Feb. 28, 2004
LINCOLN, Neb. - The Missouri women's track and field team finished the Big 12 Indoor Championships in fourth place Saturday in Lincoln, Neb. A crowd of 4,709 watched sophomore Ashley Patten win the championship title in the women's 800-meter run and 25 Tigers earn all-Big 12 honors throughout the weekend.
"Our women had a marvelous meet and this was as strong as a conference meet as I can remember, including conferences like the SEC or Big Ten.", said Dr. Rick McGuire, head track and field coach. "A fourth place finish was really hard to achieve with this competition."
Sophomore Ashley Patten (Clarkston, Mich.) won the Big 12 title in the women's 800-meter run with her first NCAA provisional qualifying time of the year (2:08.49). Patten was in seventh place with 100 meters remaining in the race then had to go four lanes out to pass the pack and take the lead, surging for a nine tenths-of-a-second win. Patten placed herself fourth on the all-time Missouri performance list in the event with her performance. Patten won the USATF Junior National Championship as a freshman in 2003, and is also part of the national qualifying distance medley relay team and was part of the all-Big 12 1600-meter relay team. Patten now has four all-Big 12 honors after her efforts this weekend.
"We went out a little slow and I felt I was in a box," Patten said. "When the gun went off, I knew I would have to make a move to win the race. At the end of the race, I hadn't made any surges during the first part of the race, and I knew I had it left. I saw a move, and I knew I had to take it. Watching the DMR yesterday was an inspiration to me. I thought to myself `If they can go out there and win the race, I can go out and do the same thing.' I have such good teammates, and I had fantastic training from Coach Becca (Rebecca Wilmes) and that had me prepared for the race."
"Today's highlight was definitely Patten with her first Big 12 Championship," added McGuire. She ran a beautiful race. She knew how to stay back and strike in the last 100 meters or so. Just a classic 800 race. It brought back memories of Derrick Peterson and the way he ran as a Tiger."
Junior Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa) matched last year's championship appearance in the mile run with a second place finish (4:45.99). Bales ran close behind Colorado's Renee Mativier who took the title by only five hundredths of a second. Bales made a last-second surge to the finish line to force a photo finish. Bales also ran in the 3000-meter run and finished eighth to earn her sixth all-Big 12 honor as a Tiger.
"Bales was the workhorse of our team and our rallying point," McGuire said.
Junior transfer Conrad Woolsey (Excelsior Springs, Mo.) once again set an NCAA provisional mark and finished third with a throw of 61 feet, 7 inches (18.77m). Junior Bill Hobson (Katy, Texas) finished ninth.
In the men's mile run, junior Ryan Hampton came away with a fourth place finish to earn his third all-Big 12 honor and his second in the indoor mile run. Hampton had an eighth place finish in 2003.
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Senior Janae Strickland (Houston, Texas) came up with a clutch third throw to make the finals and heretic sixth attempt to place fifth in a stacked women's shot put event. The field included six who have already made NCAA provisional marks.
Freshmen Marcus Mayes (Sand Springs, Okla.) and Jimmie Jones (Detroit, Mich.) finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with personal-bests in the 800-meter run, earning their first all-Big 12 honors in their collegiate careers.
Also today, another freshman Allison Werner (Danville, Iowa) earned her second all-Big 12 honor with an eighth place finish in the 1000-meter run with a personal-best 2:54.53. Werner a personal-best 800-meter split as part of the Big 12 Champion distance medley relay team.
In the men's heptathlon, freshman Bjorn Sommerfeldt (Krokstadelva, Norway) finished fifth with 4,963 points. Sommerfeldt entered the day in eighth place, but surged up three spots after pole vaulting for an indoor personal-best (13-7?) and finishing second in the final event, the 1000-meter run (2:45.40). Junior Brandon Goebbert (Hinsdale, Ill.) earned his third all-Big 12 honor with an eighth place finish in the event scoring 4,878 points. Senior Marcus James (Liberal, Kan.) finished 10th overall with 4,619 points.
Helping the Missouri women achieve fourth place was a fifth place was an all-Big 12 performance by the 1600-meter relay team. The Tiger men finished seventh in the 1600-meter relay for all-Big 12 honors.
Nebraska's men and women swept the team titles for the first time since 2000. The Missouri men finished in 12th.
