COLUMBIA, Mo. - For the first time since the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) began releasing weekly track & field rankings in 2008, the Mizzou women have landed in the top 15 of their top 25 national list. This is the second time this season that the women have made history with the rankings, after they made the top 25 preseason list for the first time in early-January. The women made the biggest jump for the rankings this week, moving up 15 spots from No. 28 to land at No. 13, as released on Monday. This came on the heels of an exciting meet weekend for the Tigers, as they returned from the Armory Track Invitational in New York City with five school record performances, six All-Time Top Ten performances, and 15 personal records (PRs).
Leading the way with school record performances was sophomore LaQuisha Jackson, who reset the 60m dash record once again, first in the preliminary round in 7.33. She dropped that time down later that day, winning the semi-final round in 7.31. This is the third meet that Jackson has landed a new record mark in the event, after she kicked her Tiger career off with a history-making finish of 7.44 at the Border Battle on January 10. She returned home the following weekend, defending her home track by knocking that time down a couple more notches, clocking through at 7.43 during the preliminary heats and 7.42 in the final.
Jackson placed second overall in the 60m dash final on Saturday, and promptly turned her focus to her season-debut in the 200m dash. Despite having the preliminary and final round both on Saturday, along with the 60m dash final, Jackson was able to close the weekend with yet another top-time in school history, placing third overall in 23.90. This time bests the record from 1989, held by the two-time Olympian and Mizzou legend, Natasha Kaiser-Brown.
Jackson sits at No. 5 in the SEC, No. 11 in the NCAA, for the 60m dash; and No. 14 in the SEC, No. 26 in the NCAA, for the 200m dash.
Also marking in with a new school record was senior Kearsten Peoples, who was able to return from a tough shot put competition on Friday and mark, not only a new school record mark, but an NCAA-leading performance in the weight throw. Peoples won the competition by over seven-feet, landing a final attempt of 22.15m (72-8) to beat her own previous record by over three-feet and lead the rest of the nation by just under a foot.
Other noteworthy performances include a win in the shot put competition by senior Jill Rushin, who improved upon her PR, and No. 2 All-Time mark, by six-inches with a throw of 17.07m (56-0). Rushin now sits at No. 4 in the current NCAA rankings, and is No. 2 in the SEC.
Timing through with her second All-Time Top Ten performance of the season was junior Alyssa Felton, who qualified for the semi-finals in the 60m hurdles with a PR of 8.63, good for the fifth-fastest time in school history.
Rounding out the new All-Time Top Ten list members for the women's team is freshman Karissa Schweizer, who returned from a stellar performance at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet two weeks ago, where she crossed with the ninth-fastest mile time in school history (4:46.75), to hit the fourth-fastest 3000m time on Saturday. She finished second overall in the event, crossing in 9:25.31.
The SEC leads the country with ranked teams, holding eight and seven of the top 25 spots for the women and men, respectively. The SEC holds the top four spots in the rankings for the women, with Florida leading the way for the third-consecutive week, followed by Georgia (No. 2), Arkansas (No. 3), and Texas A&M (No. 4). The men also hold a handful of the top five teams, with Florida coming in at No. 2 followed by Arkansas (No. 3) and Texas A&M (No. 4).
The Tigers will remain at home this weekend, hosting the Tiger Invitational in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse on Friday (February 6) starting at 2 p.m. For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
| INDOOR NATIONAL TEAM COMPUTER RANKINGS | |||
| MEN | WOMEN | ||
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Oregon Florida Arkansas Texas A&M Penn State Georgia Nebraska LSU Stanford Virginia Tech Texas Alabama Villanova Texas Tech Baylor Oklahoma State Wisconsin Akron Florida State Purdue Houston Kennesaw State TCU BYU Tennessee |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 |
Florida Georgia Arkansas Texas A&M Oregon Kentucky Texas Providence Stanford Georgetown Kansas State Florida State Missouri Oklahoma State Akron UCLA Wisconsin Texas Tech Mississippi State Southern California Michigan Maryland Auburn Clemson Michigan State |