Jan. 9, 2007

COLUMBIA, Mo.--The 2007 track and field season will begin for the University of Missouri on Friday as the Tigers will host the 21st annual Missouri Invitational in the Hearnes Fieldhouse beginning at1 p.m. Twelve schools, including Oral Roberts, Drake, Tulsa, and Wichita State will be among the competing teams. Among the more interesting events this Friday will be both the men's and women's weight throws, the men's pole vault, and all middle-distance races.

 

 

Events 2 Watch 4 ...

Before each meet we will attempt to pick our top-five events to watch for at the upcoming meet. Yes, all events are important and each has its own storyline, but these are the picks-of-the-litter this week:

 

Men's Weight Throw (begins at 1 p.m.)

This event will be one to watch for the entire indoor season for the Tigers. Chris Rohr, Tyler Dailey, Nate Englin, and Jason Morris went 4-5-6-7 in this event at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in 2006 and each, adding Bobby Musil had personal bests that exceed the 64-foot mark. Watch for bombs to drop from any of the five in the coming weeks. Rohr earned All-America honors in the event a year ago, having an '06 best of 68 feet, 10½ inches (20.99m).

 

Interestingly, Tyler Dailey is the two-time defending champion in this event at the Missouri Invitational. Christian Cantwell's meet record of 67-6¾ is also in danger of falling to any of the five.

 

Women's Weight Throw (begins after men's weight throw, approximately at 2:30)

We'll stay in the throws for a while in our profile of the meet's spotlight events. Junior Elisha Hunt (Linn, Mo.) is back and healthy after a freak hammer-throw incident that occurred last spring that stopped her outdoor season short. As a sophomore in 2006 indoor season, Hunt nearly won the Big 12 Indoor title in the event and, just a week earlier, broke the school's record in the event with her current personal best of 63-7¾ (19.40m).

 

Mizzou also had Kendra Richardson (Boonville, Mo.), a freshman last year, and Elizabeth Robe top the 60-foot mark in the event a year ago. Sophomore Krishna Lee (Kansas City, Mo.) broke out with a 62-4 toss at the squad's Black & Gold meet in December.

 

The depth in the event is only added to with the addition of transfer Shernelle Nichols. Coming from Missouri Baptist, Nichols finished runner-up in the NAIA Indoor Championships in the event a year ago, entering Mizzou with a 57-6¼ personal best.

 

Also keep an eye for the five in the women's shot put.

 

Men's Pole Vault (begins after women's pole vault, approximately 4:45 p.m.)

Monroe City product Brian Hancock begins his career as a Tiger Friday. Hancock has been the King of the Missouri High Schools in the past four years, having marked the best clearance of anyone in the state the past three seasons to add to his four-consecutive MSHSAA Class 2 titles in the event. With a personal best of 16 feet, 10 inches, anything close to that mark will already put him second all-time at the University.

 

The first NCAA Champion in school history came from the men's pole vault in 1925, proclaiming itself as one of the oldest marquee events at Mizzou. With a vault over 17 feet indoors anytime in his next four years, Hancock will break the school's indoor record that has stood for 15 years.

 

Women's Triple Jump (following the men's triple jump, approximately 5:30 p.m.)

Not to put any more pressure on a Tiger newcomer, but Hedvig Glomsroed, comes to Mizzou with an immediate chance to become the school's record holder in the women's triple jump. Glomsroed, a product of Fredrikstad, Norway, has an indoor personal best of 40-7½ (12.38m). Ironically, Lindsey Miller's 1999 school record is exactly the same. Glomsroed was also the 2006 Norwegian Indoor National Champion in the event.

 

Men's 800-meter Run (scheduled for 4:50 pm start)

You can pretty much lump all of the middle-distance races in both the male and female divisions as having top-notch talent racing against each other, but one mainstay at Missouri has been the men's 800. With entries still not official, it's difficult to predict some of the match-ups that will occur in the 600-yard, 800-meter, 1000-meter, and Mile races. But, Mizzou's Marcus Mayes is always an interesting subject. Mayes was an All-American at 800 meters a year ago and has a 1:48.72 indoor best in the event.

