March 10, 2014

COLUMBIA, Mo. - It's NCAA Championships week for the track & field teams, as three Tigers prepare to make the trip down to Albuquerque, NM, for the nation's most competitive collegiate meet during the indoor season. Of these three, two will be representing the No. 25-ranked program in the NCAA, as released by the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) on Monday, as the women make their way onto the Top 25 list for the third time this season.

Juniors Kearsten Peoples and Jill Rushin will look to improve upon this ranking come meet weekend, as both will compete in the shot put, with Peoples doubling back for the weight throw.  

Peoples currently leads the NCAA in the shot put with her SEC title-winning toss of 17.81m (58-5.25) in College Station, Tx., two weeks ago.  That mark was also good for Peoples' fifth Missouri School Record of the season, breaking her own record in the event for the third time.  The other two School Record performances came out of the weight throw, for which Peoples is ranked No. 10 in the NCAA with her top mark of 21.18m (69-6).

Rushin, who placed third at the SEC Championships, currently holds the No. 14 spot in the rankings after her winning toss at the Collegiate Challenge three weeks ago (16.90m / 55-5.5).

The women entered the USTFCCCA Top 25 for the first time since the weekly rankings began in 2008 on February 18 when they made the list at No. 24.  Since then, they dropped back to No. 25 (Feb. 25) and No. 27 (Mar. 4).  That No. 24 ranking was the highest for the Tigers since 2001, when the women placed seventh at the NCAA Championships.

Peoples and Rushin will be joined by sophomore Markesh Woodson, who will look to defend his All-American performance from last year in the 60-meter dash.  Events in Albuquerque will begin on Mar. 14 and continue through Mar. 15.  For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.