May 27, 2006
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--The University of Missouri track and field squad completed competition Saturday at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. In the four years of the regional system, the Tigers have not had a better overall finish than what was produced this weekend. A total of eight Tigers earned automatic qualification into the NCAA Championships with many more in contention for at-large births, all of which spurred huge scoring for the Mizzou team total and prompted a top-five finish for the Tiger men. In addition, senior Ashley Patten won the regional title in the women's 800, clocking 2:05.67.
The Tiger men finished the team competition in fifth place, scoring 36 points. Before, the Mizzou men had not cracked the top-10, and this year, the Tigers improved from a 17th-place finish a year ago. LSU won on the men's side for the first time in their history, scoring 71 points. Host school Tennessee was second at 52¼, Arkansas was third at 41, and Louisville was fourth at 38.
The Tiger women finished ninth in the region with 23 points, tying the team's all-time best finish and points scored. LSU also took the women's team title for the third time in four years, scoring 95½.
In 2003, Missouri had six finish in the top five and qualify automatically at the regional meet in Columbus, Ohio, with four women and two men. This year, Mizzou bested the previous school record, qualifying eight automatically with top five finishes, including five men and three women.
Ashley Patten (Clarkston, Mich.) had to work hard to win her first regional title. Having poor position through the first 550 meters, Patten found herself in last of an eight-person field. At that point, Patten thought about what happened to teammate Neville Miller.
Miller, a senior from St. Louis, was ran over and tangled up with a runner on the homestretch during his preliminary heat of the men's 800-meter last night as he was making a charge for the finish. Although Miller got up and finished the race, his time was 22nd overall, and the Tiger in the top 10 in the nation was out of at-large consideration (needed a top-12 finish) for the NCAA meet. Missouri promptly filed a protest and won, putting Miller in the 800 final by way of referee's decision. However, near the end of day one, Central Michigan filed an appeal, claiming their runner who was involved in the collision was also prevented from fairly qualifying. That appeal prompted the games committee to talk to officials on the track. The officials said there was no clear view of the collision from their standpoint, prompting Miller's entry into the final to be overturned. After a day of discussion, Miller was still left out of the regional final and out of the NCAA Championships.
"I was just thinking about my teammate," said Patten "This race was for him. I thought to myself at that point in the race, `What would it be like to miss your last opportunity to qualify for the NCAA meet when everything is in your control?' It hit me before my race that he went out in the prelim, and I'm lucky to have this opportunity. I just had to be patient."
Patten saw a chance, looking and nearly stopping before veering to the right, she overtook the other seven runners that were tightly bunched and using two-and-a-half lanes. By the final turn Patten was in third and closing on the bunch that included national-leader Geena Gall of Michigan.
"This was a great field," continued Patten. "Geena is young and talented, and this is how I wanted to finish this part of my collegiate career. I'm ready for nationals. I've got two good weeks of training ahead. I've set my goals high, and I want to place as high as I can. I hope the best is yet to come."
The men's race in itself was one for the ages. Junior Marcus Mayes (Sand Springs, Okla.) was part of a tightly-packed, eight-man field that barely separated wire-to-wire. Mayes took the lead out, and led at the bell at 53.0. On the backstretch, Mayes was passed by three runners. Down the backstretch Mayes, was able to pass on the inside two runner to catch a second-place spot in the blanket finish. The top five positions were separated by less than three-tenths of a second. Mayes clocked a 1:49.02.
In the men's shot put sophomore Nate Englin (Shoreview, Minn.) lived up to his No. 2 regional-seed, by finishing in second place with a best of 60 feet, 5¼ inches (18.42m), qualifying automatically for his first NCAA Championships. Senior Bill Hobson (Katy, Texas) entered competition as the 11th seed, but was able to survive from the second of three flights, qualifying for the final, and on his last throw, an outdoor personal best of 58-3¼ (17.76m), he jumped from seventh to fourth, earning his first trip to the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Chris Rohr (Lee's Summit, Mo.) scored for the team as well, adding a seventh-place finish, throwing 57-2 (17.42m).
Senior Amanda Bales qualified for the NCAA Championships by placing fourth in the women's 1500-meter run, clocking a season best 4:19.45. Sophomore Kasey Kimball and junior Kristen Hansen, running in their first regional final, placed ninth and 11th in the race, respectively.
Junior Jamie Wynn placed 10th in the women's discus, throwing 156-2.
