Missouri Track & Field, News & Notes
8/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Aug. 30, 2005
With late-August marking the beginning of football and volleyball seasons, current and former members of the Missouri Track and Field team are just now wrapping-up their seasons after eight full months of competition. U.S. shot put champion Christian Cantwell has won at two beneficial European meets in the past two weeks and still has his season's finale to come.
Cantwell's Fourth European Excursion of the Season Yields Two More Wins
All-in-all it has been a fairly successful European summer for Tiger post-collegian Christian Cantwell (Eldon, Mo.). Shortly after winning the U.S. Championship in the men's shot put, Cantwell in July scored first-place finishes in IAAF Grand Prix meets in England and Spain. Cantwell followed with a fifth-place showing in the IAAF World Championships earlier this month in Helsinki, Finland. With a current fourth-place IAAF World Ranking, Cantwell has been one of the most solid shot putters on Earth in 2005.
Cantwell threw for 68-5¾ (20.87m) in the World Championship finals that were pestered by a light rain. Cantwell entered the finals as the favorite, throwing the field's best 69-3¼ (21.11m) on his first (and the only one needed) throw of qualifying round held earlier that morning. Fellow American Adam Nelson won his first World Championship gold, capturing the title with a season-best mark of 71-3½ (21.73m). Nelson secures an automatic birth into the next IAAF World Championships to be held in Osaka, Japan in 2007.
After arriving back from Finland, Cantwell quickly returned to Europe, winning a meet in Tallinn, Estonia on August 17 with a throw of 69-10¾ (21.30m). Last Tuesday, August 23rd, Cantwell won his sixth-of-eight meets, capturing another IAAF Grand Prix meet win in Linz, Austria with a hurl of 69-1¼ (21.06m).
Cantwell will next set his sites on Berlin, Germany, where the seven-time All-American will take on the field at the finale of the IAAF Golden League tour. Live coverage of this event can be found on wcsn.com for a small fee.
Soon after his stop in Germany, Cantwell will travel to the capital city of Monaco for the finale of finales, the 3rd IAAF World Athletics Final to be held September 9-10. In 2003, the last time this meet was held, Cantwell opened the eyes of the international track and field world, winning in commanding style. This year's crown is definitely up-for-grabs as the meet is only open to competitors in the top eight of the IAAF World Rankings, truly an elite club.
Asigbee Competes in the Netherlands
Another post-collegian Tiger, Fiona Asigbee just completed her season with a heavily-fielded international heptathlon competition. The 2003 Big 12 Champion and 2005 U.S. Bronze-medalist placed fourth overall in the competition that featured 18 athletes from Germany, the Ukraine, Greece, Finland, Canada, and others. Asigbee scored 5,617 points, helped by a personal best in the javelin.
Uldal & Sommerfeldt Do Well in Home Countries' Open Championships
Now we can officially call the Missouri Track & Field season complete. Nearly a month after winning Norway's decathlon title and setting a new school record, junior Hans Uldal and fellow Norwegian sophomore Bjorn Sommerfeldt competed in their country's open-event championships in Bergen from August 19-21. Uldal finished second in the pole vault, flying to 15-5 (4.70m) and third in the long jump with a leap of 23-10¾ (7.28m). Sommerfeldt set a new season best in the 110-meter hurdles, clocking 15.26 for a sixth-place finish. Sommerfeldt was also seventh in the long jump, leaping 22-5¼ (6.84m)
For more on Missouri Track & Field, visit mutigers.com.
