May 12, 2010
| Dates | May 14-16 |
| Venue | Audrey J. Walton Track & Field Complex |
| Meet Schedule | Schedule |
| Live Blog | Click Here |
| Live Results | FlashResults.com |
| Big 12 Central | Click Here |
| Television | Fox Sports Net (May 21) |
| Live Video | Big 12 Website |
What You Need to Know
• 2010 marks the fourth time that the University of Missouri has hosted the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. The Tigers also played the role of host back in 1998, 2000 and 2002.
• In a year with no Olympics or World Championships, the Big 12 Outdoor Championships is being billed as one of the three or four best track meets in the world in 2010.
• Senior Nick Adcock and junior Lars Rise highlight what should be one of the best collections of decathletes in the world this season. Rise and Adcock rank second and third nationally, respectively, in the event and are among the favorites to take home the title this weekend. The field has seven athletes that could break the 7,600-point barrier, including Big 12 Championship record-holder Moritz Cleve of Kansas State.
• Shannon Lienert, an 800m standout for the Tigers, is the defending Big 12 Outdoor Champion in the 800m run and will look to rank among the conference's top runners again this weekend.
• After 27 years of service at Mizzou, head coach Rick McGuire will coach the final home meet of his career this weekend.
The Big 12 Championships
For the fourth time in history, the Mizzou track and field program will play host the Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Audrey J. Walton Track & Field Stadium this weekend (May 14-16). The meet will begin Friday with the combined events and the 10,000m run, hammer throw and men's javelin finals. The majority of the event finals will be contested on Sunday (May 16). That day will air on Fox Sports in a tape delayed broadcast on May 21. Live results, a live blog along with quotes from each event winner will all be available at MUTigers.com throughout the weekend.
About the Championships
As stated earlier, 2010 marks the fourth time that Mizzou has hosted the Big 12 Outdoor Championships and the first time that the event has come to Columbia since 2002. That year, the Tiger men finished third while the women placed eighth overall. In a year where there are no Olympics or World Championships, the Big 12 Championships has been billed as one of the top three or four track and field meets in the world this season. The collection of talent in the conference is unrivaled throughout the nation as the league features national leaders in 10 different events across the men's and women's sides.
A Decathlon for the Ages?
The men's decathlon will likely be the marquee event at the championships as there are seven Big 12 decathletes who could potentially post more than 7,600 points, giving fans a great reason to check out all the action on Friday and Saturday. Missouri's Lars Rise and Nick Adcock rank second and third nationally, respectively, in the event and will be two of the favorites heading into the weekend. Defending Big 12 Champion and meet record-holder Moritz Cleve of Kansas State will also figure to be among the favorites.
But Mizzou feels that its duo of Rise and Adcock could accomplish a very special feat this weekend as both have the potential to score more than 8,000 points in the event, which would be an accomplishment that has never been achieved at a Big 12 Championship. Mizzou is also seeking its first Big 12 decathlon title since Hans Uldal earned that honor back in 2005. Adcock has had an accolade-filled season already in 2010 as he was the Big 12 Heptathlon Champion with a meet record 5,938 points. That performance earned him USTFCCCA Midwest Field Athlete of the Year.
Two-Time Champion at 800m
Adcock and Rise are not the only Tigers to watch this weekend as defending Big 12 Outdoor 800m Champion Shannon Leinert will look to once again rank among the conference elite on Sunday. Leinert clocked a top time of 2:04.32 during the indoor season, but placed second at the Big 12 Indoor Championships by just three hundredths of a second after being passed by Purity Biwott of Texas Tech at the finish line after leading nearly wire to wire. The 800m field will be strong this weekend, but the Tigers have some of the best half-milers in the nation, and Leinert is one of them.
Off and Running Again
Despite an injury filled season in 2009, Layne Moore is back on the track and running at a very high level. Several foot injuries hampered Moore's production until surgery over the summer helped her return to form. Now, Moore is running as well as she ever has, highlighted by a Big 12 title at 1,000m during the indoor season. Moore will be among the favorites at 800m this weekend.
Long Strides for Lana
Cut from a championship pedigree - her mother was a three-time Olympian - senior Lana Mims appears to be peaking at the right time for the Tigers. Mims had one of her best overall meets as a Tiger at the Arkansas Twilight two weeks ago, most notably due to a personal-best long jump of 6.27m (20-7). That mark ranks her sixth in the league this season and is the fourth-best mark in program history. It also sets her up to qualify for the NCAA West Regional. Mims also clocked her second-best time in the 100m dash, a personal-best in the 200m dash and ran a 54.34 split on the 4x400m relay team at the Twilight meet.