"It's obvious you would want to finish anything but 12th in the Big 12 meet," McGuire said. "But, we had lost four of the best athletes in Missouri history last year that would have earned us around 60 points this year. Our freshmen are outstanding and when you get sixth, seventh, and eighth place performances from your freshman, it will translate into higher finishes down the road. We're going to be one heck of a team in the next couple of years, and it showed by how we battled this weekend."
Next for the Tigers is the last chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks. Missouri will travel to Iowa State for the Cyclone Last Chance Meet to be held on March 6 in Ames, Iowa.
SATALITE COORDINATES (SATURDAY ONLY) for highlights (mainly of winners of each event) DATE: Saturday, February 28, 2004 TIME: 9:00-9:15 CT CORDS: Telestar 7, Transponder 2, kU Band/Analog, Download: 11740 H, 121 West
BIG 12 INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday, February 28, 2004*** www.MUTigers.com ***FINAL SCORES ============ WOMEN 1) Nebraska 171.5 2) Texas 158 3) Kansas State 69 4) MISSOURI 56.5 5) Colorado 45.5 6) Baylor 42 7) Kansas 38 8) Oklahoma 37.5 9) Texas A&M 32 10) Iowa State 31 11) Oklahomas St. 28 Texas Tech 28
MEN 1) Nebraska 141 2/3 2) Kansas State 77 3) Baylor 72 4) Texas 67 5) Texas Tech 60 1/3 6) Oklahoma 58 1/2 7) Texas A&M 56 8) Colorado 50 9) Kansas 45 10) Iowa State 44 11) Oklahoma St. 37 12) Missouri 31 1/2 \ MISSOURI COMPETITORS ==================== NOTE: Any competitor finishing in the top eight is named all-Big 12.
**FINALS** MEN'S HEPTATHLON 5th, Bjorn Sommerfeldt (Fr.), 4,936, 2,674 (Day 1), 8.69 (60mH), 4.15 (PV), 2:45.40 (1000m) 8th, Brandon Goebbert (Jr.), 4,878, 2,565 (Day 1), 8.83 (60mH), 4.35 (PV), 2:45.51 (1000m) 10th, Marcus James (Sr.), 4,619, 2,611 (Day 1), 8.67 (60mH), 4.55 (PV), 3:28.38 (1000m)
WOMEN'S 800m RUN 1st, Ashley Patten (So.), 2:08.49
MEN'S 800m RUN 6th, Marcus Mayes (Fr.), 1:51.17, personal-best 7th, Jimmie Jones (Fr.), 1:51.42, personal-best
WOMEN'S 1000m RUN 8th, Allison Werner (Fr.), 2:54.53
WOMEN'S MILE RUN 2nd, Amanda Bales (Jr.), 4:45.99, NCAA Prov.
MEN'S MILE RUN 4th, Ryan Hampton (Jr.), 4:07.51
WOMEN'S 3000m RUN 8th, Amanda Bales (Jr.), 9:46.24 12th, Jill Petersen (Jr.), 9:53.30 13th, Serena Ramsey (Jr.), 9:53.54
MEN'S 3000m RUN 11th, Tim Ross (So.), 8:21.96 20th, David Mertens (Jr.), 8:28.71 27th, Matt Noonan (Jr.), 8:32.98 37th, Mark Munzlinger (So.), 8:39.49 38th, Chase Hall (So.), 8:39.51
WOMEN'S 4x400 RELAY 5th, 3:46.47 Whittney Stuart, Jessica Stockard, Ashley Patten, Laura Brandt
MEN'S 4x400 RELAY
WOMEN'S SHOT PUT 5th, Janae Strickland (Sr.), 15.93m, 52-3.25, NCAA Prov. 11th, Lindsey Markworth (Jr.), 13.65m, 44-9.5
MEN'S SHOT PUT 3rd, Conrad Woolsey (Jr.), 18.77m, 61-7, NCAA Prov. 9th, Bill Hobson (So.), 16.61m, 54-6 12th, Adam Burla (Jr.), 15.96m, 52-4
WOMEN'S TRIPLE JUMP 17th, Samantha Stanley (So.), 10.99m, 36-0.75 18th, Jemma Archibald (Sr.), 10.74m, 35-3
MEN'S TRIPLE JUMP 11th, Chris Horn (So.), 14.07m, 46-2
WOMEN'S HIGH JUMP t8th, Jenny Bybee (Jr.), 1.68m, 5-6 14th, Alicia Cannady (So.), 1.68m, 5-6 --, Liz Young (So.), NH
MEN'S HIGH JUMP t5th, Jesse Sims, 2.10m, 6-10.75 --, Chris Horn (So.), NH