July 15, 2004
Missouri senior Janae Strickland and former Tiger Ray Hughes participated Thursday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Strickland finished 15th in the women's shot put, and Hughes took ninth in the men's steeplechase final.
Senior Janae Strickland (Houston, Texas) wrapped up her collegiate career with an appearance in the U.S. Olympic Trials in the preliminary round of the women's shot put. Her best throw of the day of 50 feet, ? inch (15.25m) gave her a 15th place finish. The top 12 in today's preliminaries advance to the tomorrow's final.
Strickland ends her career as the Missouri school record holder for both the indoor and outdoor shot put events. Strickland is a two-time All-American and scored for the Tigers at this year's NCAA Championships in Austin when she placed eighth. Strickland was also this year's NCAA Mideast Region Champion, breaking the region record in the process. Her best conference performance also came this year when she threw for her current school record of 55 feet, 6? inches (16.92m) at the Big 12 Conference Championships, finishing second.
Ray Hughes (Leasburg, Mo.) finished in ninth place in the men's steeplechase with a season-best time of 8:28.64. Hughes graduated from Missouri in 1998. The winner, Nike's Daniel Lincoln, timed in at 8:15.02, the best time by an American this year.
Current and former Tigers have now finished their runs in the U.S. Olympic Trials which will continue until Sunday. Today also marks the official end of the Tigers' collegiate track and field season. Meets over the next few months will include Tiger post-collegians Derrick Peterson and Christian Cantwell. Peterson will start running in meets in Europe in the next two weeks, and will run in the Olympic Games, starting August 25th.
Keep tuned to mutigers.com for news and notes from all Tiger current and former athletes. Cross country season begins September 11th with the Missouri Cross Country Challenge.
Mayes at World Juniors
Freshman Marcus Mayes (Sand Springs, Okla.) competed Tuesday in the IAAF World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy. Mayes finished his heat of the 800-meter run in 1:53.18, placing sixth in the race. Mayes' season included an appearance in the NCAA Mideast Regional and a sixth-place finish at the Indoor Big 12 Championships.