April 26, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa - On a much-needed cool, but beautiful day in Des Moines, Iowa, current and former Tigers alike impressed a sell-out 20,000-plus person crowd at the 99th Drake Relays. In front of a packed house, former Tiger and two-time World Champ Christian Cantwell won a record-breaking sixth Drake Relays title while former Tiger and fastest meteorologist in the world Neville Miller tamed the wind in claiming his first 800-meter Drake Relays crown. Meanwhile, senior Jason Morris (St. Louis, Mo.) smashed his own school record in the men's hammer to be among the top five collegians this year.
Morris had the competition of his life, marking each throw above 212 feet, ending the day with his newest school record of 224 feet, 5 inches (68.41m), more than five feet farther than his previous school record to place third. Morris now moves into the national top five among collegians and was only bested by the Auburn pair of Cory Martin and Jake Dunkleburger. Martin tied the Drake Relays record with a best of 238-9 (72.78m). The trio will meet again at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Fayetteville in a few weeks.
Junior Chris Rohr was fifth with a 214-11 (65.51m) best on the day. Senior Tyler Dailey was 13th with a season's best mark of 200-3 (61.03m). Rohr was also sixth in the discus earlier in the day.
Cantwell (Eldon, Mo.) won his sixth Drake Relays shot put title breaking Al Feuerbach's previous record of holding five titles in the 1970s. Cantwell, having won the event in six of the last seven years, led throughout and marked his best of the day of 68 feet, 6 inches (20.88m) on his final toss. Cantwell easily defeated Jamaican Dorian Scott and American rival Reese Hoffa who placed second and third, respectively.
"This (the record) was a piece of something I wanted to get for a long time," said Cantwell. "I had first thought about this record two years ago and it's a great honor to be a part of. I have (my first) son that is coming in June and it will be special to see him be a part of this in the next years, considering I still have a good 8, 9, 10 years left at this thing. I was joking around with Brian Brown (current Drake Relays meet director) about how he must be trying to sabotage me getting my sixth because he put together such a great field."
Former Tiger Neville Miller had a breakthrough day in his professional career in winning his first individual Drake Relays title in the men's invitational 800 meters. With a clocking of 1:49.01, Miller bested 2006 winner Jebreh Harris who ran 1:49.75.
"I tried to be in good position from the beginning," said Miller. "I kept hearing the crowd cheer for the guy behind me, so I knew he was close. Last year, the pace started really slow, so I'm glad we were able to keep the pace consistent. In the past I had stuck towards the back and waited to make my move. I've learned after being in these races a few times now, that you can't do that. These guys are just too good."
Miller has been a part of two other Drake Relays championships at Mizzou with titles in 2006 in the 4x800-meter relay and distance medley relay. Miller joins former Tiger and current Missouri assistant coach, Olympian, Derrick Peterson as a winner at this event. Peterson won in 1998 as a collegian and again in 2001 as a professional.
"[The Drake] Relays are always such a special occasion to be a part of," said Miller. "When Derrick [Peterson, also formally of Mizzou and current training partner] would say how cool it was to be a part of this event, I thought to myself that if I could win at Drake one day that would be a huge piece of putting together a great running career."
The Tiger men in the distance medley relay consisting of senior Brian Graybill, frosh Ryan Blackwell, freshman Rick Scheff, and senior Tipper O'Brien, came back from near disaster to come within two places and two seconds of their second title in three years. Graybill was in fantastic position, among the top three after his opening 1200-meter leg, but, a mix-up in the exchange zone caused the baton to drop for Blackwell to receive to begin his 400-meter leg. Scheff's 800-meter leg helped steady the Tigers in the lead pack and handed to O'Brien with Mizzou in sixth. O'Brien with a great carry in his 1600-meter anchor positioned Mizzou among the top three and within striking distance, but big runs by Indiana and UNI gave the Hoosiers the victory.
The Tiger women kept alive their nine-year Drake Relays streak of having at least one relay finish in the top three with a third-place showing in the sprint medley relay. Posting Mizzou's best finish in the event since winning in 1993, the Tiger quartet of sophomore Keyonna Smith, sophomore Lana Mims, freshman Layne Moore, and senior Trisa Nickoley posted a 3:57.00 time. Smith and Mims ran the 200-meter legs and passed Moore who ran the 400-meter portion. Moore put the Tigers in fifth before with a 57.1 split before handing to the Nickoley, the Tiger veteran. Nickoley picked off two runners from UC-Riverside and Ohio State with her two-circuit 2:09.8 clocking to finish third in the section and place Mizzou third overall in the competition. Western Michigan won the event for the second-straight year at 3:49.07 while Arkansas took second at 3:53.19.
In the men's sprint medley relay, Jerron Forte, Ryan Blackwell, Nick Adcock, and Chris Davis placed ninth at 3:27.22. Long Beach State won the event at 3:18.73.
In the women's hammer throw, senior Elizabeth Robe qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in her second event with a season's best toss of 179-7 for 11th place. Robe has also qualified in the shot put. Junior Krishna Lee improved her national top-25 mark with an eighth-place marking of 196-7 (59.92m).
Senior Shernelle Nicholls was sixth in the women's shot while Lee took seventh.
Next week a handful of Tigers will compete in the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
###