 

Oral Roberts' Prince Mumba of Zambia was third at the NCAA Championships in the event a year ago.

 

Adding just over 20 yards to the 40 ...

Mizzou Track & Field added football WR Andrew Hoskins (Plattsburg, Mo.) to the roster this week, adding depth to the sprints core. Hoskins, not scheduled to run this weekend, is the second Tiger wide-receiver on the team. Greg Bracey, who is a three-time All-Big 12 performer in the sprints, will be in his senior season with track and field in 2007. Bracey caught a 46-yard touchdown against Kansas in football's 2006 regular-season finale.

 

Meet Schedule

Missouri Indoor Invitational
Friday, January 12, 2007
TRACK EVENTS
2:00 PM	W 60m Hurdles	Prelims
	M 60m Hurdles	Prelims
2:30 PM	W 60m Dash	Prelims
	M 60m Dash	Prelims
3:00 PM	W 60m Hurdles	FINAL
	M 60m Hurdles	FINAL
3:15 PM	W Mile Run	FINAL
	M Mile Run	FINAL
3:45 PM	W 60m Dash	FINAL
	M 60m Dash	FINAL
3:55 PM	W 400m Dash	FINAL
	M 400m Dash	FINAL
4:25 PM	W 600yd Run	FINAL
	M 600yd Run	FINAL
4:40 PM	W 800m Run	FINAL
	M 800m Run	FINAL
5:00 PM	W 1000m Run	FINAL
	M 1000m Run	FINAL
5:10 PM	W 200m Dash	FINAL
	M 200m Dash	FINAL
5:45 PM	W 3000m Run	FINAL
	M 3000m Run	FINAL
6:20 PM	W Distance Medley Relay	FINAL
	M Distance Medley Relay	FINAL
6:45 PM	W 4x400m Relay	FINAL
	M 4x400m Relay	FINAL
FIELD EVENTS
1:00 PM	M Weight Throw
to follow	W Weight Throw
1:00 PM	W Long Jump
to follow	M Long Jump
to follow	M Triple Jump
to follow	W Triple Jump
2:00 PM	M High Jump
to follow	W High Jump
3:00 PM	W Pole Vault
to follow	M Pole Vault
4:00 PM	M Shot Put
to follow	W Shot Put

 

 

Last Year's Winners

WOMEN
60m Dash	Nickeshia Anderson	Missouri Baptist	7.53		t-MR
200m Dash	Nickeshia Anderson	Missouri Baptist	24.79
400m Dash	Davita Prendergast	Lincoln	55.29
600yd Run	Kayann Thompson	Lindenwood	1:24.88
800m Run	Ashley Patten	Missouri	2:13.27
1000m Run	Alex Becker	Tulsa	2:57.65
Mile Run	Desiraye Osburn	Wichita State	4:49.43
3000m Run	Renine LeHeron	Tulsa	10:08.76
60m Hurdles	Kasey McDaniel	Drake	8.72
4x400m Relay	Missouri		3:53.32
DMR	Oral Roberts		11:49.61		MR
High Jump	Rachel Stevens	Wichita State	1.70m	5-7
Pole Vault	Jackie Brown	Wichita State	3.85m	12-7½
Long Jump	Jelena Petrovic	Wichita State	6.00m	19-8¼
Triple Jump	Seidre Forde	Missouri Baptist	12.40m	40-8¼	MR
Shot Put	Stephanie Jeffers	Tulsa	14.65m	48-¾
Weight Throw	Elisha Hunt	Missouri	17.94m	58-10¼	MR, 2x
MEN
60m Dash	Michael Rodgers	Lindenwood	6.73
200m Dash	Kyle Rose	SIU-Edwardsville	22.67
400m Dash	Andretti Bain	Oral Roberts	48.48		MR, 2x
600yd Run	Shaun Smith	Oral Roberts	1:12.86
800m Run	Jimmie Jones	Missouri	1:52.50
1000m Run	Timothy Dunne	NY Athletic Club	2:27.22		2x
Mile Run	Prince Mumba	Oral Roberts	4:14.67
3000m Run	James Wanjiku	Oral Roberts	8:29.43
60m Hurdles	Dexter Faulk	unattached	7.86		7.78q MR
4x400m Relay	Oral Roberts		3:14.90		MR, 2x
DMR	Missouri		10:27.72
High Jump	Demarcus Bass	Oral Roberts	2.15m	7-½
Pole Vault	Dylan Schmidt	Wichita State	5.00m	16-4¾
Long Jump	Wilbert Walker	Lincoln (Mo.)	7.37m	24-2¼
Triple Jump	Jamaury Harris	unattached	15.18m	49-9¾
Shot Put	Nate Englin	Missouri	18.16m	59-7
Weight Throw	Tyler Dailey	Missouri	19.76m	64-10	2x
MR - meet record
2x - won for second-consecutive year

