Track team produces conference champion
The men's team placed fourth while the women placed seventh.
Published Feb. 27, 2007
The Missouri track and field team competed in Ames, Iowa, this weekend in the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships.
In a meet where the top eight competitors' scores count in each event, the men's team placed fourth with 79 points. The women scored 51 points, while producing a conference champion, to finish in seventh place.
"I'm thrilled," coach Rick McGuire said. "Our kids lined up and delivered the best they had the entire weekend. We did a phenomenal job."
Junior Trisa Nickoley was victorious in the women's 800-meter run to capture her second career conference championship in the event.
"I knew there was a lot of good girls and things planned out well in the race as I wanted them to," Nickoley said. "I was glad it happened."
Although Nickoley won the 800-meter race her freshman year, she said her close opponent in the race was disqualified at the end, taking some luster off the victory.
"This win feels more like an actual win," she said.
McGuire said he was thrilled that Nickoley was able to take home another Big 12 title.
"She's a great kid and a tremendous athlete," McGuire said. "She is our star."
On the men's side, the throwers stepped up as expected and scored 37 points, almost half of the team total, in the shot put and weight throw.
"Our men's throws group was spectacular," McGuire said. "Every single one of the throwers went there with a challenge and to get those 37 points was fantastic."
Junior Nate Englin finished second in the shot put with an indoor personal best of 60-5 3/4. Sophomore Chris Rohr, also throwing an indoor personal best, placed third with a toss of 56-11 3/4 and junior Tyler Dailey finished eighth, marking 54-10 3/4.
"It's been a rough year for me so far, so I was real happy with how it ended," Englin said. "It makes it a lot more fun with a whole bunch of us."
In the women's shot put, junior Shernelle Nicholls placed third with a toss of 52-8 3/4 while sophomore Krishna Lee was fourth at 51-5.
Junior Elisha Hunt placed second in the women's weight throw with a throw of 65-7 1/2.
Throws also amounted to a large portion of the women's team total. Women's throws produced 22 of the 51 overall points.
The men's 800-meter run was another large point producer, as seniors Marcus Mayes and Jimmie Jones finished third and fourth, respectively.
Their times of 1:50.60 and 1:50.82 scored 11 points.
"I'm disappointed in not being able to take home that championship, but from a team perspective I'm glad I was able to score some points for the overall team performance," Mayes said.
In the men's mile run, senior Tipper O'Brien placed third with a time of 4:05.24.
The Tigers also garnered points from senior Hans Uldal, who finished second in the men's heptathlon with 5,478 points.
The team will once again return to Ames this weekend to compete in the Cyclone National Qualifier. The meet provides one last opportunity to qualify athletes for the NCAA Championships, which will be held in two weeks.
