Missouri
Audrey J. Walton Combined Event Carnival
Skuyte, Olkowski Lead After Day One Of Walton Combined Event
5/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
May 13, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Intermittent rain showers may have damped the track at the Audrey J. Walton Stadium on Thursday, but it didn't dampen the performances of many combined event athletes at the first annual Audrey Walton Combined Event Carnival. Austra Shujyte, an Olympian in 2000 for Lithuania, leads the women's heptathlon by 102 points. On the men's side, Ryan Olkowski leads the decathlon by over 200 points.
Tiger post-collegians Fiona Asigbee and Michelle Moran are in fourth and fifth place, respectively, after the first day of the women's heptathlon. Asigbee racked up 3,344 points; Moran scored 3,314. Moran completed the day on high note, as she hit a personal-best in the 200-meters, clocking in at 25.07.
Missouri post-collegian Knut Sommerfeldt is in eighth place after day one, finishing his first day with 3,746 points. Brother, Bjorn Sommerfeldt, a Missouri freshman, took 3,520 points from day one, placing 16th.
The leading collegian on the men's side is Rick Hill of Clemson. Overall, Hill is in third place, catapulting from 10th into his current spot after running a 49.70 in the 400-meters, the day's final event. However, only 100 points separate third through tenth place heading into day two.
Austra Shujyte leads competition in the women's heptathlon. Her Nike teammate, Sheila Burrell trails in second with 3,532 points versus Shujyte's 3,634. Gardner-Webb's Tara Stephenson is the leading collegians on the women's side, scoring a personal-best day one total of 3,225 points.
Competition will begin tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., with the decathlon 110-meter hurdles. The heptathlon starts at 1:00 p.m., with the long jump. For complete results and live results tomorrow, visit mutigers.com.
On Saturday, 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. A better preview of the meet will appear later this week. Saturday 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.
