April 7, 2011
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou track and field team will continue its outdoor season as it hosts the annual Tom Botts Invitational, beginning Friday (April 8) at 2 p.m. The meet will resume on Saturday (April 9) at 10 a.m. at Audrey Walton Track Complex. The meet will be scored and the Tigers will compete against teams from Northern Illinois, Illinois, Drake, Northern Iowa, Indiana State, SEMO and Central Missouri.
Friday's slate of competition will include a variety of field events and the running of both the men's and women's 3,000m steeplechase. The discus, shot put, long jump and women's pole vault will all be contested in the field on Friday. On Saturday, the majority of the track events and the remaining field events will be contested, beginning at 10 a.m.
The Tom Botts Invitational was established 15 years ago by the current Mizzou coaching staff in order to pay homage to the legendary Tiger coach that helped establish and sustain Missouri track and field. A native of Mexico, Mo., Botts coached track and field at Mizzou from 1947 to 1972. Under his direction, Mizzou won the 1965 NCAA Indoor Track Championship, one of only two national titles in the school's history, and his teams also won eight conference championships - four indoors (1947-48-64-65) and four outdoors (1947-48-49-51). He coached 48 individual conference indoor champions, 48 individual conference outdoor champions, five individual national champions, two U.S. Olympians and 23 All-Americans. Botts was inducted into the State of Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1977, the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 1979 and the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1983. Coach Botts passed away at the age of 94 back in 1999.
The scored meet will be the Tigers' first scored contest of the outdoor season. Mizzou is coming off of an impressive performance at the Missouri Relays which saw the team claim 11 event titles. The Tigers will look to build on that strong performance this weekend.
At last year's Tom Botts Invitational, both the Tiger men and women claimed the Tom Botts Invitational team titles. Seniors Nick Adcock and Lana Mims were honored as the meet's Most Outstanding Performers. For all the latest on Mizzou track and field, including a complete recap of the weekend, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
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