Parker Eshelman photo

Former MU heptathlete Fiona Asigbee practices Monday at Walton Stadium. Asigbee, competing without a sponsor, needs a top-three finish this weekend at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. She is currently ranked 21st in the world.

There’s more than a heptathlon title riding on this weekend’s USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships for former Missouri standout Fiona Asigbee.

Ranked 21st in the world in the seven-event sport, Asigbee needs only a top-three finish to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan.

Also on the line are invitations to other prestigious international events, including this summer’s Pan American Games.

A sponsorship would be nice, too. Since graduating from Missouri four years ago, Asigbee, 26, has competed as an unattached, nonsponsored athlete, meaning that travel, lodging and other expenses are her responsibility. She’d like that to change. Soon.

"It gets difficult, but you just have to look at it like a sacrifice that you have to make if you want to continue at this level," said Asigbee, who starts her first event, the 100-meter hurdles, tomorrow morning at Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis.

"In order to get better, you have to go to these big meets. In order to get to these big meets, it takes up your time and money."

When she’s not training with her former Missouri coaches, Asigbee takes a full load of classes while working toward a doctorate degree in health education. That leaves little time to earn spending money, meaning this weekend’s meet is big for many reasons, especially that elusive sponsorship deal, one like former Missouri teammates Christian Cantwell (Nike) and Derrick Peterson (adidas) earned after their collegiate careers.

Very little in the world of elite track and field comes without a sponsorship title. Several events at this weekend’s meet have a corporate title, like the AT&T women’s 400 and the Tyson men’s 400 hurdles.

Asigbee wants in on the action.

"That’s not in the back of her mind," Missouri track Coach Rick McGuire said. "That’s always on her mind."

This might be the ideal meet to profit from the exposure. Shoe companies target the Olympic Trials to showcase their new apparel designs, McGuire said. The Olympic Trials are next summer, meaning a strong performance this weekend could earn Asigbee an opportunity to wear somebody’s logo for bigger upcoming meets.

"This is perfect timing," McGuire said. "She’s now a known entity."

More immediate on the horizon is the world meet in Japan. A three-peat of her third-place finishes at the 2005 and 2006 national meets would earn Asigbee her first invitation to the biennial event, which requires a top-three finish and a score of 6,000 points or more. Two years ago, she fell 106 points short of the standard. This time, Asigbee has already earned that requirement by virtue of her personal-best 6,030 at last summer’s national meet.

Though McGuire believes she’ll reach her athletic peak around the time of the 2012 London Olympics, Asigbee sees herself retiring from the multi-events by 2009, leaving this year’s world meet and the 2008 Beijing Olympics on her hit list.

"Hopefully, I’ll be able to be successful the next two years," she said, "then I’ll probably hang up my spikes and hopefully be happy that I gave it my all."

McGuire considers Asigbee one of six heptathletes with a strong chance to crack the top three.

The likely favorite is defending outdoor champion Virginia Miller-Johnson, who in 2005 finished second to another favorite this weekend, Hyleas Fountain.

"Those two have been the most consistent, and they’ve made the world championship team in the past," Asigbee said. "So, they’re the ones you look up to and try to catch."

Other top contenders include Washington State’s Diana Pickler, who owns the highest American score this season, 6,205; Arizona State’s Jacquelyn Johnson, who won the heptathlon at the NCAA outdoor championship meet earlier this month; and Lela Nelson, a Nike-sponsored former NCAA heptathlon champion at Eastern Michigan.

Asigbee should be right in the mix.

"She has a history of delivering her best when it matters," McGuire said of Asigbee, who was the 2003 Big 12 outdoor heptathlon champion. "At the same time, Tiger" Woods "didn’t win the" U.S. "Open, and he’s got a pretty good history, too."

Coming off her pentathlon title at the USA Indoor Combined Events Championships back in March, Asigbee has had her best month of training in two years, McGuire said.

Unlike the heptathlon, the pentathlon doesn’t include the 200 meters or the javelin, and the hurdle race is 60 meters rather than 100.

Still, Asigbee gained some confidence with her win in Chapel Hill, N.C.

"Any time you’re able to win a national championship, it’s an accomplishment," she said, "and it builds momentum going into another big event."

Another gold would be nice this weekend, as long as it comes with some green.

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