March 6, 2006
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COLUMBIA, Mo.--The NCAA Track and Field Committee announced late Monday the accepted competition field for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, held this Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11, in Fayetteville, Ark. Among with the 284 men and 284 women accepted into the meet, five Missouri Tigers will be among those vying for national titles. The Tigers accepted into the meet include Ashley Patten (women's 800), Marcus Mayes (men's 800), Chris Rohr (men's weight throw), Hans Uldal (men's heptathlon), and Bjorn Sommerfeldt (men's heptathlon).
Ashley Patten (Senior, Clarkston, Mich., women's 800-meter run)
Senior Ashley Patten  |
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Patten will make her third-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Indoor after running an automatic-qualifying time of 2:04.73 at the Iowa State Classic in mid-February ... in both of the last two years she has earned All-America honors, placing eighth both years ... at this season's Big 12 Indoor Championships, Patten won her third-consecutive indoor conference crown and her fourth overall, by winning the 1000 meter by nearly three seconds ... Patten was also a 2005 USATF Outdoor qualifier and as 2003 USATF Junior National Champion, qualified as a member of Team USA for the Pan-America Junior Games ... Patten is a three-time overall All-American and a nine-time All-Big 12 performer ... since the 2003 outdoor season, Patten has won 19 individual races in distances from 600 yards to 1000 meters.
Patten runs a methodical race, one where she only leads when she crosses the tape ... in several instances, Patten runs third or fourth before making her final moves on the backstretch and closing turn ... one such race came at the 2005 Big 12 Outdoor Championships: with 400 meters remaining, Patten was in second as a fast pace, set by Kansas State's Lysaira Roman-Del Valle with an opening lap of 58 seconds, kept the Tiger and the pack two seconds behind ... as the Wildcat started to fade in the final 50 meters, Patten kicked on the jets, to take the title by 62 hundredths of a second.
Indoor All-Time List at Missouri
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2:03.95 |
Ashley Wysong |
Mar 11, 2000 |
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2:04.73 |
Feb 11, 2006 | |
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2:06.82 |
Mar 5, 1994 | |
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2:07.36 |
Mar 4, 2006 | |
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2:08.37 |
Feb 10, 2001 |
Time Schedule
Women's 800-meter Run
Prelims - Friday, March 10, 4:45 pm
Finals - Saturday, March 11, 6:45 pm
Marcus Mayes (Junior, Sand Springs, Okla., men's 800-meter run)
Junior Marcus Mayes |
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Mayes will be traveling to his first NCAA Championship as an individual, after winning All-America honors in 2005 with the distance medley relay ... Mayes qualified as an at-large candidate after running a new personal-best time of 1:48.72 two days ago at the Cyclone National Qualifier ... Mayes, now a seven-time All-Big 12 performer, placed third at the Big 12 Indoor in the men's 800 this season ... Mayes was one of four current or former Tigers that qualified for the 2005 USATF Outdoor Championships in the event ... Mayes was second at the 2004 USATF Junior Nationals in the event and was part of Team USA at that year's World Junior Championships.
Mayes also falls into the line of classic Missouri half-milers, stalking in the back and waiting for the right moment to make a move ... his technique is smooth and his ability to get an effective kick towards the finish has improved through his three years as a Tiger as his strength continues to improve.
Indoor All-Time List at Missouri
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1:45.88 |
Derrick Peterson |
Mar 6, 1999 |
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1:48.23 |
Timothy Dunne |
Mar 1, 2002 |
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1:48.39 |
Mar 5, 2005 |
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1:48.62 |
Stewart Kimball |
Mar 1, 2002 |
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1:48.72 |
Mar 4, 2006 |
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1:48.73 |
Jared Wilmes |
Mar 6, 1993 |
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Time Schedule
Men's 800-meter Run
Prelims - Friday, March 10, 4:30 pm
Finals - Saturday, March 11, 6:35 pm
Chris Rohr (Redshirt Freshman, Lee's Summit, Mo., men's weight throw)
Freshman Chris Rohr |
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A pleasant surprise for the Tiger squad will be the entry of redshirt freshman Chris Rohr in the men's weight throw ... Rohr came into last weekend looking from the outside when it came to NCAA qualification, but when it came to down to the final throw of his season - he made it worthwhile, marking 68-10½ (20.99m) two days ago in Ames ... Rohr will make his first trip to an NCAA Championship ... Rohr's specialty before coming to Mizzou was the with the discus, as he was named as a High School All-American by Track & Field News and USA Today in that event, having the second-longest throw in America in 2004.
