May 9, 2006
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COLUMBIA, Mo.--The Big 12 Track and Field Championships, in Waco, Texas, are next for Missouri. Occurring this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the meet will be one of the most challenging in the nation and Mizzou has many that will be looking for individual titles while trying to drive a significant-Tiger scoring impact on the team race. Some of the events the Tigers will have a heavy-impact on the outcome include the men's decathlon, women's and men's 800-meter runs, and the men's hammer, discus, and shot put events.
The Crazy Conference Decathlon - A Soap Opera in the Making
So far the NCAA-descending order list has members of the Big 12 Conference in the one, two, and three positions of the men's decathlon. Not too surprising, considering two from the conference has scored above 8,000 points this year, plus contains a two-time NCAA Indoor heptathlon champion. No matter how you slice it, the trio owns three of the best six marks in the world at this point in the season, an elite group for sure. It could be a crazy two days in Waco.
Tiger Hans Uldal, a 2004 Olympian for Norway, stands second in the Big 12 and in the nation with 8,018 points which he set to break his own school record by over 250 points at the Walton Combined Events in mid-April. Last year, Uldal was third in NCAA decathlon event in Sacramento. Uldal is also the defending champion of the event, winning last year with 7,740 points, which was then a school record. Between Uldal and former Tiger Knut Sommerfeldt, Mizzou has taken four-of-the-last-five Big 12 Decathlon titles.
Then there is Texas' Trey Hardee. At the Texas Relays in early-April, Hardee scored 8,435 points to set a new collegiate record and is the NCAA's defending national champion in the event. One title that has still eluded Hardee is a Big 12 crown. In the 2005 Big 12 Outdoor Championships, Hardee was sailing with a big lead until a groin pull sidelined the Longhorn, opening the door for Uldal. For the 2006 indoor conference championships, Hardee competed in only individual events, opting for more possible points, a strategy that could be used again as Hardee is in the top 10 of several individual events.
Texas junior Donovan Kilmartin will have some say in the outcome as well. Kilmartin scored a personal-best 7,897 at those same Texas Relays this season, and comes into the meet ranked third in the conference and nation. Kilmartin is coming off his second NCAA Indoor Heptathlon title and his second Big 12 heptathlon title. Kilmartin finished second to Uldal in last year's Big 12 outdoor meet with 7,472 points.
Tiger junior Bjorn Sommerfeldt placed third in last year's conference meet with 7,262 points. Looking for a better NCAA-qualifying mark, Sommerfeldt is primed for a good meet as well.
Patten Looking For No. 5
Mizzou senior Ashley Patten won her fourth Big 12 title during the indoor season with the 1000-meter run, and looks for a possible No. 5 this weekend in the women's 800-meter run (probably entered in this one). Patten is the defending champion in the event after a come-from-behind victory in 2005 championships. Patten ran a personal-best 2:04.04 to take the crown from K-State's Lysaira Roman-Del Valle after a homestretch run that will down in the record books as one of the best in conference history.
Patten is expected to have some tough competition from K-State sophomore Morgan Bonds and Texas soph Temeka Kincy.
Tiger sophomore Trisa Nickoley, the conference's 2005 indoor 800-meter champ and freshman of the year, ranks fourth in the conference with a 2:07.39 clocking from earlier in the year and will likely be in hunt for a title as well.
Hammer Time
Three Tiger sophomores, three spots in the nation's top-20. The men's hammer throw is that type of event for Missouri and an impressive crop of youngsters lead the charge. Sophomore Jason Morris has broken, and broken, and broken Mizzou's school record in the event, now having a best of 218 feet, 11 inches (66.73m), which leads the NCAA's Mideast Region and is ninth in the nation.
Morris, Chris Rohr, and Tyler Dailey hold the conference's 2-3-4 rankings and those top-20 spots in the national rankings. Leading is Kansas' Egor Agafonov, a native of Russia, who just transferred in this season and stands first in the conference and third in the nation at 232-11 (71.01m). Agafonov also won the indoor weight throw conference title this year. Defending champ, Kansas' Sheldon Battle is ranked sixth at 197-3 (60.12m), but won the event last year with a toss of 210-0 (64.01m).
The Tiger trio is just part of a Mizzou arsenal in the men's throws. Sophomore Nate Englin is ranked third in the shot put after his toss of 62-¼ (18.90m) in early-April. Englin is also in the nation's top-15 in the event, but he'll likely have to up his PR by at least two feet to catch defending champ Brian Robison of Texas and conference-leader Battle of Kansas. Mizzou's Rohr is also ranked eighth in the event with Dailey at 12th. Senior Bill Hobson enters at 10th in the conference rankings and along with senior Adam Burla makes five Tigers who have qualified for NCAA-regional competition in the event, which leads the nation.
Junior Bobby Musil ranks seventh in the hammer throw and seventh in the discus after double-PRs at the Penn State Open last weekend. An extra four or five feet with the disc may put Musil in the event's top four. Morris ranks 10th in discus with another sophomore Dave Borchardt, ranking 12th in the discus.
The Tiger women will have some throws fire-power as well. Sophomore Elizabeth Robe is looking for her third All-Big 12 honor of her career, entering the event ranked fifth with a 50-8 (15.44m). Freshmen Krishna Lee (Kansas City, Mo.) and Kendra Richardson (Boonville, Mo.) were a surprising four-five in the Big 12 Indoor meet and will look to sneak up the finishing order again.
Drake's 4x800 Winners Go Head-to-Head
Entries pending, you could have all four of the Tigers' 4x800-meter relay Drake Relays Championship squad in prime positions to make the final on Sunday. Junior Marcus Mayes leads the bunch in ranking with a fourth-place standing in the conference with a 1:48.94 clocking from the Tom Botts Invitational. Senior Neville Miller is in fifth at 1:49.20. Junior Jimmie Jones is eighth at 1:49.36. Freshman Blake Figgins, who qualified for the USATF Junior National Championships in the event, is ranked 14th at 1:51.74.
Senior Sendoff
Amanda Bales will be running in her final Big 12 Championships and an individual-conference title would be the icing on the cake of a great Tiger career. In the women's 1500-meter, she currently ranks second behind Baylor's freshman Erin Bedell. Bales, a 13-time All-Big 12 performer, placed second to national-champ Anne Shadle of Nebraska last season. Shadle graduated and is out of the picture. Bales has a season best of 4:22.59, but a personal best in the event of 4:18.79. Bales is already a two-time Big 12 Champion as anchor of the 2004 and 2005 conference-champ distance medley relay team.
Senior Serena Ramsey ranks fifth in the women's 5000-meter run after a huge personal best at the Drake Relays of 16:22.67. And a good showing in the race would help add to an already impressive six-time All-Big 12 resume. Colorado has the conference's top three times in the event, but any interruption to their scoring could help Mizzou out tremendously in the team standing.
Oh, Yeah ... The Team Race
Oh, the team standing. Yep, they call it a ChampionshipS for a reason. Texas will be favored to win on both the men's and women's side and after that Nebraska will be challenging on both sides, but the other positions are surely up for grabs and will be an interesting story to follow as the meet goes on. Last season, the Tiger men finished ninth with 44½ points - the women were seventh with 55 points. It's entirely possible for the Mizzou men to score at least 60 points, in doing so, the team could reach at least the top half of the standings.
Texas Tech is the defending champion on the men's side with Nebraska the defending team on the women's side.
Fox Sports Net to Air Tape-Delayed Coverage
FSN will produce tape-delayed coverage of the meet, airing beginning May 19 on many of the Fox Sports Net affiants. Check local listings or mutigers.com for affiliates, dates, and times.
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