Walton event draws a crowd
5/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
May 12, 2004
In the next two days at Walton Stadium, you won't be able to swing a cat without hitting one of the best athletes in the country. Fortunately, the cat swing is one of the few feats of strength and athleticism that won't be practiced when some of the nation's best decathletes and heptathletes compete at the Audrey J. Walton Combined Event Carnival.
Created by Missouri track Coach Rick McGuire, the first-year event has attracted three former Olympians and a total of 44 elite college and professional multi-event athletes.
"This one is about eight times better than I ever anticipated," McGuire said. "The competition will be absolutely terrific."
McGuire decided to host the event for several reasons.
For decathletes and heptathletes who have recently completed their college eligibility, there are few opportunities. The world's elite fill up the fields in the events where prize money is offered, leaving the emerging professionals with nowhere to compete. This meet will give some of those young pros - such as former Tigers Michelle Moran and Fiona Asigbee in the heptathlon and Knut Sommerfeldt in the decathlon - a chance to post qualifying marks for this summer's Olympic Trials.
"This meet is kind of my last chance," said Moran, who is serving as an MU graduate assistant while she finishes her masters of business administration. "The fact that it's at home is an advantage for me. I've always done well here. I've done well in May. So it's set up nice."
McGuire also envisioned the meet as a chance for college athletes to take one last crack at qualifying for the NCAA Championships. MU's Bjorn Sommerfeldt falls into that category.
Perhaps most importantly, the event is an opportunity to honor Walton, whose donation of $1.5 million helped build the outdoor track.
"I wanted to do this because I think so much of the event and I think so much of that lady, who has been incredibly encouraging," McGuire said. "I don't mean just putting up money to build the track. The lady cares. She's interested. She calls me a lot. She cares about the kids. She loves to come and meet them."
There will be 20 competitors in the heptathlon and 24 in the decathlon. Among the notable entrants in the event is Central Missouri State Co-Coach Kip Janvrin, who represented the United States at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. On the women's side, Kansas State assistant coaches Sheila Burrell and Austra Skujyte will compete. They represented the USA and Lithuania, respectively, at the 2000 Olympics.
McGuire tried to make the meet attractive to professionals by holding a banquet in their honor tonight and giving away awards and modest prize money. The real attraction, though, is the chance for the pros to establish Olympic Trials qualifying marks.
For Moran, who graduated in 2002, it may be the final opportunity She made the Olympic Trials in 2000, but a fractured back sidelined her for a year and a half. She only completed one heptathlon this year and scored 5,467 points, eight points short of the minimum Trials qualifying mark.
Training for the heptathlon or decathlon is almost a full-time job, and when Moran finishes her MBA in December, she will need a paying job.
"I'm at that point where I feel like I'm getting back to the level where I want to be, but I'm just running out of time basically," Moran said. "I could look ahead at 2008 and say I'd probably have a much better opportunity. I would be at the age where most heptathletes are at their prime, but it's the whole balancing of what's important and making a living."
