June 9, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. -
Six Tigers have made it through the regional round of qualifying and have been accepted to the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Arkansas' John McDonnell Field beginning tomorrow morning. Each Tiger is familiar with this stage of competition, as all six also participated in the national indoor championships earlier this year.
Making the cut are seniors Chris Rohr, Krishna Lee and Kaela Rorvig, juniors Brian Hancock and Shannon Leinert and sophomore Lars Rise. To be entered in the meet, athletes either needed an automatic qualifying mark during the year or finish in the top five of individual events in the regional meet or top three in relay events.
Here's a breakdown of how the Tigers stack up this week against the best in the country:
Brian Hancock, Jr. Pole Vault
Hancock finished tied for third at the regional meet in Louisville, locking him in for Wednesday's preliminaries as the 24th best vaulter in the country. Hancock will have a little work ahead of him in order to make the finals later on this week, but he did finish the indoor season as an All-American and with a solid performance, could do the same feet in Fayetteville.
Lars Rise, So. Decathlon
Rise's fourth place finish at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Lubbock qualified him for the decathlon, scoring 7617 points, a facility record. The combined events are not contested at the regional level and entries are accepted by total points scored in a decathlon, where Rise has the seventh best score in the country. He is also one of four Big 12 athletes ranked in the top ten nationally, and one of six in the entire event, the most athletes of any conference. It's expected to be one of the best decathlons in recent memory, and to repeat as an All-American from a year ago, Rise will need another exceptional performance.
Chris Rohr, Sr. Hammer Throw
Rohr has been a lock for the national meet since the fifth week of the season, as his throw of 71.92 meters at the 100th Drake Relays ascended him to the top of the national rankings, a position he has not relinquished all season. The Big 12 champion in the hammer finished second in the regional meet to LSU's Walter Henning, but is still considered the top ranked competitor in the nation going into the preliminaries. Rohr will see almost the exact same lineup he saw at the indoor championships, including friend, and indoor national champion in the weight throw, Jason Lewis of Arizona State. Rohr finished behind Lewis at the indoor meet and will have to deal with both him and Henning in a fiercely competed hammer throw event.
Krishna Lee, Sr. Hammer Throw, Discus
The only Tiger to be accepted into two events, Lee has shown why this year she's been one of the most complete throwers in Mizzou history. Lee earned her first individual Big 12 championship at Texas Tech winning the hammer throw, but was also awarded the top point earner crown as Lee finished second in the shot put and sixth in the discus for 21 total points. Lee placed third in the regional meet in the hammer and tenth in the shot put, but her best two throws that put her in the national meet came in the Big 12 Championships. Lee is currently ranked sixth and 15th best in the hammer and shot put going into the championships, and could leave Fayetteville with two All-American trophies.
Shannon Leinert, Jr. 800-Meter Run
Leinert has the distinction of being one of a handful of athletes to own two conference championships in the same event, in the same year. She doubled-up winning the outdoor 800-meter run title at the conference meet, already holding the indoor 800-meter crown. Her 2:06.05 time is the best run she's had all year and is the 16th best time in the country. Leinert looks to finish her whirlwind first year as a Tiger with a top ten showing this week.
Kaela Rorvig, Sr. Heptathlon
Just as Rise did, Rorvig also earned her automatic qualifying mark at the Big 12 Championships, placing second with 5372 points. She sits 18th going into Thursday's events out of 27 accepted entries and is only one of two Big 12 athletes competing this week. With a solid performance against the nation's best, Rorvig can end her collegiate career on the medal stand.
The entire event can be followed at the official website of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at http://www.ncaa.com/loc/ncaa-c-otrack-loc.html with free live streaming and results of every event. The meet will begin tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. with the men's hammer throw preliminaries.