June 1, 2005

COLUMBIA, Mo. -

NCAA Track & Field Committee announced late Tuesday the accepted entries into next week's NCAA Championships to be held in Sacramento, Calif. Nine Tigers were named to the field, matching last year's total in which four from Missouri were named to the All-American team. The meet begins next Wednesday and will last until next Sunday.

 

The Tigers Going to the NCAA Championships

Hans Uldal (Jr., Ardenal, Norway) - Men's Decathlon

Big 12 Decathlon Champion with school-record score of 7,740 points ... comes in ranked 4^th in the NCAA ... Two-Time All-American, 5^th-place NCAA Outdoor finish in 2004 ... 2004 Olympian with home country of Norway ... 6^th-place at the 2005 NCAA Indoor in the heptathlon ... strongest events: javelin, long jump, shot put, discus

 

Bjorn Sommerfeldt (So., Krosteldelva, Norway) - Men's Decathlon

Third at Big 12 Outdoor in decathlon ... personal best: 7,336, 2005 Walton Combined Events, ranked 14^th in NCAA ... 4^th at Big 12 Indoor in the heptathlon ... brother Knut won three Big 12 Championships at Missouri

 

Conrad Woolsey (Sr., Excelsior Springs, Mo. [Kansas City]) - Men's Shot Put

Big 12 Indoor Champion with winning toss on final throw ... placed third at Big 12 Outdoor with PR of 63-8¼ (19.41m) ... three-time D-I All-American, placed 8^th at 2005 NCAA Indoor, 7^th at '04 NCAA Outdoor ... 5^th at '05 NCAA Regional, ranked 10^th in the NCAA ... 2004 Olympic Trials Qualifier ... NCAA Division II Champion with Northwest Missouri State in 2002

 

Tipper O'Brien (So., Kirkwood, Mo. [St. Louis]) - Men's 1500m

Tough competitor that keeps surprising fields that he faces ... Big 12 Athlete of the Week (May 11, 2005), running best 1500-meter race at Missouri in 31 years with 3:44.14 clocking at the Billy Hayes Classic ... sixth in NCAA Regional race, coming from behind to place in both the finals and for an automatic spot in the preliminaries ... Big 12 Champion with lead-off leg of winning distance medley relay at Big 12 Indoor ...  7^th at 1000 meters at Big 12 Indoor

 

Ashley Patten (Jr., Clarkston, Mich.) - Women's 800m

Big 12 Champion running personal-best time of 2:04.04, ranked 3^rd in the NCAA ... overall three-time Big 12 Champion, winning indoor 1000-meter race in '05, 800-meter race indoors in '04 ... two-time All-American placing eighth at both 2004 and 2005 NCAA Indoors ... six-time Big 12 scorer ... 2003 USA Junior National Champion

 

Amanda Bales (Jr., Bettendorf, Iowa) - Women's 1500m

Two-time Big 12 Champion running anchor 1600-meter leg with winning '04 and '05 distance medley relay teams ... 2^nd place at 1500m at Big 12 Outdoor running PR of 4:18.79, ranked 10^th in the NCAA ... 2^nd at NCAA Regional ... 3^rd in the Mile at Big 12 Indoor ... 2003 NCAA Cross Country All-American ... 13-time All-Big 12 performer

 

Valerie Lauver (Jr., Allen, Texas) - Women's 10,000m

Broke 22-year old school record in the 10k by 48 seconds at the Stanford Invitational with a time of 34:07.04, automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships, enters as 25^th seed ... 4^th at Big 12 Outdoor in 10k, 8^th in 5k ... seven-time Big 12 scorer ... three-time cross country all-region ... two-time cross country Big 12 runner of the week

 

Jennifer Bennett (Sr., Ashland, Mo.) - Women's Pole Vault

School record holder in both indoor and outdoor pole vault ... recovered from a back injury that left her sidelined for a year ... 5^th at NCAA Regional ... 2003 Big 12 Champion ... 2003 indoor All-American ... 5^th at Big 12 Outdoor, six-time Big 12 scorer.

 

Melanie Uher (So., Wilber, Neb.) - Women's Discus

Broke school record while placing eighth at NCAA Regional with throw of 166-7 (50.77m) ... enters at 25^th seed into NCAA Championships ... sixth at Big 12 Outdoor, fifth at 2004 Big 12 Outdoor ... Track & Field News High School All-American in 2003