"Shot-ing" Towards the Top
The throws tradition is alive and well at Mizzou and a pair of athletes - Andy Oaker and Katie Evans - should challenge for All-Big 12 honors in the men's and women's shot put this weekend. Oaker comes in ranked fourth in the league in the event with a season-best throw of 17.54m (57-6 1/2). Oaker's top throw during the indoor season was 18.20m (59-8 1/2) and has been improving his marks steadily during the outdoor season. Evans was an all Big 12 honoree as a freshman during the indoor season and will look to build upon that seventh-place nod at this weekend's championships.
800m U
Aside from Leinert and Moore who highlight the women at 800m, the men have a slue of half-milers that could make a splash this weekend. Highlighting that group is Blake Irwin, who holds the team's top time in the event at 1:49.88, set at the Arkansas Twilight. That mark ranks him sixth in the league, but it is just four tenths of a second back from the league leader. In fact, the top 15 runners in the conference are separated by only a second, and that group includes three more Tigers.
Aaron Dixon will be another runner to watch at 800m as he has clocked a season-best time of 1:50.11, but he clocked an 800m split time of 1:47.80 as a member of the 4x800m relay team at the Drake Relays. Ricky West and Tyrell Everett also rank in that group of 15 runners and could score points in the event for Mizzou this weekend.
A Hurdle Farmer?
Leslie Farmer has consistently been one of the Tigers' top performers over the past several meets. At the Drake Relays, Farmer became the only Tiger to ever run a sub-minute 400m hurdle race while resetting her own school record in the event. The very next meet at Arkansas, she once again reset the school record in the event, this time clocking in at 59.58. With the ever-improving times, Farmer is an athlete to watch for Mizzou in that event this weekend.
King for a Day?
Philip King also enters the Big 12 Championships as a threat to score points for Mizzou. He current;y owns the league's sixth-best time in the 10,000m run at 29:42.39, the seventh-best clocking in Mizzou history. Should he run faster than that this weekend, a top-three finish is not a stretch for the Columbia native.
Scouting the Field
On the women's side there are currently five Big 12 schools ranked in the USTFCCCA Top 25 and defending national champion Texas A&M sits atop that poll. Oklahoma comes in ranked fourth overall while Nebraska (16), Texas Tech (18), and Kansas (25) round out the top women's teams at the event.
Several marquee athletes will be on display in the women's events as well. Iowa State's Lisa Koll highlights a talented group as she is the national leader in a pair of events - the 5,000m and 10,000m runs. Koll's top 5,000m run time of 5:17.76 is 20 seconds faster than the next closest competitor on the national list and her 10,000m run time of 31:18.07 is nearly 1:15 better than the next-best time on the national list as well. That mark is also a NCAA record, breaking Sally Kipyego's mark.
Koll is not the only national leader that will be on hand this weekend as Texas A&M boasts a pair of national leaders and the nation's top 4x100m relay team. Currently, Porscha Lucas tops the women's 200m dash ranks and teammate Jessica Beard sits atop the 400m dash list. Also, the Aggie 4x100m relay team holds the nation's best time at 42.56.
The men's teams at the meet are equally as impressive as seven Big 12 teams currently rank in the USTFCCCA Top 25. Just like in the women's poll, Texas A&M sits atop the poll, just ahead of Oregon. In all, each of the seven men's teams ranked in the top 25 all come in ranked in the top 19 teams nationally. Texas Tech sits at fourth while Big 12 Indoor Champion Oklahoma ranks 11th nationally. Nebraska (15), Baylor (17), Kansas State (18) and Kansas (19) round out the ranked men's teams that will be at the Big 12 Championships.
Just like the women's teams, the men boast five national leaders, all of whom will be on hand this weekend. Texas Tech's Bryce Lamb and Julian Wruck sit atop the performance lists in the long jump and discus throw, respectively, as the Red Raiders boast the most national leaders of all the Big 12 men's teams. Kansas' Jordan Scott is currently tied for the top pole vault mark nationally and Iowa State's Hilary Bor is the nation's top 3,000m steeplechase runner.
The 110m hurdles will feature one of the best head-to-head duels of the weekend as both Lehann Fourie of Nebraska and Ronnie Ash of Oklahoma rank 1-2 nationally in the event.
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 139 All-American honors, 108 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 Athletic Department.
McGuire was recently recognized by the Mizzou Athletic Department at the annual ROARS gala at Mizzou Arena. In his final season, McGuire was awarded the Coach of the Year award and was honored with the Mizzou Legacy Award.
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.
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/.
The live blog will be back this weekend in hopes of providing event-by-event results and a interactive experience for any fans that cannot be in attendance at the meet.
Next Up
Mizzou will gear up for the NCAA West Regional, which will be held in Austin Texas on May 28-29. The top 48 athletes in each region at each event will advance to the Regional Championships.