Tigers Set for NCAA Championships
3/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
March 11, 2010
NCAA Championship Central | Meet Schedule | Declared Female Athletes | Declared Male Athletes
Meet Info: The 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships
Date: March 12-13
Time: Friday: 10 a.m., Saturday: 11 a.m.
Location: Fayetteville, Ark.
Venue: Randal Tyson Track Center
Live Stats: NCAA.com
Live Streaming: NCAA.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou track and field program will make its way to Fayetteville, Ark., for the 2010 Indoor National Championships, which will be held this Friday and Saturday (March 12-13) at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the University of Arkansas campus. This will mark the 10th time in the facility's history that it will play host to the NCAA Indoor Championships as it is one of the finest indoor tracks in the nation.
The competition will begin at 10 a.m. (CT) on Friday with the first four events of the heptathlon, which will feature a pair of Tigers - Nick Adcock (Kansas City, Mo.) and Lars Rise (Trondheim, Norway). The Tigers' third competitor at the Championships, Shannon Leinert (Eureka, Mo.), will also compete on Friday as she will run in the preliminary heat of the women's 800m run, scheduled for a 7:10 p.m. (CT) start. All times are approximate. Live streaming of all events can be found at NCAA.com.
All three of the Tigers' qualifiers this season are repeat qualifiers as all three competed at the NCAA Championships in 2009. Adcock, fresh off of being named US Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Field Athlete of the Year, will look to build upon a fourth-place nod in the heptathlon at last year's NCAA Championships. Despite being honored as an All-American, Adcock has his sights set on a bigger prize this weekend as he enters the event as the No. 2 overall seed. Adcock has already claimed a Big 12 title and broken two school records this season and will look for another great performance this weekend. The 5,938 points the he compiled at the Big 12 Championships rank him second among all Americans this season and 12th in the world (first on an oversized track). That mark is also a Big 12 Championships meet-record.
Rise, similar to Adcock, was a qualifier for the NCAA Championships in 2009, but finished just one spot shy of All-America honors in the heptathlon with 5,528 points. His point total was just four spots shy of earning a spot in the top eight, giving him plenty of motivation heading into this year's championships. Rise currently ranks as the No. 10 overall seed heading into the championships, but has competed in the heptathlon only once this season, and that came at the Big 12 Championships where he finished fourth overall with a personal-best point total of 5,648. Rise also claimed the heptathlon shot put title at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships and will look to defend that mark this weekend.
After the first four events of the heptathlon on Friday, the combined events will resume Saturday morning at 11 a.m. (CT) with the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1,000m run. Adcock claimed two of those event titles - 60m hurdles and pole vault - at the Big 12 Championships two weeks ago. Oregon's Ashton Eaton enters the NCAA Championships as the top seed in the event with 6,256 points, set at the Texas A&M Challenge back in January.
Leinert, who finished as the Big 12 runner-up at 800m and is a two-time Big 12 Champion in the event, will look to add an All-American honor to her ledger this weekend as she is one of 17 runners that will compete in the 800m run. Leinert enters the event as the No. 4 overall seed as she posted a time of 2:04.32 at the Meyo Invitational back in February. A qualifier at last year's Championships, Leinert will look to secure a finish in the top eight this season, ranking among the nation's best 800m runners. A pair of Tennessee runners sit atop the 800m standings, highlighted by senior and event-favorite Phoebe Wright, who holds the nation's fastest time this season at 2:01.47. Should Leinert advance to the finals, she would run at 7:45 p.m. (CT) on Saturday.
Live results, live video streaming and links to a variety of other NCAA Championship resources can be found at NCAA.com. For all the latest on Mizzou track and field, along with complete daily recaps of the Tigers' trip to Fayetteville, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.
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Players Mentioned
