Character propels Tigers’ throwers to NCAA finals

Collegiate track and field can be seen an individual sport. Each part of a team, distance runners, sprinters, jumpers and throwers, work on their particular skills in a different area of the practice facility.

Throwers can seem especially isolated, competing one at a time.

Missouri throws coach Brett Halter became familiar with the situation as a middle distance runner at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

“I could recognize sprinters, I didn’t know any throwers. Once one of my teammates came up to me and said, ‘Hey I know you, but you don’t know me,’” Halter said. “This guy was an All-American javelin thrower, on the same team as me.”

Despite the built in division, Missouri’s Tyler Dailey and Chris Rohr were among a group of throwers who found a way to bring the Tigers closer together at the Big 12 Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 23 and 24 at Iowa State. They made a point of cheering for the Tigers’ runners during their races.

“It was really fun to see the throwers run over to cheer on the distance runners,” Missouri head coach Rick McGuire said.

The move even benfitted the throwers, when they found their teammates supporting them during the throwing events.

“It’s nice to see a 90-pound runner appreciate how far a 20-pound weight goes,” Halter said.

Rohr and Dailey finished second and third, respectively, in the weight throw, and are ranked No. 8 and No. 13 in the nation.

Dailey and Rohr will compete this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. But for McGuire, that achievement isn’t the only measure of their success.

McGuire has no rules for his athletes, but instead has a list of three key expectations: Say thank you a lot, go to class every day, and have a passion and desire to be great.

“I’m taking a stand on character,” McGuire says. “Being a good person, that should be the measure of success.”

Dailey and Rohr’s actions at the Big 12 indoor meet are just one example of how they live up to McGuire’s standards.

Dailey, a junior from Joplin, goes about his preparation with a deliberate composure.

“You just have to develop a routine, get up, and go to bed on time,” he said. “When you get out of routine, you get sick.”

In addition to the 25 hours a week Dailey and Rohr spend practicing and lifting weights during the school year, Dailey spends summers in Columbia honing his throws and going to class. The routine has served him well.

Dailey, a biology major who plans to apply to medical school this summer, had a 4.0 grade point average his past two semesters on campus. He also spent time in a hospital shadowing doctors every week last summer and volunteers at a hospital whenever he can.

“I devoted my life to track and school,” he said.

With what little time Dailey has left over, he volunteers for charitable organizations. He has worked for Habitat for Humanity, the veterans hospital and the Columbia Food Bank. However, Dailey said he preferred working with kids and just spent a weekend reading to kids at Daly Elementary School in Fayette.

“I had them try to guess what sport I played and they named off all the sports being little kids,” Dailey said. “They thought I was a wrestler and that I hit people with chairs.”

Rohr, a sophmore from Lee’s Summit who wears a black-and-white spiraled tongue ring, has a more free-spirited, easygoing personality. Rohr is lighthearted despite his 6-foot-4, 260-pound frame. He even joked about being “goofy”.

“What’s wrong with being goofy?” he said.

It could explain why he tried pole vaulting his freshman year of high school.

“I tried pole vaulting and they kicked me out to go throw,” he said. “I knew it (pole vaulting) was never going to happen, but I just wanted to soar 15 feet in the air.”

All this doesn’t diminish his dedication, though. Rohr has had to work through injuries this season.

“I’ve had an elbow injury (in his throwing arm) and a little bit of tendonitis in my knees,” he said. “We’ve been doing two rehabs a week.”

Halter says Rohr’s success, despite the injuries, shows his resolve.

“Chris Rohr hadn’t been able to throw a shot since January, and then finishes third (at the Big 12 meet),” he said.

This is the first trip for Dailey to the NCAA indoor meet and the second for Rohr. They say they don’t think they can duplicate the camaraderie of the Big 12 meet.

“You go there and it’s quite different,” Rohr said. “Arkansas’ facility isn’t set up to have running and throws together, so we compete in a different area (a football facility). It’s really quiet and you don’t get many fans.”

Despite this, expectations for Dailey and Rohr remain high, and the Missouri coaches say they can succeed.

“Ninety percent of the time, Missouri athletes perform at their best,” Halter said.