 

Meet Records

WOMEN
60m Dash	Nickeshia Anderson	Missouri Baptist	7.53		2006
	Shontae Johnson	Texas State	7.53		2002
200m Dash	Moya Thompson	Lincoln (Mo.)	24.64		2004
400m Dash	Marsha Dawkins	Oral Roberts	53.59		2003
600yd Dash	Natasha Kaiser	Missouri	1:22.53		1988
800m Run	Kristi Kloster	Kansas	2:08.00		1996
1000m Run	Sunny Gilbert	Missouri	2:53.51		2000
Mile Run	Amanda Bales	Missouri	4:49.28		2003
3000m Run	Ann Marie Brooks	Nike	9:28.11		2004
5000m Run	Kristen Allen	Missouri	17:33.37		1998
60m Hurdles	Rachel Joy	unattached	8.57		2002
4x400m Relay	Tulsa		3:48.04		2002
4x800m Relay	Missouri		9:47.61		1997
DMR	Oral Roberts		11:49.61		2006
High Jump	Becky Collins	Texas State	1.81m	5-11¼	2002
Pole Vault	Rachel Viau	Oral Roberts	3.95m	12-11½	2004
Long Jump	Teri LeBlanc	Missouri	6.11m	20-½	1989
Triple Jump	Seidre Forde	Missouri Baptist	12.40m	40-8¼	2006
Shot Put	Christy Barrett	Indiana State	16.71m	54-10	1991
Weight Throw	Elisha Hunt	Missouri	17.94m	58-10¼	2006
55m Dash	Tamra Montgomery	Kansas	6.99		1998
55m Hurdles	Tiffany Lott	BYU	7.89		1995
Pentathlon	Fiona Asigbee	Missouri	3,410		2002
MEN
60m Dash	Ronnie Williams	UMKC	6.70		2001
200m Dash	Jamial Rolle	unattached	21.69		2003
400m Dash	Andretti Bain	Oral Roberts	48.48		2006
600yd Dash	Deryl Gardner	SE Missouri State	1:10.8h		1996
800m Run	Derrick Peterson	unattached	1:52.42		2002
1000m Run	Timothy Dunne	NY Athletic Club	2:26.90		2005
Mile Run	Christian Goy	Illinois State	4:06.47		1999
3000m Run	Carl Davies	Illinois State	8:15.34		1993
5000m Run	Ray Hughes	Missouri	14:36.56		1998
60m Hurdles	Dexter Faulk	unattached	7.78q		2006
4x400m Relay	Oral Roberts		3:14.90		2006
DMR	Illinois		10:16.58		1998
High Jump	Lavar Miller	unattached	2.19m	7-2¼	2001
Pole Vault	Buster McLain	Texas State	5.30m	17-4½	2002
Long Jump	Deandre Free	unattached	7.69m	25-2¾	2004
Triple Jump	Marc Dzardosi	unattached	15.52m	50-11	2003
Shot Put	Christian Cantwell	Nike	21.06m	69-1¼	2005
Weight Throw	Christian Cantwell	Missouri	20.59m	67-6¾	2002
55m Dash	Greg Sadler	Ole Miss	6.23		1994
55m Hurdles	Bruce Cockrell	Missouri	7.43		1988
Pentathlon	Chad Froelker	unattached	3,775		2002

 

 

 

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