March 19, 2007

COLUMBIA, Mo.--Spring has sprung in mid-Missouri and what better time to begin the outdoor track and field season. The University of Missouri track and field squads will begin their trek to the post-season with a trip to the state of Arizona this upcoming weekend. The Mizzou tracksters have a lot to look forward to after a successful indoor season. In addition, Mizzou will host the NCAA Mideast Regional in late May and will unveil a new track surface and world-class throws field at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.

 

 

The Gateway to Sacramento

This weekend marks the official beginning of the Missouri track and field outdoor season, and there are several dates and moments to look forward to. The ultimate goal for most of the Tigers in the coming weeks is to qualify for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships by reaching a certain qualifying mark. Those who qualify will reach the regional championships, which will be hosted by Mizzou at the renovated Audrey J. Walton Stadium in late May. The top five finishers at the regional championships automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships to be hosted in Sacramento in early June, thus making Mizzou and the Mideast regional championships as "The Gateway to Sacramento."

 

Here are some of the noteworthy events upcoming in the outdoor season:

March 30-31, Missouri Relays, Columbia, Mo.

Nearly 50 high schools and colleges from around the Midwest will descend on Columbia for the two-day meet that has become more and more popular in each of its previous seven years in existence. In addition, the meet will be the first on the renovated track surface at Audrey J. Walton Stadium and will be the first using the new throws area that features three optimally-directional discus rings and a hammer-throw arena that features the World's-largest cage.

 

April 12-13, Audrey Walton Combined Events, Columbia, Mo.

In its fourth year the Audrey Walton Combined Events will again feature some of the best decathletes and heptathletes in the World. Lithuania's Austra Skujyte will once again be in Columbia to attempt to break her own World record in the women's decathlon. Last year, former Tiger Hans Uldal scored over 8,000 points in the men's decathlon and will be back to defend his title, but this time as a post-collegian. Some of the best collegiate and post-collegiate competitors in the women's heptathlon will again be on hand. Last year, Missouri State's Tracy Partain took the title, but USATF Indoor Champion Fiona Asigbee will try for her second Walton title.

 

April 25-28, Drake Relays, Des Moines, Iowa

"America's Athletic Classic" as it's called, the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, is arguably one of the best celebrations of track and field in the nation. With a carnival-like atmosphere and a World-class field of athletes, the Drake is one of the most anticipated events on Mizzou's schedule every year. Last year's edition was one of the best in Tiger history as six Tiger relays finished in the top five for the first time ever with the men's 4x800 and men's distance medley relay bringing home championships that will be defended this year. Post-collegian Christian Cantwell broke the Drake Relays meet record at last year's meet in a much-celebrated way. Cantwell has won four-of-the-last five Drake Relay titles in the men's shot and has become a crowd favorite.

 

May 11-13, Big 12 Championships, Lincoln, Neb.

Nothing like a heart-pounding team race at the Big 12 Indoor Championships a few weeks ago could bring on such anticipation for the outdoor conference meet in Lincoln to come in May. The men's side of the race again looks to be closer than ever, with more parody across the 21 events and with a heavy Missouri presence in the throws and middle-distance events, about anything can happen. Definitely worth a weekend road-trip to Nebraska.

 

May 25-26, NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, Columbia, Mo.

Without question, the meet on the minds of most at Mizzou is the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships which will be hosted in Columbia for the first time. While the regional system is going into only its fifth year of existence, every year its popularity has grown with fans of the sport because of the head-to-head competition and the high stakes atmosphere of the weekend. Arguably, the Mideast region is the toughest of the four in the nation in terms of overall depth and features over 85 schools from the upper Midwest and southern parts of the country. The region includes SEC schools such as Arkansas, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee, and Big Ten schools Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State among others.

 

The Mideast Region produced eight NCAA Indoor Champions two weeks ago in Fayetteville. The Wisconsin men, from the Mideast Region, won their first national title, headed by defending NCAA outdoor and NCAA indoor 5000-meter champ Chris Solinsky. Louisville's Tone Belt and Andre Black took the NCAA indoor long jump and triple jump titles, respectively, and they will be making a run to Sacramento via Columbia. On the women's side Auburn's Kerron Stewart won both the 60-meter and 200-meter dash indoor national finals a few days ago in Fayetteville. Ten defending NCAA outdoor champions come from the Mideast region, six of which will return, including three relays squads from LSU.

 

The Tigers will be no slouches in the regional meet. Last year, the Tigers qualified 24 to the post-season including a national-high nine male throwers, five male shot putters, and four male hammer throwers. Twelve on the Mizzou squad, a Tiger record, ultimately qualified for the NCAA National meet, eight via automatic top-five regional finishes, another Tiger record. The Tiger men finished the team battle fifth in the region, cracking the top 10 for the first-time ever. Mizzou's women were ninth in the region a year ago.

 

June 6-9, NCAA Championships, Sacramento, Calif.

Once the dust settles in Columbia, the four regions come together for the national championship to be held in Sacramento for the last of a three-year span. CBS will once again air live coverage of the final day of competition.

 

June 20-24, AT&T USATF Championships and USATF Junior Championships, Indianapolis, Ind.

The best of the professional and collegiate ranks comes together in late June for the USA Track & Field Championships. The meet also serves as the qualifying meet for the IAAF World Championships to be held in Osaka, Japan in late August.

 

Much more about these meets to come as the season unfolds!

 

The NCAA Qualifying System Explained

Get ready for a lot of parentheses and "excepts".

 

The qualifying system for the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor Championships is different from each other (except for the 10,000-meter run, decathlon, and heptathlon ... explain later). In order to get to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, each competitor must compete in their respective event in the regional championships. A hard-line standard is used in each event to gain entry into the regional. Get the mark, get into the regional. Plus, each conference champion in each event also gains entry into the regional.

 

At the regional, the top five finishers (that also declare for the national meet) in each event automatically gains entry into the national championships. With four regions, each receiving five auto bids, that equals 20. But, the field usually will have five to eight at-large bids to fill in each event. Those who are at the top of the national descending order list, and who DO NOT automatically qualify will be the first at-large bids into the national championships, provided they finish in the top 12 of their respective event in the regional (and participate and finish a final in which they were entered).

 

The 10,000-meter run, heptathlon, and decathlon qualifying works similarly as the NCAA Indoor Championship qualifying, a provisional and automatic standard is used for each event. Make the automatic mark, receive automatic entry into the national meet. A provisional mark gives one a possible consideration for an at-large bid.

 

Home Cookin'

Each week we'll look at which Tigers qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, being hosted this year by Mizzou at Audrey J. Walton Stadium, May 25 and 26.

 

The Tigers throwers took an impromptu visit to Emporia, Kan., last Thursday for an outdoor-season ice-breaker. At the Mike's Sporting Goods Spring Twilight, senior Bobby Musil became the first to qualify for the regional championships with a second-place throw of 193 feet (58.82m) in the men's hammer. Musil was one of four last season to qualify for the regional in the event. Junior Nate Englin was third at 182-1 (55.50m).

 

Dave Borchardt was second in the discus with a season-opener of 156-8 (47.76m). Senior Jamie Wynn was second in the women's discus at 153-0 (46.64m).

 

Rankings will not come out for a few weeks, but when they do, check here ...

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

 

 

Outdoor NCAA Qualifying List							Official NCAA Lists - CLICK HERE
updated March 19, 2007							rankings include all qualified
REGIONAL Qualifiers		Mark		Region rank	NCAA rank	Date	Meet
MEN
HT	Bobby Musil (Sr.)	58.82m	193-0			Mar 15	Emporia Spring Twilight

 

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