March 7, 2009
Ames, IA - With the last chances for many athletes to make the national championships, athletes on the Missouri Tigers track team would face a challenging weekend, but come out on the other end putting three more participants in Krishna Lee, Shannon Leinert and Brian Hancock in the mix among the nation's best in College Station next weekend.
"These last chance meets are like roller coasters, and we hit all sides of it," head coach Dr. Rick McGuire said. "There was joy and heartbreak, but at the end of the day there was excitement, and we will have a strong group going to nationals next week.
Lee finished the Cyclone National Qualifier keeping the same pace that she'll look to continue next week in College Station, finishing first in the women's shot put and second in the women's weight throw. Lee obliterated the competition in the finals of the shot put with a toss of 52 feet, 9 ½ inches (16.09 meters), nearly .6 meters farther than the second place finisher.
Leinert got a taste of running against some of the country's best this weekend in the Alex Wilson Invitational, finishing the 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.69 on Saturday, and her time earlier this year of 2:05.99 is still one of the better times in the country, and should get her into the championships.
Shannon and the women's 4x400 team would see the same adversity the men's distance medley relay team saw on Friday, when as the women were looking to sit atop school records after three splits of 55 seconds or better, Lana Mims got tripped after receiving the final handoff, got up, and completed the race in a time of 3:45.82.
"It was disappointing to see because they were running a great race," McGuire said. "They were on pace to break a school record, and to have something like that happen on the last leg is something you never want to have happen."
Blake Irwin and Chris Davis finished the men's 800-meter run with times of 1:51.61 and 1:52.60, while Rick Scheff had a time of 1:51.77 in Ames.
The Tigers look to have six entries into next weeks NCAA Indoor Championships in Lee, Leinert, Brian Hancock, Nick Adcock, Lars Rise and Chris Rohr, with the complete list of finalists to be released on Monday.