Aug. 6, 2008
Indoor Season Bests | Outdoor Recap
The indoor track & field season for the Tigers of Missouri matched youth on the track and in the jumps with deep experience and depth in the throws for a season full of highlights and triumphs.
Jumping straight to the championship season, five Tigers earned All-America honors in their respective events, a Mizzou-best for the indoor season since 2003 when names like Cantwell, Bell, Sims, Strickland, and Bennett ruled the MU lexicon. Cantwell had an amazing season of his own with the shot. In his fifth year out of Mizzou, the big fellow claimed his second IAAF World title, a fourth overall U.S. title, and an incredible series of six throws over the 70-foot mark in one meet, the UCM Classic in Warrensburg.
Junior Chris Rohr (Lee's Summit, Mo.) had his own eye-opening season with the 35-lb. weight. Rohr, at the same meet in Warrensburg, topped Cantwell's school record with a then-four foot personal best and national-collegiate leading toss of 73 feet, ½ inches (22.26m).
After earning the Big 12 Athlete of the Week honor, Rohr had to take on two-time conference champ in the event, Kansas' Egor Agafonov for the league title. Rohr had gone into the final three trials of the league championship in the lead with another PR of 73-1¾ (22.29m) - Egor was second at 69-3½ (21.12m). Agafonov had the penultimate attempt of the competition in the final round and smashed it, flying the bag and ball 74-4½ (22.67m) for the lead and the new overall collegiate leading mark. Rohr -
who had an amazing series as it was - marking four out of five attempts over 70-8 (21.54m), went in the ring for his final attempt and the final attempt of the competition in second place. Rohr mustered a new school record and PR of 73-6¾ (22.42m), but it was not enough as the Jayhawk Russian won his third-straight league crown in one of the more heart pounding episodes in the Big 12 chronicles.
Rohr went on to earn an unprecedented third All-America honor at the NCAA Indoor Championships and, as a result of his Big 12 workings, moved to fourth all-time in the event among American collegians.
Back to the Big 12 weight throw competition where the Tiger men claimed 23 points for the cause as Mizzou took spots 2-3-4-and-5. Rohr was second while junior Tyler Dailey (Joplin, Mo.) finished third and went on to his second-straight NCAA event with the implement. Senior Nate Englin (Shoreview, Minn.) was fourth and senior Jason Morris (St. Louis, Mo.) was fifth.
Englin went on to win the shot put the next day with a 59-7 (18.16m) effort for 15 total points to lead the team and tie for the meet's lead scoring honor with Texas A&M jumped Julian Reid. Englin became the third from Mizzou to win a conference crown in the event in the last seven years. Due to the last minute scratch of Florida State's Walter Dix, Englin went on to participate in his first NCAA Indoor Championship and placed 12th after given only three hours notice of his entry into the national meet.
The male Tiger throwers accounted for 42 points in the conference meet to lead the league in the category to help the Mizzou men to a fifth-place overall finish. The field was hot for the Tiger men as 60 of the team's 67 points came from the field.
Included in the 60 was the 10 claimed by sophomore Nick Adcock (Kansas City, Mo.) in winning his first conference title in the heptathlon. Adcock impressed all with a phenomenal season in the event, the seven-event cousin to the decathlon. Adcock started the season on his game in topping Olympian Hans Uldal's school record with 5,644 points at the Iowa State Classic. At the Big 12 meet, Adcock rolled, winning the meet with 5,795 points, nearly topping the meet record. Adcock's best event was the high jump where he cleared eight heights on his first attempt on the way to 6-11½ (2.11m).
Adcock went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Indoor meet to earn his first All-America honor.
