Track and Field Announces Team Captains
11/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Nov. 30, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Ten student-athletes will serve as captains for the Mizzou track and field team for the upcoming 2010 season, as announced by the program Monday morning (Nov. 30). Each gender will have five captains representing the majority of the event groups. The men's team captains are sprinter Ryan Blackwell (Fenton, Mo.), mid-distance standout Chris Davis (Riverdale, Ga.), distance stars Tim Cornell (Columbia, Mo.) and Dan Quigley (St. Louis, Mo.) and pole vault NCAA National qualifier Brian Hancock (Monroe City, Mo.). The women's team will be captained by distance runners Ellen Ries (Ryan, Iowa) and Angela Potrykus (Evergreen, Colo.) along with the defending Big 12 800m Champion Shannon Leinert (Eureka, Mo.), jumper Lana Mims (Tulsa, Okla.) and thrower Katie Vanarsdall (Buckner, Mo.).
Starting with the men's team captains, Blackwell has been one of the Tigers' top sprinters during his time at Mizzou. The junior was a staple for Mizzou in the 200m and 400m dashes throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2009 and was a member of the 4x400m relay team that took home All-Big Indoor honors back in 2008. Davis was one of the Tigers' top performers last season as he finished sixth overall at the NCAA Mideast Regional in the 400m hurdles after clocking a time of 51.35. Davis set four personal-best marks during the 2009 season, three of which came on the outdoor track.
Cornell and Quigley will anchor a very talented corps of distance runners in 2010. Cornell, a Columbia native, looks poised to take over as the Tigers' top miler this season. He finished second overall to former Tiger Brian Graybill at both the Big 12/SEC Challenge on the indoor circuit and the Jefferson Cup on the outdoor track. His time of 4:09.56 at the Jefferson Cup is a personal-best. He is also a standout in the 3,000m run and the 1,500m run. Cornell is an NCAA Regional qualifier, a three-time All-Big 12 honoree and an Academic All-Big 12 student-athlete. Quigley enters the track and field season coming off of a very successful cross country campaign that saw him finish first among Tiger runners at the Big 12 Championships. He runs primarily in the 3,000m run and the 3,000m steeplechase, both of which are events that he set personal-best marks in last season. Quigley also ran the eighth-best steeplechase time in school history last season.
Hancock returns for his senior season as he looks to build upon an NCAA Championship-qualifying season in 2009. Hancock will look to earn All-American honors in the pole vault this season as he finished just short with his 11th-place nod in 2009. He holds an indoor personal-best mark of 5.37m (17-7 ¼) and an outdoor personal-best of 5.25m (17-2 ¾).
Ries and Potrykus return as two of the most seasoned distance runners on the Tiger women's roster in 2010. Both have been staples in a variety of distance races throughout their careers. Ries is a three-time All-Big 12 honoree and an Academic All-Big 12 student-athlete. She was also a team captain in 2009. Potrykus is a two-time All-Big 12 honoree, competing primarily in the steeplechase and 1,000m run, and is an NCAA Regional qualifier in the steeplechase as well. She, similar to Ries, is also a standout in the classroom and has been honored as an Academic All-Big 12 recipient.
Leinert may have the most accolades of any of the captains on the women's side as she has been the league's top 800m runner over the past year. In fact, she swept the Big 12 indoor and outdoor 800m titles last season. She is a repeat NCAA National qualifier and has competed for the United States at the IAAF World Championships and is a USATF Junior All-American.
Mims enters the 2010 season as one of the women's top jumpers from a season ago. A seasoned long jumper, Mims also saw plenty of time on the track in 2009, setting personal-best marks in the 60m, 100m and 200m dashes. She also competed for the Tigers in the long jump at both the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor Championships, setting personal-bests leaps at both meets.
Vanarsdall rounds out the captains on the women's side. She set personal-best marks in five different events last season and competed at the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor Championships last season.
Mizzou will open its season on January 8, 2010, as it plays host to the Missouri Invitational inside the Hearnes Center. For an event-by-event season preview and all the latest on Mizzou track and field, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com.
Players Mentioned
