May 30, 2009

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On the final day of the Mideast Regionals, the Missouri Tigers hoped to get a few more athletes into the mix for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and two more spots are owned by Tigers as Chris Rohr and Brian Hancock both finished in the top five in their events to solidify a national meet berth.

As it stands right now, the Tigers have six athletes who will be participating in the championships at the University of Arkansas, as Lars Rise, Nick Adcock, and Kaela Rorvig look to be in the mix in the decathlon and heptathlon, while Rohr, Krishna Lee and Hancock will be competing in the individual field events.

Rohr saw a familiar foe in LSU's Walter Henning in the men's hammer throw, as both were seeded in the final flight as the top two competitors in the event. He would set a stadium record with his throw of 224 feet, 2 inches (68.34m), and finished second to Henning's throw of 70.56 meters. Both will compete against one another for an individual national title in two weeks.

Hancock cleared 16 feet, 11 inches (5.16m) needing only one attempt, and for his efforts earned a tie for third place with Wisconsin's Mickey DeFilippo, 5.50 regional points for the Tigers men's team, and will compete again in two weeks at the national meet.

The men's squad finished in 15th place after the full two days, scoring 16.50 points as Rohr's second place finish in the hammer, Hancock's third place finish in the pole vault and Chris Davis' sixth place finish in the finals of the men's 400-meter hurdles were the only male Tiger scorers in the meet. The women's team finished tied for 28th place, scoring seven points, with six coming from Lee's third place finish in the hammer, and Emily Baker's ninth place finish in the women's 1500-meter run earning a point.

Mizzou now has another week off to prepare for the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 10-13 at John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas.