Jan. 26, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou track and field program, fresh off of three very successful weeks to open the indoor season, will be back in action this week as it heads to Ames, Iowa, for the Bill Bergan Invitational, which will be held on Saturday (Jan. 29), beginning at 10:30 a.m. The Tigers also have two entries in the Bill Bergan Combined Events, which will be held before the meet on Thursday and Friday (Jan 27-28).
Highlighting this weekend's meet will be returning three-time All-American Lars Rise (Trondheim, Norway) as he will be competing in his first mutli-event competition of the season. Last weekend, Rise threw 16.62m (54-6 ½) in the shot put at the Adidas Classic, a massive indoor personal-best as he looks primed to make a run towards the national championships. He has competed in the long jump and 60m hurdles, among other events, so far this season.
Rise is currently the Tigers' second-ranked heptathlete all-time after posting 5,710 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships last season, earning him a fifth-place finish and his second All-America honor. Rise followed his indoor performance with a fourth-place nod in the decathlon during the outdoor season for his third All-America honor. So far this season, Rise has posted season-best marks of 8.51 in the 60m hurdles and 6.92m (22-8 ½) in the long jump to go along with his shot put from last week.
Also competing in the Bill Bergan Combined Events will be sophomore Kelcy Vanarsdall (Buckner, Mo.) as she will be competing in her first pentathlon of the season. The sophomore has seen plenty of improvement in each of her events this season and will be looking to improve her personal-best pentathlon mark of 2,946 points, which was set at this meet a year ago. Action in the combined events will begin at 1 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday.
Following the Bill Bergan Combined Events on Thursday and Friday, the Bill Bergan Invitational will be held on Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m., starting with the men's weight throw. The track events will get underway at noon and conclude at 3:35 with the running of the 4x400m relays. Teams from Iowa State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Marquette, Minnesota and SMU will all be on hand at the meet.
In all, 53 student-athletes will compete in the meet for the Tigers on Saturday. Plenty of Tigers who rank among the league and national elite in their events are slated to compete among those 53, including senior pole vaulter Brian Hancock (Monroe City, Mo.) and sophomore shot putter Corey Jones (Boonville, Mo.), both of whom rank in the top 25 nationally in their respective events.
Other notables on the women's side competing this weekend will be Stacy Swineburg (high jump), Kearsten Peoples and Melissa Coil (weight throw), Katie Evans (shot put), Laura Roxberg (mile), Layne Moore (800m), Leslie Farmer and Lana Mims (400m), and Bailey Belvis (3,000m).
On the men's side, other Tiger notables include Brooks Mosier (shot put), Chris Davis and Kellyn Fogarty (400m), Blake Irwin (800m), Aaron Dixon (1,000m) and Chris Holly (weight throw).
For a complete recap of the meet, stay tuned to MUTigers.com.