The NCAA Track & Field Championships will be held June 7-10, in Sacramento, Calif. For the first time since 1982, portions of the meet will be broadcast live, and Saturday will be on broadcast television. On Friday, June 9, portions of the meet will be aired on CSTV. On Saturday, June 10, the finals of most running events and the conclusion of the meet will be aired on CBS. More details will follow in the coming days, along with on Tuesday the complete accepted field into the NCAA Championships.
Next year, Missouri will be the host of the NCAA Mideast Regional at Audrey J. Walton Track Stadium in Columbia.
Missouri Automatic Qualifiers to NCAA Championships (all weekend)
WOMEN
800m - Ashley Patten (Sr.)
1500m - Amanda Bales (Sr.)
5000m - Serena Ramsey (Sr.)
MEN
800m - Marcus Mayes (Jr.)
SP - Nate Englin (So.), Bill Hobson (Sr.)
HT - Jason Morris (So.), Bobby Musil (Jr.)
Missouri Results (Saturday)
WOMEN
800-meter Run
1st*, Ashley Patten (Sr.), 2:05.67
1500-meter Run
4th*, Amanda Bales (Sr.), 4:19.45, season-best
9th^, Kasey Kimball (So.), 4:28.73
11th^, Kristin Hansen (Jr.), 4:30.68
Discus
10th^, Jamie Wynn (Jr.), 47.61m, 156-2
MEN
800-meter Run
2nd*, Marcus Mayes (Jr.), 1:49.02
3000-meter Steeplechase
xxx
Shot Put
2nd*, Nate Englin (So.), 18.42m, 60-5¼
4th*, Bill Hobson (Jr.), 17.76m, 58-3¼, outdoor personal best
7th^, Chris Rohr (So.), 17.42m, 57-2
---, Adam Burla (Sr.), foul
* automatically qualify for NCAA Championships
^ earned at-large selection consideration
TEAM SCORES
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================================================================================ Men - Team Rankings - 19 Events Scored ================================================================================ 1) LSU 71 2) Tennessee 52.25 3) Arkansas 41 4) Louisville 38 5) Missouri 36 6) Indiana 34 7) Kentucky 33 8) Middle Tennessee State 29 9) Akron 28.50 10) Southeastern Louisiana 25 11) Wisconsin 24.75 12) Alabama 23 13) South Alabama 20 14) Mississippi 18 15) Eastern Michigan 17.50 16) Jackson State 17 17) Michigan State 15.75 18) Kent State 15 18) Illinois 15 20) Southern Illinois 13 20) Auburn 13 20) Southeast Missouri State 13 23) Michigan 12.50 24) Indiana State 12 25) McNeese State 11 25) Central Michigan 11 27) Notre Dame 10.50 28) Ohio State 10 28) Ohio 10 28) Louisiana Tech 10 28) Mississippi State 10 32) Cincinnati 9 33) Alabama State 5.50 34) Missouri State 5 34) Northwestern State 5 36) East Tennessee State 3 36) Illinois State 3 36) Eastern Illinois 3 36) Troy 3 40) Butler 2 40) Grambling State 2 40) Tennessee State 2 40) Memphis 2 44) Southern 1 44) Miami-Ohio 1 46) Arkansas State 0.75================================================================================ Women - Team Rankings - 19 Events Scored ================================================================================ 1) LSU 95.50 2) Auburn 77 3) Tennessee 64 4) Alabama 59 5) Michigan 36 6) Southern Illinois 35 7) Illinois 32 8) Purdue 26.50 9) Missouri 23 10) Arkansas 22 11) Mississippi 19.50 12) Notre Dame 19 13) Akron 17 13) Toledo 17 15) Western Illinois 16 16) Ohio State 14 16) Southern Mississippi 14 18) Kentucky 13 19) Southern 11 20) Eastern Michigan 10 20) Miami-Ohio 10 20) Marquette 10 23) Louisville 9 23) Louisiana Tech 9 25) Tennessee-Chattanooga 8 25) Michigan State 8 27) Indiana 7 27) McNeese State 7 29) Wisconsin 6.50 30) South Alabama 6 31) Central Michigan 5 31) Kent State 5 31) Northwestern State 5 34) Memphis 4 34) Western Michigan 4 36) Alabama-Birmingham 3 36) Southeast Missouri State 3 36) Tulane 3 39) Nicholls State 2 39) Illinois State 2 41) Mississippi State 1 41) Jackson State 1