Feb. 10, 2007
AMES, Iowa--The University of Missouri Track & Field teams completed competition at the Iowa State Classic on Saturday. In one of the nation's indoor "mega-meets" that included over 80 Division I schools and over 2,600 athletes in a chaotic two days of athletics at the Cyclones' Lied Recreation Center, the Tigers held their own by grabbing three additions or betterings of NCAA-provisional qualifying marks while placing several Tigers in the nation's top 25 in their respective events.
In the women's 800-meter run, 16th-ranked junior Trisa Nickoley (Tecumseh, Kan.) posted a time of 2:06.54 in a second-place finish, good enough to enter the NCAA's top 10 in the event in besting her NCAA-provisional qualifying mark. Nickoley also passed former Tiger Nikki Webber to move to third all-time at Mizzou in the event. No. 15 Morgan Bonds of Kansas State edged Nickoley at the line, clocking 2:06.20.
Senior Marcus Mayes (Sand Springs, Okla.) posted a 1:49.78 clocking in his heat of the men's 800-meter run, capturing an NCAA-provisional qualifier that places him in the NCAA's top 20 and was just off his indoor personal best of 1:49.72. Mayes placed sixth overall in the meet and was edged out by No. 9 Shaun Smith of Oral Roberts with a 1:49.62 time. In a separate heat, Tiger post-collegian Neville Miller (St. Louis, Mo.), ran in 1:48.86 to secure a top-five time among all Americans, collegians and non-collegians, on the season-bests list. Navy's Craig Meekins won the event in 1:48.38.
Junior transfer Shernelle Nicholls (St. Andrew's Parrish, Barbados), ranked 25th nationally, jumped into the nation's top 20 in the women's shot put with a fourth-place finish, marking a 51 foot, 9¾ inch (15.79m) toss that added 19 inches to her prior previous best and extended her NCAA-provisional qualifying mark. The women's shot put field included six from the nation's top 25.
In the men's shot put, junior Nate Englin (Shoreview, Minn.) is coming back to shape after an off-season injury. Today Englin placed third with a season-best throw of 57-9¾ (17.62m). Freshman Andy Oaker (Steelville, Mo.) gained his fifth-consecutive meet with a new personal best. Oaker threw 53-8¼ today, having improved three feet over all this season.
In the men's 3000, sophomore Dan Hedgecock (St. Louis, Mo.) won his heat and placed sixth overall, clocking 8:13.04 to move to fifth all-time in Missouri history by taking seven seconds off his personal best. Sophomore Garett Jeffries took four seconds off his previous best with a 8:15.88 clocking to come in 11th. Sophomore Tim Cornell took eight seconds off his previous best to time 8:22.62.
The Tigers will host the Missouri All-Comers next Saturday in Columbia.
Other News & Notes from the Iowa State Classic
WOMEN: Post-collegian Fiona Asigbee ran her semifinal of the women's 60-meter hurdles in 8.50, a season best and the third best clocking of her successful career ... Asigbee went on to place fifth in the finals at 8.51 ... sophomore JaNay Woolridge shaved .05 seconds from her personal best to record an 8.79 in qualifying to today's semifinal and jump to Mizzou's all-time top five in the event ... on Thursday, three Tiger freshmen, Lauren Begany, Lindsey Boldt, and Katie Wenger, competed in their first collegiate pentathlons ... Begany was the Tigers' best finisher with 3,461 points to place fifth in the competition, grabbing personal bests in three of five events ... also in the women's 800, sophomore Ellen Ries shaved three seconds off her indoor personal best with a 2:11.21 clocking ... on Friday, freshman Lana Mims clocked 25.21 in the women's 200-meter
MEN: Colten Green bested his personal best in the men's 5000-meter by 16 seconds on Friday with a 14:51.32 clocking to finish 12th ... senior Greg Bracey made the final of the men's 60-meter, clocking a 6.84 in the semifinal, but an odd start in the final that appeared to throw all runners of their bests, produced a 7.01 clocking for Bracey who finished seventh ... senior Jimmie Jones had a 1:50.26 clocking in the men's 800, a new season's best and just off his indoor personal best of 1:50.20 ... sophomore Brian Graybill won his heat of the men's mile with a 4:15.56 time, shaving four seconds off his previous personal best ... also in the mile, senior Tim Ross (on a training run), clocked 4:09.35, taking three seconds off his PR ... in addition to having a great 800-meter race, Tiger post-collegian Neville Miller ran a 4:04.86 mile time.
Cantwell Bested by a Centimeter in Spain
Post-collegian Christian Cantwell (Eldon, Mo.) came within a toe-nail of winning his second-consecutive shot put title on Saturday at the Reunion Internacional de Athletismo in Valencia, Spain. Cantwell, ranked No. 2 in the world by the IAAF, had a sixth-round throw of 69 feet, 11 inches (21.31m), taking the lead from No. 1 Reese Hoffa (USA) who had a best to that point of 69-9 (21.26m). Hoffa would get the measure of 69-11½ (21.32m) on his final attempt to take the meet. No. 3 Dan Taylor (USA) was third at 67-8¼ (20.63m).
Full results can be viewed here ...
http://www.rfea.es/competi/calendario2007/pc_valencia/ATR173A_AT0051E0100001ESP.htm
WCSN.com has a viewable replay of the meet.
IAAF World shot-put rankings ...
http://www.iaaf.org/asp/worldRankings/content/msp.html
Tigers at USATF Cross Country Championships
Post-collegian Matt Noonan (Baldwin City, Kan.) competed in the USATF Cross Country Championships in Boulder, Colo., Saturday afternoon. Noonan placed 74th, out of the 141-person field, in the men's open 12-kilometer event,
clocking 42 minutes, 50 seconds.
Post-collegian Serena Ramsey (Waukesha, Wis.) was 20th in the open women's eight-kilometer event, clocking 30:32.
Kinsey Farren, an incoming Tiger for the 2008 season, finished seventh in the junior women's six-kilometer race, clocking 22:33. Farren attends Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, Texas.
A two-hour tape-delayed television broadcast of the event can be seen Sunday at Noon (CT) on ESPN2.
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