Rohr has made huge strides in his performances as the season has progressed with the 35-lb. steel ball ... in his first official collegiate competition, Rohr marked 58-1¼ (17.71m) at the Missouri Invitational on January 13th, and it's mainly only been up from there ... at the Wildcat Invite on January 27, Rohr cracked the 60 foot mark for the first time, throwing 60-8½ (18.50m) ... the real breakthrough of the season came at the Meyo Invite at Notre Dame on February 3rd when Rohr hit 65-5 (19.94m), winning in an intense competition between his teammates and also breaking Christian Cantwell's freshman record in the event ... since, Rohr has steadily hit around 65 feet on multiple occasions ... at the Big 12 Indoor, Rohr placed fourth in throwing 67-½ before hitting his 68-10½ this past weekend in Ames ... Rohr has a good personality while throwing, laughing whenever he knows he made a minor mistake that can be fixed easily and celebrating loudly whenever he gets the throw he wants ... Rohr is most definitely part of the youth movement when it comes to the Tiger throwing contingent, five Tiger underclassmen hit NCAA-provisional marks in the event this season, all landing over 64 feet, making the weight throw at Missouri an event to watch for years and years.
Indoor All-Time List at Missouri
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22.04m^ |
72-3¾ |
Jan 26, 2002 | |
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21.72m^ |
Russ Bell |
71-3¼ |
Mar 9, 2002 |
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21.60m^ |
Micah Shanks |
70-10½ |
Feb 8, 2002 |
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20.99m |
68-10½ |
Mar 4, 2006 | |
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20.10m |
65-11½ |
Mar 4, 2006 | |
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19.88m |
65-2¾ |
Feb 17, 2006 | |
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19.82m |
65-½ |
Feb 24, 2006 | |
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19.57m |
64-2½ |
Mar 4, 2006 |
Time Schedule
Finals - Saturday, March 11, 2:00 pm (held in Walker Pavilion - Arkansas' indoor football facility, north of the Tyson Center about ¾ mile)
Hans Uldal (Redshirt Junior, Arendal, Norway, men's heptathlon)
Junior Hans Uldal |
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Uldal will make his second-consecutive appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships and his fifth overall appearance at an NCAA meet after scoring a school-record 5,639 in his silver-medal performance at the Big 12 Indoor two weeks ago ... Uldal, already a three-time All-American, finished third at the NCAA Outdoor in the decathlon in 2005 ... Uldal was chosen by his home country, Norway, for the 2004 Olympic Games after solid performances in that season ... Uldal also won a Big 12 Championship with his performance at last season's Big 12 Outdoor and is a five-time Big 12 scorer ... Uldal's best events tend to be the more explosive events with the shot put, 60-meter dash, long jump, and 60-meter hurdles being big point gainers ... Uldal continues to improve in the pole vault event and has steadily cleared 15-6 or better on several occasions.
Last year, Uldal placed sixth at the NCAA Indoor in the heptathlon, scoring 5,546 points ...
Uldal is a true athlete and competitor, emotional when it's valid and humble when it's necessary, he has been able to steady his performances and gain PRs in three to four events in each go-round ... Uldal is a friendly guy, but finds his "Eye of the Tiger" attitude when all the chips are on the table ... one story that will live with this team forever is his performance at the 2004 NCAA Outdoor in Austin, Texas: after two, long, sweltering days, Uldal was in sixth position with the 1500m remaining ... going for a possible fifth-place finish, a strong-scoring bid for the Olympics and a school record, Uldal put everything into his metric-mile run, but he was running on fumes and that became apparent in his run in the final homestretch ... with 50 meters to go, Hans collapsed to the track, but with all his dreams in sight and a scoring chance for the team closing, he found the strength to hobble to his feet, fall again, get back up again, and cross the finish line by dragging his body ... he still finished the meet fifth by the narrowest of margins, but without a heart of gold, all he would have been left with was an excellent nine-event score.
Bjorn Sommerfeldt (Junior, Krokstadelva, Norway, men's heptathlon)
Junior Bjorn Sommerfeldt |
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Joining Uldal will be teammate and countryman Bjorn Sommerfeldt who will make his first NCAA Indoor Championship appearance and his second overall after placing 13th at last season's NCAA Outdoor in the decathlon ... Sommerfeldt, now a four-time All-Big 12 performer, posted a personal-best score of 5,417 at the Big 12 Indoor two weeks ago, claiming bronze ... Sommerfeldt is also a great competitor in the same event s as Uldal, the 60-meter hurdles, shot put, to name a few ... Sommerfeldt has also improved nicely in the past and is become a force in a dominate Big 12 scene.
Sommerfeldt on the surface would look to have a care-free attitude, but that's not the case ... also a competitor who knows how to get the most out of his performance, Sommerfeldt knows also how to take each performance in stride and know how to move on when things are going just right ... Sommerfeldt, a little more tall and slender than Uldal, has been a dedicated and trusty Tiger, reporting to duty whenever it calls.
Indoor All-Time At Missouri
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5,639 |
Feb 25, 2006 | |
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5,636 |
Knut Sommerfeldt |
Mar 1, 2003 |
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5,417 |
Feb 25, 2006 | |
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5,395 |
Feb 26, 2000 | |
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5,295 |
Feb 26, 2005 |
Time Schedule
Day One - Friday, starting at 9:00 am: 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump
Day Two -Saturday, starting at 11:00 am: 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1,000 meters.