March 30, 2007

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri track and field squads hosted day one of the Missouri Relays on Friday as over 1,900 athletes will participate in the two-day meet this weekend. Once again, Tiger hammer throwers stole the show as junior Jason Morris eclipsed his own meet record in the men's competition while topping an eight-year old venue record. In addition, Tiger Shernelle Nicholls added has now qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional in three events, adding a hammer throw mark today.

Morris (St. Louis, Mo.) marked the second-longest throw of his career - and a season's best - with the winning mark of 214 feet, 6 inches (65.39m) on his second attempt. Morris has landed the hammer over 200 feet in 11 competitions and is approaching Russ Bell's school record in the category of 13 meets over 200 feet.

Nicholls placed sixth in a stacked field with a throw of 178 feet, 3 inches (54.33m). The field included Southern Illinois' Brittany Riley, the World-record holder and NCAA Indoor Champion in the weight throw. Riley won the competition with a stadium record of 222-11 (67.96m) to top the old stadium record set in 2002 by Nebraska's Melissa Price (66.80m). Riley also smashed the meet record by nearly 30 feet.

The new throws field was going to be unveiled today, but with heavy rains in the past days, the new soft sod was not the optimal location of competition, thus the old ring was used near Reactor Field.

The women's shuttle hurdle relay team of JaNay Woolridge, Kaela Rorvig, Lauren Begany, and Lindsey Boldt set a new meet record in winning with a 58.78 time.

Day two of the Missouri Relays will begin tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.