, USA Track & Field Championships
Also this weekend, Tiger post-collegians - Christian Cantwell, Derrick Peterson, and Timothy Dunne - will travel to Boston, Mass., for the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships.
Cantwell will be throwing in the men's shot put competition after throwing for 72-? in the Missouri All-Comers meet last weekend. Cantwell is only the second person in the world over the past fifteen years to throw for over 72 feet indoors. Cantwell will be looking for his first chance to represent Team USA overseas as the top two finishers in each event will go to Budapest, Hungary, for the IAAF World Indoor Championships to be held March 5-7. Cantwell was a seven-time all-American and five-time Big 12 Champion while at Missouri.
Derrick Peterson and Timothy Dunne will also be at the event in Boston competing in the 800-meter run. Peterson has the leading seed time in the event clocking in with a time of 1:47.31, which he accomplished at the Tyson Foods Invitational on February 14. Dunne, like Cantwell, in his first year out of a Tiger uniform, ran for a time of 1:50.44 at the Iowa State Classic. Dunne was named an outdoor all-American in 2003 in the event.
Peterson and Dunne run in the preliminary rounds of the 800-meter run on Friday at 12:45 p.m. The finals are slated for Saturday at 4:12 p.m. Cantwell will compete on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ESPN2 will have television coverage on Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m., and on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
For more information on everything going on in Missouri track and field this weekend, visit mutigers.com, huskers.com, or usatf.org.