Jan. 24, 2007

COLUMBIA, Mo.--The indoor track and field season chugs down the track to week three and a trip to Purdue for the Gene Edmonds Cup. The meet will feature Purdue, Missouri, Indiana State, and Illinois State, and will be scored as a quadrangular. The Tigers continue to train for the Big 12 Indoor Championships which are only five short weeks away.

 

 

Another Scored Meet

Purdue's Gene Edmonds Cup will feature Mizzou, Illinois State, Indiana State, and the host and will be scored combining men's and women's results into a final team score.

 

The actual Gene Edmonds Cup will go to the dual-meet winner between the in-state rivals Purdue and Indiana State.

 

Additionally, the four teams featured will compete in the NCAA Mideast Regional, hosted by Mizzou in late-May.

 

Upon Further Review ... The Weekend at Nebraska ...

Alright, throw out the red flag ... here are some of the best things that were missed ...

Freshman Jerron Forte cracked into Mizzou's all-time top 10 at 400 meters with a 48.83 clocking at last weekend's Big 12-Mountain West Challenge in Lincoln. Forte's time was the fastest seen from a Missouri runner at the distance since 1993.

 

Junior Tyler Dailey hit a season best and NCAA-provisional qualifying mark in the men's weight throw in the post-conference-challenge-meet, the Nebraska Wesleyan Invitational. Dailey won the event with a 64 foot, 6 inch (19.66m). Still early in the season, but Dailey is currently 11th on the national list in the event. Sophomore Chris Rohr is sixth with his season's best of 67-2¼ (20.48m). The duo is also 2-3 on the Big 12 list, trailing KU's Egor Agafonov (68-6½).

 

Just Your Normal Training Run

Junior Trisa Nickoley is showing more-and-more every week that she is ready to take the middle-distance world by storm. At the Conference Challenge last weekend, Nickoley ran in lane one, gun to tape and without happenstance, won the 600-yard run in a personal best 1:23.83. Nickoley's time leads the Big 12 by 1.2 seconds over K-State junior Morgan Bonds.

 

The interesting part of the story comes in the following meet, the Nebraska Wesleyan Invite. Assistant coach Rebecca Wilmes entered Nickoley in the 400-meter dash to get some more training work in. Time for the gun and Nickoley was the only one on the line. She had to run the race by herself. Consequently, Nickoley ran a 56.93 "time trial", good enough to place her in Mizzou's all-time top 10 in the event, on her first-ever attempt at the distance, and currently places her seventh on the conference performer's list at the distance.

 

"I just had her run it for extra training," said Wilmes. "With only herself on the line, she asked `Should I even do this?'. I told her it's only for training, why not. I didn't think she would run that fast though."

 

In fact, Nickoley is in the top eight among Big 12 performers in the early 2007 season in the three events, the 400-meter, 600-yard, and 800-meter runs.

 

Nickoley was the 2005 Big 12 Freshman of the Year for winning the indoor 800-meter title and leading the DMR team to a championship as well.

 

The Mel Gray Connection

Here's a little "did you know" trivia. In the world known as the NFL, there have been two famous players named Mel Gray. The connection? Both Mel Gray (#1) and Mel Gray (#2) played football and were standout sprinters for Missouri and Purdue, respectively. Yes, two separate gentlemen named Mel Gray had the same road, play football and run track and college, with NFL careers to follow.

 

Mizzou's Mel Gray went on to play for the (football) St. Louis Cardinals for 12 seasons at wide receiver, leading the NFL in receiving touchdowns (11) in 1975. At Mizzou, Gray was an all-Big Eight football selection in 1969, when he caught 25 passes for 705 yards and a school-record nine TDs. Held the school record for career receiving yardage - 1,491 -for 20 years, and still holds the MU career record for receiving TDs (14). He was chosen to MU's all-century team in 1990. In track, Gray was an all-American once indoors and twice outdoors. Was a Grand Slam winner in the 100-meter dash in '70, taking titles at the Texas, Kansas, and Drake Relays. He was a five time Big Eight Conference sprint champion, winning the indoor 60-yard dash (1970), and the 100 and 220-yard dashes outdoors in 1969 and '70.

 

Purdue's Mel Gray was a tailback for the Boilermakers in 1982 and 1983. Though not drafted, Gray (#2) made his way onto the New Orleans Saints roster in 1986 and stayed for three years. He then moved to the Detroit Lions, spending 1989 through 1994 in the Motor City becoming the Lions' all-time leader in punt and kickoff return yards. He then played for the Houston Oilers in 1995 and 1996, and then finished his career with a season in Philadelphia.

 

Currently on both the Mizzou football and track and field roster? Senior WR Greg Bracey was an All-Big 12 performer a year ago at 100 meters. Senior WR Andrew Hoskins recently joined the team two weeks ago.

 

Provisionally Speaking

Along with Dailey and Rohr's NCAA provisional marks in the men's weight throw. School-record holder Elisha Hunt has a provisional-qualifying mark in the women's weight throw, which currently places her in the top 10 in the nation in the event.

 

For a complete ranking list, check here ...

http://www.trackshark.com/rankings/collegiate_lists.php

 

 

Indoor NCAA List
updated January 24, 2007
NCAA PROVISIONAL		Mark		NCAA Rank		Date	Meet
MEN
WT	Chris Rohr (So.)	20.48m	67-2¼	6th		Jan 12	Missouri Invitational
WT	Tyler Dailey (Jr.)	19.66m	64-6	11th		Jan 20	Nebraska Wesleyan Invitational
WOMEN
WT	Elisha Hunt (Jr.)	19.51m	64-¼ (SR)	9th		Jan 12	Missouri Invitational

 

Post-Collegian Corner ... Season Starts with Boston Indoor

Christian Cantwell and Derrick Peterson begin their 2007 indoor campaigns, moving off the backstretch and on to the final curve on the run to the 2008 Olympic Games with the season-opening Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Saturday.

 

ESPN2 will provide tape-delayed television coverage on Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m., central.

 

Cantwell was ranked second in the World by Track & Field News for the 2006 season, scoring the three best throws in the universe in 2006. Cantwell will face off against John Godina, Dan Taylor, Reese Hoffa, and Vince Mosca.

 

Olympian Derrick Peterson will face six others in the men's 800, including old foe David Krummenacker.

 

 

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