April 13, 2005
Walton Combined Event Info - Heat Sheets & Live Results
Tom Botts Invitational Info - Heat Sheets & Live Results
COLUMBIA, Mo.--Starting tomorrow and concluding Friday the Second Annual Audrey Walton Combined Event hosted by Missouri Track & Field will feature 32 competitors from six countries in the men's decathlon, the women's heptathlon, and the first IAAF-ratifiable women's decathlon to held in America. The weekend continues with high-quality track and field with the Ninth Annual Tom Botts Invitational on Friday and Saturday with Kansas, Iowa State, SMS, and Iowa's men as guests. Several All-Americans and top-NCAA performers will be part of the field.
The Walton Meet - The First Women's Dec In America*
The Audrey Walton Combined Event women's decathlon will be the first women's decathlon in the United States to have followed the IAAF-requlated order of events and the first to be subject to ratification by the worldwide track and field federation. While that may seem to be a technical definition of something so simple, it's worth noting that some women have participated in decathlons in America as part of men's competitions and in a stand-alone format. However, those competitions were held under the men's program of events, and not the current IAAF-standard of the women's program which switches the middle three events among the two days.
The correct order of events has the women competing in the 100-meter dash, discus, pole vault, javelin, and the 400-meter dash on the first day. The 100-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, high jump, and the 1500-meter run follow on the second day.
The field for the women's decathlon includes 2004 Olympic heptathlon silver medalist Austra Skujyte from Lithuania, Missouri's Liz Young, and K-State's Breanna Eveland and Lindsay Grigoriev. Without a doubt, the collegiate winner of the women's decathlon will be the first to set the collegiate record in the event.
The Women's Hept and Men's Dec
The field for the women's heptathlon is charged with an outstanding collegiate lineup with two Missouri post-collegians charging the pack. Fiona Asigbee and Michelle Moran will once again be part of the field, both former Big 12 Champions with Missouri and both with top 10 finishes from the 2004 Olympic Trials in the event. Moran's personal-best score of 5,842 from her seventh-place finish in those trials makes her the early favorite. Moran also reset her own Audrey Walton Stadium record in last year's Walton Combined Event with a winning-point total of 5,698. Asigbee placed tenth at last year's Olympic Trials and has a best heptathlon of 5,675 points. Asigbee was the 2003 Big 12 Champion in the event.
The remainder of the women's heptathlon field has 12 collegians in what should be a tight competition. Nebraska's Ashley Selig just won the NCAA Indoor Championship in the women's pentathlon in mid-March and is also coming off a third-place NCAA finish in the heptathlon in 2004. She will be paced by teammate Sara Jane Baker who was ninth at the NCAAs last year. Selig will also be challenged by Lincoln's Nikkisha Maynard, a native of Barbados, who was the NCAA Division II Champ in 2003. Outstanding pentathletes Beyonka McDowell of Arkansas and Tracy Partain of SMS will take on the field in one of their first heptathlons - Partain was ninth in the 2005 NCAA Indoor pentathlon. Charisse Bacchus of Kansas will take place in her first heptathlon in some time. Bacchus won her native country's, Trinidad & Tobago's, national championship in 2003 and is the country's junior record holder.
The men's decathlon feature Tigers Hans Uldal, Bjorn Sommerfeldt, and Brandon Goebbert. Uldal, a junior from Norway, was a 2004 Olympian in the event and recently placed sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the heptathlon. Sommerfeldt and Goebbert placed fourth and fifth, respectively, at the Big 12 Indoor Championships earlier this year in the heptathlon.
A Tom Botts Look
The former Missouri Hall of Fame Coach Tom Botts would have liked this field. Full of youth, chalked full of energy and potential and ready to burst from the seams. The Tigers will host Kansas, Iowa State, SMS, and the Iowa men to what will be a highly-competitive track meet in many events over Friday and Saturday.
The headlining event of the Botts meet may be the men's 800-meter run as the field includes two Olympians, All-Americans and top conference performers. The race, set for Saturday at 2:30, will feature Derrick Peterson and Charlie Gruber. Peterson, a Missouri post-collegian, went to the Olympic Games in this very event, placing third at the '04 Olympic Trials. Gruber, a post-collegian from Kansas, went to the Olympic Games in the 1500-meter run, an event in which he is also entered in this meet. Kansas' Jeremy Mims was an All-American from the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 800-meter and will have Missouri's Marcus Mayes, Rem Moll, Tipper O'Brien, and Jimmie Jones right there beside.
Last Weekend At Oregon - Missouri Women, The Victors
By the narrowest of margins, the women of Missouri Track & Field won the four-team Pepsi Team Invitational on Saturday at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., in front of a crowd of 2,667. Helped by three event championships and several last minute surges, the Tigers edged host Oregon, 171½ to 171, and third-place Washington with 164. The Missouri men tied for third with Indiana, scoring 140½ points. On a cool, partly cloudy day the Tigers produced seven additions to the regional qualifying list for the Tigers as well.
"Obviously this was a great weekend of track and field," said Head Coach, Dr. Rick McGuire. "These are four great schools put together, and we had close competition throughout the day. It's fun to end up on the winning side of the score, especially when we had pretty evenly matched teams. Oregon and Hayward Field are special places for track and field, and it was just great having this weekend for Missouri Track & Field."
The Tiger women produced several gutsy performances, with some competing in multiple events in a short, four-hour meet. Junior Amanda Bales won the women's 3000-meter run as part of a Tiger 1-2 finish with junior Valerie Lauver in 9:33.26 soon after her second-place showing in the 1500-meter run. Bales, already regionally qualified in the 5000 meters, earned a spot as well in the 1500 meters with her time of 4:20.53, which also broke her personal best by four seconds.
Junior Ashley Patten once again showed up big, winning a heavily-contested women's 800-meter race. Her time of 2:06.02, places her as the third fastest collegian in the country at this point in the season and also qualifies her for the regional meet. Freshman Trisa Nickoley placed third with a regional qualifying time of 2:08.05.
A good day for Tiger discus throwers was spurred on by sophomore Melanie Uher who won the women's competition with a personal-best throw of 165 feet, 1 inch (50.33m). The throw places Uher second all-time at Missouri and just seven inches off the school record. Fellow sophomore Bobby Musil won the men's challenge with a toss of 174-7 (53.21m).
Sophomore Marcus Mayes placed second in the men's 800-meter run with a regional qualifying time of 1:50.34. Redshirt sophomore Bill Hobson earned a regional qualifying mark in the men's shot put with a second-place throw of 55-1 (16.79m) - freshman Nate Englin placed third.
Tiger pole vaulters Jennifer Bennett and Lindsey Tait qualified for the regionals in the women's competition. Bennett placed second, clearing the bar at 12-9½; Tait tied for third and cleared 12-5½.
Senior Whittney Stuart was all over the track, scoring key points by placing third in both the 100- and 200-meter dash and leading off the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays. Another senior with a big day was Jason Jones (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge HS), as he placed fifth in the men's 400-meter dash with a time of 48.59.
Live Results
Live results of both meets will be provided on mutigers.com during the meet; however, if that should happen to fail, visit mutigers.com on each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening for complete results.