Catching Up

Wow, we are already two meets into the season and there is so much to tell!

Arizona State (3/22 2008):

We had an extra long spring break this year as Easter Break and Spring Break ran together, so we decided to take a week long training trip to Arizona and take advantage of the excellent weather and get in some solid training and good competition.

We flew out Monday morning April 17th and arrived in Phoenix with no travel difficulty. After grabbing our bags we headed to the hotel in Tempe to check in, change into some warm-weather clothes and head out for some lunch. Following lunch the team had a little time to relax before we headed to a local park to get in an easy workout to shakeout some of the stiffness lingering from the flight. Monday evening we headed to Coach Nelson’s aunt and uncle’s house, who live in Phoenix, for a big cookout. What an awesome cookout is was! The team really had a good time as Coach Nelson’s Uncle Bob grilled a ton of burgers and Aunt Mandee cooked lasagna.
On Tuesday we headed to practice in the morning. We trained every day at Mesa Community College. The throwers would generally head out early, usually 7:30 or 8:00am and the rest of team would follow at 9:00am. After practice, about half the group headed off to hike up Squaw Peak. What started off to be a rough trail ended up as a small rock climbing expedition. It took most of the group between 45min and 1 hour to make it to the top. The views were beautiful, and what a hike!

Wednesday morning saw the distance crew head out early for a trip to Flagstaff for a little trail running at altitude. The sprinters and jumpers had a quick practice at the track and followed the distance crew up to Flagstaff a couple hours later to meet up and continue on to the Grand Canyon. What a cool trip! The drive to itself was pretty impressive an scenic as we went from the desert through the mountains and onto the Grand Canyon. I think most of the group was impressed and surprised how the topography changed so rapidly. We spent a few hours at the Grand Canyon.

We have a few thrill seekers who decided to do some amateur rock climbing by climbing our onto some of the rock formations. I am happy to say everyone made it back safely!
Thursday brought our warmest day yet and our last major day of practice. Most of the afternoon was spent relaxing. Most of the team was either swimming/sunbathing by the pool or watching the NCAA Basketball tournament on TV.

Thursday evening we headed to Surprise, AZ for the Brewers spring training game against the Royals. Though the Brewers lost, it was still a fun time and a couple members of the team came home with baseballs.

Friday morning was a quick shakeout workout as most of the team was getting ready to compete on Saturday. The hammer throw was contested Friday night and the rest of meet got underway on Saturday afternoon. The meet saw terrific performances across the board. Many of them would be enough to highlight an individual meet, but the right combination of good competition, favorable weather, and solid preparation combined to result in good stuff.

Here is a recap:

NCAA Regional Qualifiers (also BIG EAST qualifiers):

Erynn James, SO: High Jump – 5’8.75” PR, #2 all-time
Cassie Peller, SR: 1500m – 4:25.85
Carrie Schmid, JR: Pole Vault – 12’7.5” PR, School Record!
Rachel Thiel, SO: Shot Put – 47’9” PR, #2 all-time

US Junior National Qualifiers:

Kristin Pelzel, FR: 3000m – 10:08.33 PR
Peter Bolgert, FR: 3000m Steeplechase – 9:31.53 PR

Big East Qualifiers:
Catherine Benage, FR: Javelin – 124’2” PR, #3 all-time
Kelly Corcoran, SO: Hammer – 164’6” PR, #7 all-time
Jessi Ehlen, SR: Hammer – 173’10”, Discus: 135’10”
Kelly Magennis, SO: Javelin – 124’6”
Rachel Thiel, SO: Hammer – 153’8” PR, #8 all-time, Discus – 133’8”
Liz Wilkie, JR: Pole Vault – 11’1.75”
Men’s 4x100m Relay – 41.62 School Record! (Antonio Jones, Tyler O’Brien, Nick Van Deraa, Raymond Bratchett)
Nick Byom, FR: High Jump – 6’6.75” PR, #5 all-time
Raymond Bratchett, SR: High Jump – 6’6.75”
Mike Boedeker, SR: Hammer – 165’10” PR, #9 all-time, Discus – 157’8”
Jeff Kluge, JR: Hammer – 159’7” PR, Discus – 145’2”
Mark Kopecki, JR: 3000m Steeplechase – 9:24.83 PR
Eric Meissner, JR: 800m – 1:52.11 PR
Tyler O’Brien, FR: 100m – 10.97 PR
Nick Van Deraa, SR: Pole Vault – 14’9”

Other notable performances:
Alyssa Davis, FR: Triple Jump – 35’11.5” #10 all-time
Robert Bleem, FR: Javelin – 174’4” #4 all-time
Dolan Schmidt, SO: Pole Vault – 14’0.5” #7 all-time

Missouri Relays (3/28 – 3/29 2008):

The Missouri Relays were a reality check for the team as we returned to the cool spring in the Midwest. The large 2-day meet featured over 1600 athletes in college, high school, and elite divisions. Despite the cool temperatures, the team really stepped up and competed well. In many cases the weather negatively affected the performances, but our team came to compete and compete they did. We had several victories and people place high in both the university and elite divisions.

Here are the highlights:

Tyler O’Brien, FR: Won both the Elite division 200m (21.56) and the University division 400m (49.99). His 200m time of 21.56 was a PR, Freshman record, BIG EAST qualifier, and makes him #3 all-time right behind Ralph Metcalfe on the all-time list. Tyler was the first person to crack the MU Outdoor 200m top ten list in 14 years!

Rachel Thiel, SO: Placed fifth in a stacked women’s Elite division Shot Put improving her NCAA Regional qualifying mark to 48’5”. That is #2 on the all-time list.

Erynn James, SO: Won the women’s High Jump with a jump of 5’8.75”. This equaled her NCAA regional qualifying mark that she initially set at Arizona State. Her first two attempts at 5’10.75 (1.80m) were excellent, actually getting her hips over the bar before brushing it off with her calves on her second attempt.

Jeff Kluge, JR: Won the University division Discus in a season’s best throw of 154’0”… also qualified for the BIG EAST meet in the shot put (48’6”).

Carrie Schmid, JR: Won the women’s Pole Vault with a vault of 12’1.5”. Carrie overcame swirling winds to beat the Kansas jumper on misses.

Eric Matsuzewski, JR: Placed second in the University division Shot Put with a PR throw of 49'2.5"

Sharon Fritz, JR: Placed second in the women’s Triple Jump with a jump of 36’6.5”

Raymond Bratchett, SR: Placed second in the university division 200m running a PR and BIG EAST qualifying time of 21.86. This is Ray’s first time breaking the 22 second barrier in the 200m.

BIG EAST Qualifiers:

Jessi Ehlen, SR: Discus – 137-2
Jenna Mahaffey, SR: Discus – 138-1, Hammer – 160-5
Rachel Thiel, SO: Discus – 135-4
Rob Bleem, FR: Javelin – 179-1 PR (#4 in MU History)
Mike Boedeker, SR: Discus – 158-11 Season’s Best
Peter Bolgert, FR: 1500m – 3:59.97 PR
Mark Kopecki, JR: 1500m – 3:57.63 PR
Michael O’Brien, SO: 400m Hurdles – 55.19… First BIG EAST Qualifier for Mike!