@MIZ_TrackField to Send 26 to NCAA West Preliminary

5/18/2017 11:34:00 AM | Track & Field

SEC Champions Ward, Kempfer, Jacobs and Schweizer headline Mizzou’s entries in Austin

Full List of Men's Qualifiers
Full List of Women's Qualifiers

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Postseason competition will continue for Mizzou Track & Field at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships with the national organization announcing the qualifying field on Thursday. In total, Mizzou will send 26 student-athletes (11 men and 15 women) to compete in Austin, Texas, May 25-27. Mizzou's group of 27 entries – 25 individual events and two relay teams – will be looking to advance to the final rounds of the NCAA Championships, which will be held June 7-10 in Eugene, Oregon.

Leading the way for the men's qualifiers is freshman Ja'Mari Ward (Cahokia, Ill.), who is slated to compete in the long jump. Ward is coming off an SEC Championship in the long jump where he posted the second-longest collegiate jump in the nation this season with a mark of 8.13m (26-8.25). In the javelin, senior Reinhard Van Zyl (Hoedspruit, South Africa) will enter the meet with the third-best mark after finishing runner-up at the SEC Championships with a toss of 77.20m (253-3). Returning NCAA All-American sophomore Kahmari Montgomery (Plainfield, Ill.) will look to repeat his freshman campaign performance in the 400m dash, entering the meet with a time of 46.76.

For the women, junior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) and redshirt sophomore Jamie Kempfer (Festus, Mo.) each enter the meet with the third-fastest regional time in their respective events, Schweizer in the 5000m run and Kempfer in the 10,000m run. Schweizer and Kempfer each won SEC titles last week in Columbia, S.C., and hold the school record in the events they will run. In field events, redshirt sophomore Gabi Jacobs (Bloomington, Ill.) will compete in both the discus and shot put. Jacobs is coming off an SEC title in the discus where she posted the 13^th best throw in the nation this season with a mark of 56.35m (184-10). Senior Valerie Thames (Milwaukee, Wis.), who scored in both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles at the SEC meet, will once again the toe the line in both hurdles events in Austin.

Competition from Austin is scheduled to begin on Thursday, May 25, with field events at 11 a.m. CT and track events at 4:30 p.m. CT. A live stream of the event will be available through the Texas Athletics website, texassports.com/watch.

For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).

Mizzou Qualifiers
Men (Season Best Mark)
400m Dash – Kahmari Montgomery (46.76)
800m Run – Cain Winebrenner (1:49.95)
1500m Run – Luca Russo (3:46.47)
10,000m Run – Ollie Lockley (29:24.18)
400m Hurdles – Jerrad Mason (51.24)
3000m Steeplechase – Sheldon Keence (8:55.29)
Long Jump – Ja'Mari Ward (8.13m/26-8.25)
Hammer Throw – Ahren Bohanan (60.89m/199-9), Patrick Kunza (60.37m/198-1)
Javelin – Alex Pascal (66.23m/217-3), Reinhard Van Zyl (77.20m/253-3)