June 22, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. - After a successful NCAA season in 2010, several members of the Mizzou track and field program - along with a slew of Mizzou post-collegians - will continue their season at the USA Track & Field (USATF) Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 23-27. Current Tigers Nick Adcock (Kansas City, Mo.), Blake Irwin (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Aaron Dixon (Lee's Summit, Mo.) will all compete alongside several of the Tigers' most accomplished post-collegiate athletes at the meet.
Starting with the current Tigers, Adcock, who is fresh off of a fifth-place finish in the decathlon at the NCAA Championships, will compete in the men's decathlon at the USATF Championships. With a top mark of 7,704 points, Adcock enters as the No. 10 seed in a field of 16 decathletes that includes some of the world's best. Tom Pappas comes into the event with the top seed of 8,569. The field as a whole looks very similar to the field at the NCAA Championships despite having a few professional decathletes sprinkled in. Trinity Otto of Texas A&M, Daniel Keller of North Carolina, Dan Kinsey of Akron, Michael Morrison of California and Miller Moss of Clemson are just some of the entries that Adcock squared off against at the NCAA Championships. The decathlon will begin on Friday (June 25) at 10:30 a.m. and conclude Saturday (June 26) with the running of the 1,500m run at 6:30 p.m.
Both Irwin and Dixon will run in the 800m run as two of 42 scheduled competitors in the event. Dixon, who owns a top time of 1:47.39 this season, will enter the event as the No. 23 overall seed while Irwin, who owns a top time of 1:47.53, comes in just behind Dixon as the No. 25 seed in the event. Both rank in the all-time top 10 at Mizzou with those times and will look to improve those marks while running with some of the world's best athletes in Des Moines. Nick Simmons of Oregon TC Elite enters as the top seed in the event at 1:43.83. The first round of the men's 800m run will be at 5:05 p.m. on Thursday (June 24). Should Dixon or Irwin advance, they will run again at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (June 25) while the event finals will be contested on Sunday (June 27) at 2 p.m.
Highlighting the post collegians at the meet will be Olympic Silver Medalist Christian Cantwell, who enters the shot put as the top seed overall with a seed mark of 22.35m (73-4), which he threw last weekend at Lindenwood. He will have competition from Corey Martin and Ryan Whiting, both of whom have cleared the 72-foot barrier this season. Those three athletes comprise the current top three in the world, making for what should be an exciting competition. The shot put will begin at noon on Sunday (June 27).
Staying on the men's side, hammer thrower Chris Rohr and Jason Morris will compete as well, representing Mizzou at the meet. Rohr comes in as the fourth overall seed at 74.16m (243-3), just behind A.G. Kruger of Nike and Thomas Freeman and Kibwe Johnson of the New York Athletic Club. Those four are the only athletes to enter the competition with a seed mark of 74.00m (242-9) or better. Morris comes in with a top mark of 66.44m (217-11) and will look to improve that this weekend. Rohr and Morris rank 1-2 all-time at Mizzou. The men's hammer will be contested at 5 p.m. on Friday (June 25).
Mizzou will be well-represented in the hammer throw on the women's side as well. Both Krishna Lee and Elisha Hunt will throw as post collegians at the meet. Lee is Mizzou's record holder in the event at 63.77m (209-3) and comes into the event with a top mark of 63.13m (207-1) this season. Hunt ranks third all-time at Mizzou but enters the competition with a season-best throw of 63.92m (209-8). The women's hammer throw will be contested on 3:20 p.m. on Saturday (June 26).
For a complete recap of the USATF Championships, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.