May 25, 2007

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COLUMBIA, Mo. - Playing host to over 900 athletes from 88 different schools at Audrey J. Walton Stadium for the 2007 NCAA Track & Field Mideast Regional, the Tigers got off to a good start on day one. The biggest highlight for the Tigers came from sophomore Krishna Lee (Kansas City, Mo.) who used a 16-inch personal best in the women's shot put to finish second amongst the field with a throw of 52 feet, ½ inch (15.86m), qualifying automatically for the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

"I'm super excited. It's my first time going [to the NCAA Championships] and I can't wait," Lee said. "I wish we were leaving tomorrow."

Lee came into the Mideast Regional as the No. 12 seed with a season best 49-8, but today, she had four throws in the competition that bettered her season's best in her drive towards Sacramento and placed her third all-time in Mizzou history in the event.

"I felt pretty sharp all week," Lee said. "I felt good going in today and feel great coming out. All the hard work pays off in the end. I'm happy, ecstatic."

Shernelle Nicholls was 12th at 48-8¼ (14.84m), but with a national ranking in the top five entering the weekend, she is a strong candidate for an at-large selection to the NCAA Championships. To be considered for at-large selection, one must finish in the top 12 of their respective event. Junior Elizabeth Robe was 11th at 48-8¾ (14.85m) and Elisha Hunt was 27th at 41-5¾ (12.64m).

Four Tiger throwers competed in the men's hammer throw and three placed in the top 10. Jason Morris (St. Louis, Mo.), Bobby Musil (DuBois, Neb.) and Tyler Dailey (Joplin, Mo.) all threw in the final and placed sixth, seventh, and ninth respectively.

Morris had the top finish for the Tigers as he registered a throw of 204-9 (62.40m). With a national ranking of No. 17 entering the meet, Morris has a good chance of picking up an at-large bid to the NCAA meet (only the top five qualify automatically). Despite fouling four times, Dailey took seventh in throwing 201-3 (61.34m) on his second attempt. Musil started his competition with a throw of 198-3 (60.43m), but fouled in his last five attempts placing him in ninth place overall. Dailey and Musil are eligible for at-large bids as well. Nate Englin failed to make the finals, as he topped out at 186-0 (56.70m) in his first attempt.

Auburn's Cory Martin was the winner of the men's hammer with a meet and stadium record of 226-7 (69.06m).

Trisa Nickoley (Tecumsah, Kan.) qualified for tomorrow's final of the women's 800-meter run, finishing second in her heat and sixth overall with a season's best time of 2:05.05, just .02 off her personal best which she set last season. Michigan's Katie Erdman recorded the NCAA's top time of the season with the fastest qualifier of 2:01.29, setting a new meet and stadium record in the process. The final will be run tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.

Senior Marcus Mayes (Sand Springs, Okla.) was advanced to the final of the men's 800-meter run via appeal. Mayes was tripped on the second turn in the preliminary and clocked 1:54.15. A protest and a subsequent appeal was filed and the jury of appeals ruled that Mayes was unfairly hindered and should be advanced to the final. Senior Jimmie Jones (Detroit, Mich.) ran in his final race as a Tiger, clocking 1:50.75 to take 13th.

Sophomore Tim Cornell (Columbia, Mo.) placed 14 spots above his seed with a 16th-place finish in the men's 1500-meter run, clocking 3:49.15.

"I felt pretty good today. The pace was a little slow at the beginning we definitely picked it up at the end," Cornell said. "It's kind of how I expected it to be, it was a tight race. To be able to represent my school and hometown in this meet is such a great honor."

Senior Greg Bracey took 16th in the men's 100 with a 10.61 clocking. Bracey also ran the 200, but was disqualified for running to far inside his line in coming off the turn.

Freshman Brian Hancock and nine of the 18 competitors in the men's pole vault failed to clear the opening height of 16-1¼ (4.91m).

Day two of the Regional will get underway tomorrow starting at 11 a.m. The finals of all the track events will be held, as well as the finals of fields events not decided in today's competition.

Three other regionals are being held this weekend, the East regional hosted by the University of Florida, the Midwest Regional hosted by Drake University and the West Regional hosted by the University of Oregon. For stats from around the country and the Mideast Regional meet stay tuned to www.mutigers.com.

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