University of Missouri
Husker Invitational
Tigers Shine at Day Two of Husker Invite
2/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 5, 2011
LINCOLN, Neb. - The Mizzou track and field team completed action at the 36th Annual Husker Invitational on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 5) at the Bob Devaney Sports Complex at the University of Nebraska. In all, the Tigers had a tremendous performance as there were plenty of highlights to go around, but none were better than what happened in the women's shot put.
Freshman Kearsten Peoples (Ottawa, Kan.) stole the show for the Tiger women as she placed third overall in the shot put with a toss of 15.86m (52-0 ½), a massive personal-best. To put her mark into perspective, that would rank 20th nationally this week and she would rank as the No. 2 true freshman on the national descending order list. She finished third in the event behind a pair of NCAA automatic qualifiers on Saturday as she continues to impress in her first season donning the black and gold. That mark ranks her fourth on Mizzou's all-time list as well, trailing only All-Americans Shernelle Nicholls, Janae Strickland and Krishna Lee. It is also a Mizzou indoor freshman record, topping the mark that was previously held by current Tiger sophomore Katie Evans (Powersville, Mo.).
Aside from Peoples' performance in the shot put, Evans placed eighth with a top throw of 14.89m (48-10 ¼) while freshman Jill Rushin (Jackson, Mo.) placed 11th overall with a throw of 14.83m (48-8). The mark for Evans is a season-best while Rushin's is her second-best throw of the season. Mizzou seemingly has a very bright future in the women's shot put as all three rank in the top nine all-time at Mizzou (indoor). Rushin threatened the Mizzou freshman record in the shot put just last week with her throw of 14.97m (49-1 ½).
Three-time All-American Brian Hancock (Monroe City, Mo.) also nearly set a school record in the pole vault as he placed second overall with a maximum clearance of 5.22m (17-1 ½). However, the Tiger senior did have three cracks at clearing his school record mark of 5.37m (17-7 ¼) but could not clear in any of his three attempts. His third attempt was very close but was just short.
Laura Roxberg (Overland Park, Kan.) was also very impressive for the Tigers on the track as she finished second overall in the 1,000m run with a personal-best time of 2:47.54. She was second in the race to only K-State's Boglarka Bozzay, who broke former Tiger Ashley Patten's meet record with a time of 2:45.91 on Saturday. Roxberg continues to rank among the Big 12 elite in the event this season.
Junior Megan Kowalik (Foristell, Mo.) got things started for the Tigers on Saturday as she turned in her second straight quality performance in the women's mile, placing third with a time of 5:06.49. Last week she shaved nearly 10 seconds off of her personal-best after clocking in at 5:04.11 and her time this week was close to that mark as well. Layne Moore (Emporia, Kan.) also had a nice day in the middle-distance events for the Tigers as she placed fifth in the 800m special with a time of 2:11.76.
Leslie Farmer (Jefferson City, Mo.) kept things going on the track for the Tiger women. Running in just her second 600-yard run of the season, the seven-time All-Big 12 honoree took third with a time of 1:21.86, just a tenth of a second off of her personal-best in the event. The time was also three seconds better than her season-best in the event as she looks primed to make a run during the championship portion of the schedule. Chris Davis (Riverdale, Ga.) also had a nice performance in the men's 600-yard run as he took fifth overall at 1:11.52 in just his second race of the season.
Moving to the field events, senior Stacy Swineburg (Camdenton, Mo.) continued her breakout season by taking seventh in the women's high jump with a clearance of 1.65m (5-5) while teammate Camille Hayes (Indianapolis, Ind.) took ninth with the same mark. She failed to clear the opening bar at 1.60m (5-3) on her first attempt, which dropped her back from what would have been a three-way tie for seventh. On the men's side, freshman Tim Willams (Waynesville, Mo.) was the Tigers' top finisher with a leap of 2.00m (6-6 ¾), placing him ninth overall in a very competitive field.
In the men's triple jump, freshman Jeremy Lampley (Ballwin, Mo.) had a nice performance as he turned in his second-best collegiate mark in the event with a leap of 14.14m (46-4 ¾), his best jump since the season-opening Missouri Invitational when he measured in at 14.20m (46-7 ¼). He finished fifth in the event. On the women's side, Shawnte' Middlebrook (Lee's Summit, Mo.) was the mark of consistency for the Tigers as she turned in three fair jumps in her six attempts, registering a top mark of 11.66m (38-3 ¼). Her other two jumps were just a centimeter less at 11.65m (38-2 ¾) as she placed ninth in the event.
Lana Mims (Tulsa, Okla.) followed her runner-up nod in the long jump yesterday with a first-place nod in the consolation of the women's 60m dash as she clocked a time of 7.77, just seven tenths off of her career-best in the event. Staying in the sprints, freshman Cara Forte (Kansas City, Mo.) placed sixth in the 200m dash finals with a personal-best clocking in 25.11.
In the men's shot put, sophomore Corey Jones (Boonville, Mo.) was Mizzou's top finisher as he placed sixth at 17.11m (56-1 ¾) and classmate Brooks Mosier (Lee's Summit, Mo.) was ninth at 16.54m (54-3 ¼). The 4x400m relay closed out the competition and women's team - comprised of Farmer, Moore, Landon Wachter (Jackson, Mo.) and Mims - clocked in at 3:49.41 to place fourth overall. The men countered with a time of 3:16.99 to place third in their heat.
Mizzou will be back in action next weekend at the ISU Classic, which begins Friday. For all the latest on Mizzou track and field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
Players Mentioned
