Tiger Post-Collegians Face Indoor Nationals Ahead In Boston
2/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 22, 2005
COLUMBIA, Mo. - This upcoming weekend four Missouri Track and Field post-collegians will compete in the 2005 USA Track & Field Indoor Championships at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, Mass. Christian Cantwell (men's shot), Derrick Peterson (men's 800m), Timothy Dunne (men's 800m), and Janae Strickland (women's shot) will take on the United States best starting Saturday. The championships also mark the final stop on the four-meet USATF VISA Championship Series tour.
Last year at the USATF Indoor Championships, Cantwell (Eldon, Mo.) won the men's shot put U.S. Championship title with a throw of 69 feet, 9 inches (21.26m) as part of an indoor season sweep that included an IAAF World Indoor Championship title. Peterson placed second in the finals in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:48.67 to advance to the World Indoor meet in Budapest.
Cantwell threw the shot, in his fourth meet of the season, this past Sunday in Athens, Greece, winning with a throw of 66 feet, 7¾ inches (20.31m). Currently, Cantwell is in transit between Greece and Madrid, Spain, where he will throw in another meet Wednesday before returning back to the U.S. for the championship meet and Saturday's shot put event. Cantwell has the fifth-best throw in the world on the season list entering the weekend from his opening meet at the Missouri Invitational in mid-January (21.30m, 69-10¾).
Peterson (Jonesboro, Ga.), 2004 Olympian, is currently America's best non-collegian at 800 meters heading into the championships. His best time of 1:48.05, made at the Iowa State Classic two weekends ago, should give him the nod to be one of the favorites to win. Peterson also holds the U.S. Indoor Championship record with his 1:46.60 winning time from 2002.
Timothy Dunne (Jerome, Idaho) will join Peterson in the men's 800-meter. Dunne, an All-American at Missouri, has a season-best time of 1:49.83 from the Armory Collegiate Invitational, held in New York City earlier this month. Dunne and Peterson will run in the first round on Saturday night, and, if advancing, will run in the finals on Sunday.
Two-time collegiate All-American Janae Strickland (Houston, Texas) will be making her first rounds as a post-collegian in these championships in the women's shot put. Strickland, the 2004 NCAA Mideast Region Champion, set a new indoor personal best at this month's Iowa State Classic with a toss of 55 feet, 2¾ inches (16.83m). Strickland is ranked fifth in America entering the weekend.
The USATF Indoor Championships is also the final stop on the VISA Championship Series Tour. The top two on the men's side in the series are shot putters Adam Nelson and Reese Hoffa. If Cantwell happens to win the gold and throws over 21.66 meters, he will likely be the series' inaugural champion, winning $50,000 and tickets to any major sporting event sponsored by VISA. The only caveat will be if a performer in another event has a performance that would score more on the IAAF Scoring Tables, likely events would include the 400-meter dash and 110-meter hurdles.
The meet will be shown partially live on ESPN on Sunday, February 27th, starting at 2:00 p.m., central. For more information visit, usatf.org.
Tomorrow, look for a preview on the Tiger collegians' weekend up-ahead at the Big 12 Indoor.
