June 26, 2005
CARSON, Calif. - University of Missouri post-collegian Christian Cantwell won his first outdoor U.S. Championship on Sunday, leading the field in the entire competition in the VISATM Men's Shot Put. Another former Tiger, Fiona Asigbee finished third overall in the women's heptathlon, adding 160 points to her personal best. Cantwell will advance to the IAAF World Championships to be held in Helsinki, Finland, in mid-August.
Cantwell (Eldon, Mo.), coached by Missouri Associate Head Coach Brett Halter, won the meet with his best throw of 71-0 (21.63m). Cantwell, going against five of the top 10 in the world, came out of the gate early, hitting 68-10 (20.98m) on his first throw to take the early lead in the first flight. Cantwell improved again on his second throw, going 70-5 (21.46m). His third was the best of the day, and Cantwell entered the finals in the lead.
Cantwell's mark held up through the finals, only Adam Nelson challenged the 2004 IAAF World Champions' mark, coming within five inches of the lead with a throw of 70-7¼ (21.52m) on his fifth throw.
"It's great to win," said Cantwell. "In a perfect world, I would have thrown farther and added to my best. I've felt real good in the last weeks of training and I'm ready to put up a big throw sometime in the next months. Obviously, this a better result than what I had last year in the Olympic Trials, it feels good to come out on top today. Our team [Cantwell, Nelson, and John Godina] will be ready to be on top in Helsinki."
Cantwell established himself on the world scene in 2004 by having four of the longest throws in the world and winning the World Indoor Championship. Track & Field News ranked Cantwell No. 1 in the World to end 2004, despite missing the Olympic Games. Cantwell will continue his season before Helsinki with a European tour of meets.
Fiona Asigbee (Walford, Iowa) earned a third-place showing in the women's heptathlon. Asigbee started the day in third place with a 3,652-point day-one total. In the long jump, the first event of the day, Asigbee leaped to 19-11¼ (6.09m), a three-inch personal best and coming so close to topping 20 feet for the first time in her career. In the javelin, Asigbee recorded her fourth personal-best of the six events, throwing the spear, 122-10 (37.45m).
Asigbee, coached by Missouri Head Coach, Dr. Rick McGuire, slipped to fourth after the javelin, as Tracye Lawyer-Thomas threw 148-7 (45.29m), to take a 135-point advantage over Asigbee to third. Entering the 800, Asigbee stood fourth with 5,147 and had to finish more than 10 seconds faster than Lawyer-Thomas to take over the third spot. Asigbee ran a 2:18.29 to Lawyer-Thomas' 2:35.30.
Asigbee finished with 5,994 points.
"I'm pretty pleased by what I was able to accomplish in these two days," said Asigbee. "I did want to run a little faster in the track events and make the standard [World `A' Standard], but I'm still happy."
Asigbee needs to hit the 6,100-point mark to earn a World Championship `A' Standard mark in order for USA Track & Field to enter her in the field in Helsinki.
"I don't know if I'm going to compete in another heptathlon before August; I definitely need to take a break and get some much needed rest."
Last year, Asigbee placed 11th in the Olympic Trials and had a personal-best score of around 5,500 points. In a year, Asigbee has added an astonishing 400 points to her overall-best score and has put herself in elite heptathlon status.
"I'm real pleased hpw the season went this year," Asigbee added. "I used to consider myself just a sprinter and a jumper, now I feel like a hep [a heptathlon competitor]."
Asigbee, at 23-years-old, is still young for her event.
"This year has really been encouraging to what I can do in this event," Asigbee continued. "We'll see how things go in the next months and see where I'm at in September."
Another big event for the former Tigers was the HersheyTM Men's 800-meter run where post-collegians Timothy Dunne and Derrick Peterson, coached by Tiger Assistant Coach Jared Wilmes, were to run. Peterson placed fourth with a time of 1:47.30, surging from the back of the pack in the final 75 meters to make the finish very close between him and Florida A&M's Kevin Hicks. Dunne ran a 1:52.78, placing in ninth.
Senior Conrad Woolsey also threw in the VISATM Men's Shot Put, however, Woolsey did not record a mark in his three throws.
The Missouri Track & Field season isn't exactly complete yet. Freshman Nate Englin qualified for the Pan-America Junior Games in the men's junior shot put on Thursday and will travel to Canada in late-July for that event.
For complete results from a long four days in California, visit usatf.org.