Feb. 4, 2010
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• Meet Schedule
• Big 12 Performance Lists
Meet Info: The Meyo Invitational
Date: Feb 5-6
Time: Friday: 4 p.m. (CT); Saturday 8 a.m. (CT)
Location: South Bend, Ind.
Arena: Loftus Sports Center
What You Need to Know
• The majority of the Tigers' top middle-distance and distance runners will return to the track this weekend after a week off. Notables making their return are Shannon Leinert, Blake Irwin, Aaron Dixon and Chris Davis.
• Three Tigers have already qualified for the NCAA Championships. Both Shannon Leinert (800m run) and Andy Oaker (shot put) have provisionally qualified while senior Nick Adcock met the automatic standard in the heptathlon last weekend.
• Nick Adcock ranks second in the nation and fourth in the World in the heptathlon this season.
• The Mizzou women's 4x400m relay team is undefeated through the first four meets this season and will be going for its fifth-straight title at the Meyo Invitational.
This Weekend
For the third-straight week, the Mizzou track and field program will hit the road as it heads to the 23rd Annual Meyo Invitational, hosted by the University of Notre Dame at the Loftus Sports Center. The two-day meet will begin Friday at 4 p.m. (CT) and resume Saturday morning at 8 a.m. (CT). Several field events, including the weight throw and long jump, along with the distance events, will be contested on Friday. Saturday's slate is split into two sessions with the majority of the preliminary heats being run in the morning session.
About the Meet
Regarded as one of the top indoor meets in the nation every year, the Meyo Invitational will feature athletes from all across the country, representing a variety of schools and conferences. The meet features one of the nation's most prestigious individual races - the Meyo Mile. At last season's Meyo Mile, five runners broke the four-minute barrier in the event in what was arguably one of the most exciting races of the indoor season. The Meyo Invitational also features the Ryan Shay Men's 3,000m run, honoring the late Shay, who was a nine-time All-American at Notre Dame. Shay died tragically in 2007 during the US Olympic Marathon trials.
Last Time Out
Tiger senior Nick Adcock highlighted what was another successful weekend for the Tigers at the Bill Bergan Invitational. Adcock set an NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the heptathlon with 5,758 points, the second-best score in the nation this season. He also ranks fourth in the world in the event this season as well. He broke his own school record in the 60m hurdles and set personal-bests in the pole vault and long jump as well. Ryan Blackwell (400m dash), Sierra Gant (200m dash), Andy Oaker shot put), Katie Evans (shot put) and the women's 4x400m relay team all claimed event titles at the meet as well. The women's 4x400m relay team is now undefeated in the first four meets of the season.
What to Watch For
The Meyo Mile highlights what should be a very exciting meet for everyone involved. Michael Barrows will represent the Tigers in the race this weekend as he will join in an event that has a long line of memorable races. Several of the other middle-distance runners will also return to the track after a one-week hiatus last weekend. One of them will be Shannon Leinert, who currently boasts the Big 12's top marks in both the 800m and 600-yard runs. As the defending Big 12 800m Champion, Leinert will be pitted against some of the nation's best 800m runners this weekend.
On the men's side, both Blake Irwin and Aaron Dixon will return after a week off. Irwin ran 1:50.56 in the 800m run at the Adidas Classic and looks to improve that time and secure an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the event this weekend. Dixon ran the program's second-best 1,000m run at the Adidas Classic, showing that he is primed for a breakout season. Just like Leinert and Iriwn, Dixon did not compete last weekend but will return to the track at the Meyo Invitational. Chris Davis will also return to the track this weekend.
The sprints should also offer some quality performances as the group is coming off of its best week of the season. Ryan Blackwell won the 400m dash with a personal-best time of 48.11 and helped the men's 4x400m relay team finish just one second shy of a provisional qualifying mark at the Bill Bergan Invite. His 400m dash time was also just off of a provisional standard as well, setting this weekend up to be an exciting one for the Tiger captain. The women's 4x400m relay team will also look to secure a victory in each of its first five meets this season. Lana Mims also had fine performances on the short track last weekend and will look to carry that into the Meyo Invitational.
Throwers Katie Evans and Andy Oaker - who both rank in the Big 12's top five in the shot put - will also get to test themselves against some elite competition.
Three's Looking for Company
So far this season, three Tigers have either provisionally or automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships, slated for March 12-13. Those three - Shannon Leinert, Andy Oaker and Nick Adcock - will look to add some company this weekend at the Meyo Invitational. Ryan Blackwell just missed an NCAA provisional mark in the 400m dash at the Bill Gergan Invite and then he guided the 4x400m relay team to a time of 3:13.75, less than a second off of the provisional standard as well. Blake Irwin also missed a provisional mark in the 800m run by 0.06 seconds at the Adidas Classic. Katie Evans and Lana Mims have also been close to setting provisional marks in their respective events as well this season. The Tigers are hopeful that some of those names can be added to the list this weekend.
