March 12, 2005

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Missouri Track & Field team ended the final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday. The Tigers gained three, All-America worthy, top eight performances on day two to make a total of seven national awards handed out to Missouri student-athletes on the weekend. Sophomore Hans Uldal placed sixth in the men's heptathlon with a personal best score, completed with a school record time in the 60-meter hurdles.

Uldal (Ardenal, Norway) earned his second All-America honor all-time by placing sixth in the men's heptathlon with a personal best score of 5,546 points. Uldal would reach his score by tying a school record in the first event of the day - the 60-meter hurdles - with a time of 8.27 (Knut Sommerfeldt). He would then go on to clear the bar at 14 feet, 9 inches (4.50m) in the pole vault before running for a season best in the final event, the 1000-meter (2:47.20). Uldal finished among a top six group that included four from the Big 12 Conference. Auburn's Maurice Smith won the event with 6,004 points on the heels of a seven-inch personal best in the pole vault.

Senior Conrad Woolsey (Excelsior Springs, Mo.) took eighth place in the men's shot put for the second year in a row with a best of 63 feet, ¼ inch (19.21m), coming on his second throw of the competition, and just a centimeter shy of his personal best. Woolsey entered the finals in fourth place, tied, but owning the tiebreaker, with Kansas' Shelton Battle. The collegiate leader entering the meet, Florida State's Garrett Johnson, barely secured the ninth and one-remaining spot in the finals. Johnson then jumped to the lead on his first throw in the finals, bumping Woolsey to fifth. Waiting for the finals to make their move, Purdue's Nedzad Mulabegovic and Auburn's Edis Elkasevic, the eventual winner, topped Woolsey's mark in the late rounds. Woolsey would remain tied with Battle on their best marks - but Battle improved his second best mark on his final throw to swing the tiebreaker.

Woolsey earned his third all-time NCAA Division I All-America honor with his finish. The Big 12 Champion also was a four-time Division II All-American with Northwest Missouri State.

Junior Ashley Patten (Clarkston, Mich.) earned her second All-America award of her career by finishing eighth in the finals of the women's 800-meter in a time of 2:11.90. Aneita Denton of Arkansas won the race in 2:03.65.

The Tiger men completed the meet with five team points; the Missouri women ended the national meet with one point.

A world record was also achieved during the night of the finals. Florida's Kerron Clement broke Michael Johnson's indoor record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 44.57.

ESPN2 will broadcast the meet in a 90-minute tape-delayed segment on Wednesday, March 16th, at 11 a.m., central.

Looking forward to the outdoor season, the Tigers will start in two weeks with split-squad meets with the Stanford and Tulsa Invitationals.

For more information, visit mutigers.com. For complete results, visit ncaasports.org.