Senior Trisa Nickoley (Tecumseh, Kan.) won her third Big 12 indoor title at 800 meters with a memorable run at the conference meet, outkicking Texas' Temeka Kincy in running wire-to-wire for the top podium spot once again. Nickoley ran confidently and as smooth as can be in her 2:08.60 clocking. Kincy challenged Nickoley on the outside in the final turn, but wasn't powerful enough to overtake Nickoley's position. Nickoley became the first Tiger female to win a single-indoor event three times and the first in Big 12 history to win three titles at the distance. Nickoley went on to grab her first All-America honors at the distance.
Senior Shernelle Nicholls (St. Andrew's Parrish, Barbados) took sixth with the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships in breaking her own school record (54-9¾, 16.71m) to earn All-America honors , Nicholls had double-scoring efforts with both the shot and weight at the Big 12 meet taking sixth with the shot and fourth with the weight.
Junior Krishna Lee (Kansas City, Mo.) also earned All-America honors with the shot, placing 11th nationally.
For all of the accolades racked by Tiger throwers, Associate Head Coach Brett Halter was named the Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Along with Rohr's amazing year and three All-America honors for Tiger throwers, six hurlers from Mizzou qualified for events at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
On the men's side, four school records were toppled including Brian Hancock's (Monroe City, Mo.) clearance of 17-1 (5.21m) in the pole vault at the Missouri Invitational in January. Two school standards fell on the women's side including an equal of the 60-meter hurdle record by junior JaNay Woolridge (Jessup, Md.) with an 8.53 clocking in the heats of the Big 12 Championships.
The teams participated in two scored meets during the season. In February, the Mizzou men won the 11-team Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup in State College, Pa., by over 10 points, toppling, among others, Penn State, Cornell, and Princeton. In the meet, freshman Chris Davis (Riverdale, Ga.) took the top spot at 600 meters (1:19.81) and Rohr headed a 1-2-3 sweep of the weight throw. The final two track events clinched victory for the Tigers as junior Dan Hedgecock (St. Louis, Mo.) crossed the tape first in the 3000-meter race with an 8:19.01 clocking and the 4x400-meter relay team of sophomore Jerron Forte (Kansas City, Mo.), Davis, Adcock, and freshman Ryan Blackwell (Fenton, Mo.) came in for the win at 3:12.99, ahead of East Carolina and Penn State by a few steps.
The Tiger women took second in the same meet to only No. 9 Penn State. No surprise, but the throwers gained a significant portion of the Mizzou scoring, as Nicholls won the shot and senior Elisha Hunt (Linn, Mo.) won the weight throw. In total, the Tigers earned 26 points with the weight as Lee was second with a 17-inch personal best, Nicholls fourth, and senior Elizabeth Robe was sixth.
The meet before, Mizzou helped a Big 12 team, made of Nebraska, Kansas State, and MU, defeat a Mountain West team of BYU, Colorado State, and Air Force, 224-145. The Mizzou men chipped in with wins by Davis at 600 yards, freshman Kyle Rood (St. Peter's, Mo.) at 1000 meters, and Rohr with the weight. The Tiger women winners were Nickoley at 1000 meters, sophomore Emily Baker (Wildwood, Mo.) in the mile, Woolridge in the long jump, and Nicholls in the shot.
For the season, on the men's side, only two events, the triple jump and shot put, had team leaders that were seniors. The future no-doubt looks bright for this generation of Tiger tracksters.
Missouri Track & Field 2008
Indoor Season Highlights
* Junior Chris Rohr (Lee's Summit, Mo.) recorded the second-best collegiate mark of the season with the weight throw, marking a school record 73 feet, 6¾ inches (22.42m) on his final toss of the Big 12 Indoor Championships to nearly catch Kansas' Egor Agafonov for the conference crown ... along with earning his third-consecutive All-America certificate in the event, Rohr moved to fourth all-time in the event among American collegians.
* At just a sophomore, Nick Adcock (Kansas City, Mo.) impressed all with a phenomenal season in the heptathlon ... after topping Olympian Hans Uldal's school record in scoring 5,644 points at the Iowa State Classic, he went on to win his first Big 12 title in the event, scoring 5,795, coming just shy of the meet record ... Adcock went on to earn his first All-America honor, placing fourth nationally at the NCAA Indoor meet.