Topping the Shot
Both Andy Oaker and Katie Evans have seen plenty of success in the shot put so far this season. In fact, the two have been the top collegiate finisher sin three of their four meets in 2010. Oaker claimed event titles at the Missouri Invitational, the Adidas Classic and the Bill Bergan Invitational. Evans, who is a true freshman, claimed event titles at the Bill Bergan Classic and the MU-KU Border Dual. She also was the top collegiate finisher at the Missouri Invite.
Adcock in Prime Form
Heading into the weekend, senior Nick Adcock has already secured his spot at the NCAA Championships. Adcock's 5,758 points in the heptathlon gives him an automatic qualifying mark, securing his bid to the championships. In fact, the mark was just 37 points off of his own school record in the event. He is also currently ranked fourth in the World and second in the nation in the event. With a strong finish to the season, Adcock looks primed to add a fourth All-America honor to his name.
Four-for-Four
Despite running without Shannon Leinert at the Bill Bergan Invitational last weekend, the women's 4x400m relay team extended its winning streak to four-straight meets. Sierra Gant ran in place of Leinert, who did not make the trip, as the foursome clocked a time of 3:46.83, Mizzou's second-best time in the event this season. Leinert will be back with the group this weekend at the Meyo Invitational as it looks to make it five straight.
Dixon Dazzles
Junior Aaron Dixon had one of the best performances of his career at the Adidas Classic last Saturday, running the program's second-best 1,000m time en-route to earning the event title. Dixon clocked in at a Big 12-best 2:22.38, just behind the 29-year-old school record of 2:21.91, set by Scott Clark back in 1981. His time was just ahead of Jeff Pigg, who earned a 2:22.98 clocking back in 1985. Dixon in the only Mizzou athlete to break 2:23.00 in the event over the last quarter of a century. The time is nearly two seconds better than his previous personal-best in the event.
Shannon Tops the Big 12
Senior Shannon Leinert, who is the defending indoor and outdoor Big 12 800m Champion, sits atop the league in a pair of events after the first four weeks of the season. Not only does she own the league's best 800m time - she set an NCAA provisional mark of 2:07.64 at the Adidas Classic - but she also owns the Big 12's top mark in the 600-yard run at 1:21.90.
So Close for Irwin
Although Shannon Leinert and Andy Oaker set NCAA provisional marks at the Adidas Classic two weeks ago, teammate Blake Irwin came extremely close to doing so in the men's 800m run. He clocked in at 1:50.56, just .06 seconds shy of provisionally qualifying for the Championships.
Fantastic Farmer
Sophomore Leslie Farmer has been one of the Tigers' top performers in the 600-yard run all season and the results have showed. After the first three weeks of competition, Farmer ranks fourth in the Big 12 with a time of 1:22.84 and is less than a second behind the current second-place athlete, Kianna Elahi of Iowa State. It is still early in the season, but Farmer has established herself as one of the favorites to bring home the 600-yard Big 12 title this season. Farmer has also ran as the first leg of the women's 4x400m relay team, which remains undefeated so far this season through the first four weeks.
Back in Blackwell
Staying on the topic of the 600-yard run, Ryan Blackwell just missed clocking a personal-best in the event at the Adidas Classic, coming in at 1:11.33, which is currently the eighth-best time in the Big 12 this season. His best in the event is 1:11.09, meaning he missed setting a new best mark by just 0.24 seconds. Blackwell also notched a personal-best time of 48.11 in the 400m dash last weekend at the Bill Bergan Invitational.
McGuire's Swan Song
After 27 years as the Head Track and Field Coach at the University of Missouri, Dr. Rick McGuire announced his intention to retire from that position following the completion of the 2010 outdoor season, with his final day in the role scheduled for July 30th.
To date, Coach McGuire has led Missouri athletes to 137 All-American honors, 106 individual conference championships, seven NCAA individual or relay titles and eight NCAA Regional Championships. Beyond the NCAA season, McGuire has coached 46 Olympic Trials qualifiers and 27 USA National Team berths, even coaching four athletes to the pinnacle of athletic competition: the Olympic Games. Both Natasha Kaiser-Brown and Christian Cantwell went on to win Olympic silver medals. Cantwell has also won three world championships.
