May 14, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Tiger post-collegian Michelle Moran won the heptathlon crown on Friday at the First Annual Audrey Walton Combined Event Carnival. Moran's score of 5,698 points places her fourth in the nation, sets a new Walton Stadium record, and qualifies for the U.S. Olympic Trials after clinching a solid "B" qualifying standard.
Moran (Wildwood, Mo.) came out of a rainy day-one in fourth place, but secured a personal-best in the 200 meters. Today, Moran jumped for 19 feet, 4? inches (5.90m) at the long jump, earning a four inch personal best in the event. Next was a solid javelin throw of 119 feet, 3 inches (36.34m) to put her into second going into the final event. The 800-meter run was the final event of the competition. Moran ran a personal-best time of 2:15.31 to secure her personal-best overall score.
Moran also qualified in 2000 for the U.S. Olympic Trials. In that same year, Moran was an NCAA all-American and Big 12 Champion setting the old stadium record on her home track.
Another Missouri post-collegian Fiona Asigbee (Walford, Iowa) finished second overall with 5,572 points, near her personal best of 5,590. Asigbee earned her "B" qualifying standard after winning the 2003 Big 12 Championship.
Nebraska's Ashley Selig finished as the number one collegian on the women's side, finishing the two days in fourth overall, behind Moran, Asigbee, and Team Idaho's Tracye Lawyer-Thomas with a score of 5,176 points.
On the men's side, Missouri post-collegian Knut Sommerfeldt finished third with 7,504 points in the decathlon. Sommerfeldt picked up steam with a season-best, near career-best in the javelin with a toss of 210 feet, 5 inches (64.13m), moving him from seventh to third heading into the final event.
Missouri freshman Bjorn Sommerfeldt placed 11th overall, scoring 6,784 points. David Lemen was the overall winner with 7,670 points, setting a new stadium record. The top male collegian was Clemson's Rick Hill; he completed competition with 7,295 points.
Tomorrow, nearly 35 Tigers will compete in Kansas State's Ward Haylett Invitational. The competition will include Big 12 teams, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State's men's team. Also expected to compete will be several of the schools' best post-collegians. Tomorrow also marks the final day that the Tigers can hit qualifying marks to participate in late May's NCAA Regional Championships to be held in Baton Rouge, La.