May 16, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas. - Wasting no time bursting out of the gate, the Missouri track and field squads set a strong tone early on the first day of the Big 12 Outdoor Championships at Texas Tech with two individual conference champions, and possibly one of the best Decathlons in Big 12 history.
In almost fitting fashion, the Tigers two vocal team leaders, Chris Rohr and Krishna Lee, both won the men and women's hammer throw on Friday, setting meet and facility records in the process. Not to be left in the dust, combined event athletes Nick Adcock, Lars Rise, Kaela Rorvig and Lindsey Bolt are making their mark as well in very competitive Decathlon and Heptathlon.
"We had a lot of challenges today, but what a great way to start a track meet," head coach Dr. Rick McGuire said. "Two great athletes performed well against the best talent in the country and are Big 12 champions, and we're witnessing the best Decathlon this conference has ever seen."
Battling 60 mile-per-hour winds and dust storms, Rohr almost didn't get the chance to throw at all today because of the weather, but instead, meet officials deviated away from the script and sped up the event, changed sides of the throwing field and combined the flights.
Rohr's first throw of 218 feet, 1 inch sent a quick message to his opponents that the indoor champ in the weight throw was looking for a title. He had two throws over 65 meters and two over 70 meters, and it would have been three if one of the throws would not have been called foul. Fortunately, that point was moot as he went out and threw farther on his next attempt, which would be a Big 12 Championship and facility record 233 feet, 11 inches.
"The first thing that comes to mind is redemption from what happened last year," Rohr said. "I can't think of a better way to go out than by breaking the meet record and finishing the way I did today."
For Lee, the only thing that stood between her and the first Big 12 individual crown of her career would be a familiar foe in K-State's Lauren Groves. Of her six throws, four were foul, but everything came to a head on Lee and Grove's fourth throw. Although neither knew it, first and second place were decided on those throws, as Lee threw a season and personal best 209 feet, 2 inches, 14 feet better than Groves for the title. Lee is the second Tiger to win the women's hammer throw and is the first since 2004 when Holly Scherder won it.
Earlier in the day, the multi's dominated the track, and it showed with six decathletes scoring over 4,000 points in the first day, including Adcock and Rise who sit fourth and fifth after day one. Adcock has 4,167 points after five events while Rise has 4,107. Rise is only back 124 points, while Adcock is only 64 points back. With some of their better events on Saturday, expect both to make a strong charge late.
Rorvig's 3,266 points in the Heptathlon has her in second place going into tomorrow's final events, with Lindsey Boldt in fourth with 3,029 points and Lauren Begany in eighth with 2,887 points. Only 285 points back, Kaela had three personal bests and a first place, fourth place and two second place finishes will have her positioned to make a strong run early on Saturday, in one of her better events, the long jump.
The Tigers will head into the championships in full force tomorrow, beginning with the conclusions of the decathlon and heptathlon.