A hallmark of McGuire's program has been an emphasis on academic achievement, as evidenced by his team's long-standing presence on the USTFCCCA All-Academic list. The women's team has earned this status for 44 consecutive seasons, starting at the inception of the award in 1994. The men are now at 22 consecutive seasons. Individually, hundreds of his athletes have earned All-Academic honors. Under McGuire, Missouri track and field student-athletes have been awarded 22 NCAA Post Graduate scholarships at the conclusion of their undergraduate studies.
McGuire is recognized as a significant leader in the world of track and field, both at the collegiate level and beyond. He recently finished serving a three-year term as president of the NCAA Division I Track and Field Coaches Association, and prior to that served for four years on the NCAA Track and Field Committee. He was chosen as a member of the United States Olympic Team staff for both the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. He founded and for 28 years has served as the chair of the USATF Sport Psychology program. He has been honored by his peers with his induction into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame and the Missouri Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Dr. McGuire has also served for 25 years as a Graduate Professor of Sport Psychology in the University's nationally prominent Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology. He began both the Master's and Doctoral programs in Sport Psychology. Today Missouri's graduate program in Applied Sport Psychology is considered one of the leading programs in the nation. It is McGuire's intention to continue in his academic and teaching role, as well as contributing sport psychology support for the athletes, teams, coaches and staff in Missouri's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Longtime assistant and current associate head coach Brett Halter has been named interim head coach and will work closely with Coach McGuire in this transition. Coach Halter has earned the distinction as one of the world's finest coaches of throws. His athletes are consistently among the NCAA and Big 12 Conference leaders. He is the coach of former Tiger Christian Cantwell, the reigning World Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist in the shot put.
Tiger Academic Success
The Mizzou track and field/cross country program was honored by the US Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for its academic success over the past calendar year. Both the men's and women's cross country teams were honored as All-Academic teams as fall grades have been announced. The women's cross country team earned a term grade-point-average of 3.467, earning the 44th-straight All-Academic honor for the Mizzou track and field/cross country program, doing so in every semester since the inception of the award 16 seasons ago. Mizzou is the only program in the nation to have accomplished that feat. The Tiger men's cross country team finished the fall semester with a term GPA of 3.06, earning the All-Academic award as well.
Two members of the women's cross country team - Shannon Leinert and Kaitie Vanatta - earned a perfect 4.00 GPA during the fall 2009 semester, while Phillip King brought home a perfect GPA for the men's team.
The success during the fall semester for the program did not stop with the cross country student-athletes. In all, the women's track and field team compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.289 and four others - Cortni Ervin, Leslie Farmer, Laura Greenfield and Katie Vanarsdall - all joined Leinert and Vanatta with perfect GPAs. The term GPA of 3.289 means that the women's program will garner its 45th-straight All-Academic team honor from the USTFCCCA when those are announced after the outdoor track and field season.
In all, 18 of the 40 women's track and field team members finished with a GPA better than 3.50 and 30 of the 40 women's track and field student-athletes finished with a GPA better than 3.00.
Adcock at the Thorpe Cup
Mizzou track and field junior Nick Adcock placed fifth overall amongst a field of 14 elite decathletes as part of the Thorpe Cup competition in Marburg, Germany. The competitors at the meet included multiple Olympians and former national champions.
Adcock represented the United States at the Thorpe Cup, a combined events dual meet between the United States and Germany. He set a season-best mark in the pole vault and a career-best in the discus. His overall score of 7,646 points is his best of the 2009 season and is just 11 points shy of his personal-record total.
Cantwell Claims IAAF World Title
Former Tiger track and field standout Christian Cantwell won the shot put World Championship at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Berlin, Germany, after tossing 22.03m (72-3 ½) in his fifth attempt on Aug. 15, 2009. His mark was a new season-best, shattering his previous mark of 21.81m (71-7), set at the Aviva London Grand Prix. The event title is the first-ever Outdoor IAAF World Championship for Cantwell, adding to his two Indoor IAAF World Championships, claimed in 2004 and 2008.
Follow Mizzou Track & Field's Blog!
The 2010 Mizzou track and field season will not only offer some of the most exciting competition, but it will also provide some of the best ways for fans to follow their team. MUTigers.com has developed a blog in order to keep fans in the loop about everything regarding Mizzou athletics. Each sport will have its own official blog so fans can stay current with each program. The track and field blog can be found here: http://www.mutigers.com/blog/track-field/.
Next Up
Mizzou will make its second trip to Ames, Iowa, this season for the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 12-13. The trip is the second of the three that Mizzou will make to Ames. The last trip will be for the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Feb. 26-27. Much like the Meyo Invitational, the Iowa State Classic is renowned as one of the finest indoor meets of the season as the Cyclones will play host to some of the top competition from around the nation at the meet.