* Senior Nate Englin (Shoreview, Minn.) claimed his first Big 12 crown with a 59-7 (18.16m) toss at the conference meet, adding his 10 points to the five earned in placing fourth in the weight throw, Englin, along with Texas A&M's Julian Reid were the meet's co-leading scorers ... Englin became the third from Mizzou to win a conference crown in the event in the last seven years ... Englin went on to participate in his first NCAA Indoor Championship and placed 12th.
* Senior Trisa Nickoley (Tecumseh, Kan.) won her third Big 12 indoor title at 800 meters with a memorable run at the conference meet, outkicking Texas' Temeka Kincy in running wire-to-wire for the top podium spot once again ... Nickoley went on to grab her first All-America honors at the distance.
* Senior Shernelle Nicholls (St. Andrew's Parrish, Barbados) took sixth with the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships in breaking her own school record (54-9¾, 16.71m) to earn All-America honors ... in addition, Nicholls had double-scoring efforts with both the shot and weight at the Big 12 meet.
* In total, Mizzou claimed five All-America honors in the season, including a first certificate for junior Krishna Lee (Kansas City, Mo.) who took 11th nationally with the shot.
* In February, the Mizzou men won the 11-team Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup in State College, Pa., by over 10 points, toppling, among others, Penn State, Cornell, and Princeton.
* On the men's side, four school records were toppled including Brian Hancock's (Monroe City, Mo.) clearance of 17-1 (5.21m) in the pole vault ... two school standards fell on the women's side including an equal of the 60-meter hurdle record by junior JaNay Woolridge (Jessup, Md.) with an 8.53 clocking in the heats of the Big 12 Championships.
* 13 men and 12 women earned All-Big 12 honors at the Big 12 Indoor Championships where the Tiger men placed fifth and the Tiger women took eighth.
* Associate Head Coach Brett Halter was named the Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) ... along with Rohr's amazing year and three All-America honors for Tiger throwers, six hurlers from Mizzou qualified for events at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Missouri Track & Field 2008
Indoor Season Awards & Honors
USTFCCCA All-American
Nick Adcock, men's heptathlon
Chris Rohr, men's weight throw
Trisa Nickoley, women's 800-meter run
Shernelle Nicholls, women's shot put
Krishna Lee, women's shot put
Big 12 Indoor Champion
Nick Adcock, men's heptathlon
Nate Englin, men's shot put
Trisa Nickoley, women's 800-meter run
Athlete of the Week
Chris Rohr, February 26
All-Big 12
Nick Adcock, men's 4x400-meter relay & heptathlon
Ryan Blackwell, men's 4x400-meter relay
Tim Cornell, men's mile run
Tyler Dailey, men's shot put & weight throw
Chris Davis, men's 4x400-meter relay
Nate Englin, men's shot put & weight throw
Jerron Forte, men's 4x400-meter relay
Brian Graybill, men's 1000-meter run
Brian Hancock, men's pole vault
Jason Miller, men's high jump
Jason Morris, men's weight throw
Chris Rohr, men's shot put & weight throw
Rick Scheff, men's 800-meter run
Emily Baker, women's mile run
Lauren Begany, women's high jump
Kasey Kimball, women's distance medley relay
Elisha Hunt, women's weight throw
Krishna Lee, women's shot put
Layne Moore, women's 600-yard run
Trisa Nickoley, women's 800-meter run & distance medley relay
Shernelle Nicholls, women's shot put & weight throw
Blossom Nwaneri, women's 600-yard run
Elizabeth Robe, women's shot put & weight throw
Kaela Rorvig, women's distance medley relay & pentathlon
Ellen Ries, women's 1000-meter run & distance medley relay
USTFCCCA Region Assistant Coach of the Year
Brett Halter, Midwest