Jan. 9, 2009
Columbia, Mo. -
The 23rd annual Missouri Invitational was held Friday afternoon in the Hearnes Fieldhouse on the University of Missouri campus with over 400 athletes competing in 19 different events.
Head Coach Rick McGuire's men's and women's teams had a good day in their 2009 debut, with lots of noteable performances from Tiger veterans all the way down to some impressive newcomers.
Senior Chris Rohr (Lee's Summit, Mo.), the leading returning performer in the NCAA in the weight throw from 2007, continued his run among the nation's elite, as he won the event in meet-record fashion, with a mark of 21.44 meters (70-04.25 feet). That broke the old meet record of 21.00 meters set back in 1997 by Witek Busse. The mark was also an NCAA provisional qualifier, and just barely shy of the NCAA automatic mark of 21.50 meters.
Fellow throws standout Krishna Lee (Kansas City, Mo.) claimed the women's weight throw with a best heave of 19.16 meters (62-10.50 feet) which surpassed the NCAA provisional mark of 18.75. Freshman Melissa Coil (Clark, Mo.) was third in the event with a mark of 15.72 meters (51-07.00 feet), while sophomore Katie Vanarsdall (Buckner, Mo.) was fifth at 14.51 meters (47-07.25 feet). Coil's previous personal best was 14.84 meters, with Vanarsdall also beating her previous best of 13.95 meters.
On the women's side, senior Kaela Rorvig (Columbia, Mo.) was a standout Friday, as she led a Tiger 1-2-3 sweep in the long jump, with a winning leap of 5.79 meters (19-0 feet), while also placing second in the 60-meter hurdles (8.87 seconds). Her long jump mark was just shy of her personal best of 5.82 meters. Junior Lana Mims (Tulsa, Okla.) finished second in the long jump representing Mizzou with a jump of 5.62 meters (18-05.25 feet) with MU's JaNay Woolridge (Jessup, Md.) taking third in the competition at 5.60 meters (18-04.50 feet).
Junior Angela Potrykus (Evergreen, Colo.) won the women's 1-mile run in a time of 5:05.73, while on the men's side, junior Garett Jeffries (Clarkson Valley, Mo.) led a Tiger 1-2-4 showing in the men's 1-mile run, winning the event with a time of 4:08.66. That time cut nearly eight seconds off Jeffries' previous personal best of 4:16.50. He was followed by Mizzou senior Michael Barrows (Flint, Mich.) in second (4:14.19) and sophomore Dan Quigley (St. Louis, Mo.) in fourth (4:19.70, personal best).
In the men's 800-meter run, freshman Blake Irwin (Bettendorf, Iowa) and sophomore Aaron Dixon (Lee's Summit, Mo.) had a spirited race, with Irwin pulling away and holding on for the win in a time of 1:55.63, with Dixon just a shade behind in second place at 1:55.76.
In the men's pole vault, school indoor record holder Brian Hancock (Monroe City, Mo.) won the event Friday with an effort of 4.90 meters (16-00.75 feet), while senior Steve Shimkus (Columbia, Mo.) was second at 4.60 meters (15-01.00 feet).
For the Tiger women, freshman sprinter Sierra Gant (Wichita, Kan.) placed fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.77, but her time was good for third-best alltime on the school performer list. Gant later took fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.96 seconds.
Also placing on the school top performers list were a quartet of freshmen in the women's pole vault. Abbie Garlich (Greenwood, Mo.) led the way with a third-place showing in the event, clearing a height of 3.35 meters (10-11.75 feet), which is good for seventh on Mizzou's alltime performers list. Fellow freshmen Kacie Gelvin (Lee's Summit, Mo.), Holly Stewart (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and Hannah Cooper (Excelsior Springs, Mo.) all cleared a height of 3.20 meters (10-06.00 feet) to place them fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, in the meet (based on fewest misses) and that mark ties the trio for 10th on Mizzou's alltime performers list in the event.
Junior Meaghan Brougher (Highland Village, Texas) and freshman Stacy Swineburg (Camdenton, Mo.) placed 1-2 in the women's high jump with identical marks of 1.58 meters (5-02.25 feet), with Brougher winning the event based on fewer misses.
Mizzou had quality performances on both sides in the 600-yard run, with freshman Tyrell Everett (Wichita, Kan.) winning the men's event in a time of 1:12.99, while junior Shannon Leinert was second in the women's race in a time of 1:23.72 that was good for ninth place on Mizzou's alltime performer list.
The Tiger dominance in the distance races continued in the 1,000-meter run, as Mizzou finished 1-2-3 in the women's race, with sophomore Layne Moore (Emporia, Kan.), senior Ellen Ries (Ryan, Iowa) and junior Emily Baker (Wildwood, Mo.) pulling the feat in respective times of 2:54.18, 2:55.88 and 3:00.79. On the men's side, senior Brian Graybill (Liberty, Mo.) was second in the 1,000-meter run in a time of 2:26.38, falling just short of former Tiger standout Marcus Mayes who won in a time of 2:25.90, running unattached.
One of the closest races of the day came in the men's 3,000-meter run, where Tiger sophomore Phillip King (Columbia, Mo.) led a 1-2 finish for Mizzou, as he outdueled senior teammate Tim Cornell (Columbia, Mo.) 8:30.31 to 8:30.96 as the former Rock Bridge Bruin edged out the former Hickman Kewpie. King's time knocked more than 14 seconds off his previous personal best of 8:44.66.
Sophomore Jessica Armstrong (Dorr, Mich.) set a personal best in the women's 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:22.79, which placed her fourth overall in the race.
Friday's meet served as a warm-up for next Saturday's rare dual meet at rival Kansas. The meet, set for Jan. 16th in Lawrence, Kan., will be the first dual meet between the school's men's programs since 1976 (the first MU-KU men's track dual was held in 1901), and it will also mark the first-ever dual between the MU and KU women's programs.