Track runs away with Jefferson Cup

The men's team won 107-93, and the women's team finished 105-95.

By Sean Leahy

Published April 6, 2009

The second annual Jefferson Cup brought Missouri and Virginia together for a competition centered on honoring Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence author and third president of the U.S.

By the end of the meet, senior Chris Rohr showed his independence from the rest of country as he won the hammer throw with a nation-high distance of 70.01 meters.

Behind Rohr's performance, the Missouri men captured a 107-93 victory over the Cavaliers, and the women took home a win of their own by a score of 105-95.

Rohr's mark was also the school, meet and Walton Stadium record. At the end of the day, though, he said he was happy just to perform in the sunshine after competing in 30-degree weather at last week's Missouri Relays.

"I was ready because we had some good weather finally," Rohr said. "Having some good weather this weekend, we obviously had to take advantage of it, and we did."

Even though temperatures hovered in the 50s the second day competition, competitors had to deal with a stiff wind.

"You could feel it at your back about half the way (around the track)," freshman Leslie Farmer said. "Then right when you hit the last stretch it felt like you ran into a brick wall."

The wind didn't stop Farmer from winning the 400-meter dash and running the first leg of one of Missouri's 4x400 meter relay teams. The freshman also picked up a victory in the 400-meter hurdles on the first day of competition.

Both the Tiger men and women headed into the second day of competition behind Virginia in the point total.

Missouri men's squad wasted no time in changing that around as it got rolling on the first event.

Thanks in part to junior Nick Adcock's victory in the 110-meter hurdles, the men's team took over the lead and didn't give it up the rest of the meet.

Adcock's win was just part of a busy weekend for the Kansas City native. During the competition, he placed third in the long jump, high jump and javelin throw.

As for the Missouri women, it took a little longer to erase their six-point deficit.

After inching closer and closer, the Tigers finally pushed over the top with their performance in the shot put. Behind senior Krishna Lee's first place performance, Missouri swept the top three spots and gained a 76-73 lead over Virginia.

"Krishna had a monster day," coach Rick McGuire said. "Those throws were big time throws."

Lee notched a distance of 16.24 meters and finished comfortably ahead of teammate senior Elisha Hunt's mark of 13.88 meters. Freshman Katie Vanarsdall rounded out the top-three with a throw of 13.86 meters.

Just like their male counterparts, the Missouri women never relinquished their advantage the rest of the meet.

Going into the meet, McGuire tried to keep his team from only thinking about beating Virginia and focusing on what they could do themselves.

"I told them it's not a war, but they're keeping score," McGuire said.