COLUMBIA, Mo. - Once again, the Tigers will find themselves in the midst of a national-caliber field, as they hit the road for the final time before the SEC Championships (February 27 - 28) with the Tyson Invitational this weekend in Fayetteville, Ark. The two-day meet, spanning Friday and Saturday (February 13 - 14) will feature 16 of the top 25 men's teams and 14 of the top 25 women's teams in the current USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) rankings. Included in this list are the Mizzou women, who currently sit at No. 16 in the national rankings.
ABOUT the MEET
Schedule | Entries | Live Results | SEC Network+ Broadcast (Saturday ONLY)
This weekend's Tyson Invitational, recognized as the USTFCCCA National Meet of the Week, is set to contend with the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet, hosted by Kentucky in January, as the most competitive meet of the regular season. Known as one of the premier meets of the indoor season, this year looks to continue that tradition with a field that boasts 206 of the current top 20 marks in the NCAA for the sprints, jumps, and throws events. The athletes set to compete also own a combined total of 30 NCAA individual titles between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Last year, the Tyson Invite accounted for 47 of the top-25 marks heading into the NCAA Championships. Athletes will look to continue that trend this year, as crunch time approaches for putting in NCAA qualifying marks. The indoor championships' field is comprised of the top 16-ranked athletes in each event after the conference championship weekend.
The SEC Network will broadcast the meet live on Saturday, starting at noon.
MIZZOU PREVIEW - THROWS
The Tigers are coming off a history-making two weeks, as the women broke into the top 15 of the USTFCCCA National Rankings for the first time since their start in 2008, coming in at No. 13 after a weekend of exciting performances in New York City at the Armory Track Invitational. One of the headlines of the weekend came from senior Kearsten Peoples, who threw a nation-leading mark in the weight throw (22.15m / 72-8) for a new Missouri School Record. She still leads the NCAA in the event.
Also entering the weekend ranked in the top five is senior Jill Rushin, who won the shot put competition at the Armory with a PR toss of 17.07m (56-0). She currently holds the fifth-best mark in the shot put for the 2015 season.
Both Peoples and Rushin will take to the ring in the shot put competition on Saturday, with Peoples returning from Friday's weight throw competition where she will be joined by senior Camille Hackamack. Peoples and Rushin are returning All-Americans and SEC Champions in the shot put, with Peoples earning the conference title during the indoor season and Rushin claiming it during the outdoor championship.
On the men's side, sophomore Ahren Bohanan will retake the ring after his winning PR performance at last week's Tiger Invitational (18.63m / 61-1.50). Joining him in the competition will be senior Brian Duncan, who will look to break his way into the Top Ten list for the event.
MIZZOU PREVIEW - JUMPS
The triple jump trio of juniors Tony Carodine and Jonathan Ilori and freshman John Warren will be back in action this week, after an exciting competition at the Armoy Track Invitational two weeks ago. All three hold top-five marks in school history for the event, with Ilori currently sitting at No. 3 followed by Carodine at No. 4 and Warren at No. 5. Warren has had an exciting debut season thus far, wasting no time making his mark in the Mizzou history books. The freshman has led the way for the Tigers in every triple jump competition this season.
The women's pole vault also boasts a coupld of top-five performers in Mizzou's history books, with sophomore Alyssa Applebee and senior Maggie Givens both taking to the runway on Friday. Both women share the No. 3 spot in school history with their PR's of 3.97m (13-0.25).
Senior Morgan Whitson rounds out the Tigers' competitors in the jumps, as she looks to add her name to the indoor high jump All-Time Top Ten. She currently holds the No. 9 spot on the list for the outdoor high jump.
MIZZOU PREVIEW - SPRINTS
Sophomore LaQuisha Jackson also enters the weekend well-ranked in the current national lists. She will take to the track for her fourth meet as a Tiger with two Missouri School Records already to her name. Jackson started her career off with a new record mark in the 60m dash, winning the event at the January 10 Border Battle with a time of 7.44. She cut that time down to 7.43 and 7.42 during the preliminary and final rounds of the Missouri Invitational, then again at the Armory Track Invitational with a 7.33 crossing in the prelims and, finally, 7.31 during the semi-finals.
She also took down the 200m dash record at the Armory Track Invitational, timing through in 23.90 during the finals to bump off the 1989 record from Mizzou legend, Natasha Kaiser-Brown (24.01). Jackson is in contention for a spot in the NCAA Championships, as she sits in the No. 14 spot in the rankings for the 60m dash. She is slated to compete in the 200m and 400m dashes in Fayetteville.
Also sitting in contention for qualification into the NCAA Championships for the 60m dash is junior Markesh Woodson, who is ranked at No. 14 for his season's best of 6.65 from the Armory Track Invitational. Woodson currrently holds the Mizzou records for the 60m and 200m dash, both of which were clocked at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. The first of these, the 60m dash, came during his freshman year when he smashed through the record three times before finally ending at 6.60 and an SEC Championship title. The 200m dash record was was marked in during the 2014 Tyson Invitational, when he placed seventh in the stacked field with a final time of 21.13.
Woodson will be the lone Tiger on the line for the men's 60m dash, and will be joined by freshman Kwadarrius Smith in the blocks for the 200m dash. Smith had an exciting start to his Tiger career, clocking in the No. 8 time in Mizzou history for the 60m dash (6.86) at the Border Battle. He will look to add the 200m dash All-Time list to his name, and make his way closer to that coveted top-16 time this weekend.
A trio of All-Time Top Ten List members round out the sprints squad for the weekend, including two members of the 400m dash list. On the men's side, freshman Jerrad Mason currently sits at No. 10 in school history for the 400m, and No. 9 All-Time for the 60m, with his season's best 48.26. Junior Sandrae Farquharson currently holds a top ten mark on the women's list after she clocked in the sixth-fastest performance in school history at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet (55.77).
In the 60m hurdles, junior multi-event specialist Ser Whitaker will look to continue moving his way up through the All-Time list ranks. He currently sits at No. 3 All-Time with his best of 8.21 from the Armory Track Invitational.
MIZZOU PREVIEW - MID-DISTANCE // DISTANCE
An exciting group of mid-distance and distance runners are also slated to compete this weekend, including several current All-Time Top Ten list members. The newest of these is freshman Karissa Schweizer, who has yet to break stride after her exciting debut cross country season which culminated with an SEC Freshman of the Year award and an NCAA Championships qualification. Schweizer currently holds the fourth-fastest 3000m run time in school history (9:25.31), and the ninth-fastest mile time (4:46.75).
Sophomore Kaitlyn Fischer, who was the SEC Cross Country Freshman of the Year and NCAA Cross Country Championships qualifier in 2013, will also take to the line. She holds the Mizzou School Record in the outdoor 10,000m run (33:12.37) and holds the No. 7 time in school history for the indoor 5000m run (16:48.00).
Also highlighting the list of performers for the women is junior Liz Reida, who has had an exciting return to the indoor circuit, just missing a spot on the All-Time Top Ten list for the mile after clocking through in 4:49.00 at the Armory Track Invitational. She re-take the line for the mile this weekend, joining Schweizer and freshman Madison Waymire. Reida will pair that with the 3000m run, joining Fischer, sophomore Teylar Adelsberger, and senior Courtney Wood.
Rounding out line-up for the women is freshman Valeska Halamicek in the 800m run, and junior Courtney Brown, freshman Megan Cunningham, and sophomore Sam Garrett in the 5000m run.
On the men's side, sophomores Tyler Schneider and Drew White will return to the track for their second meet this season. Both hold All-Time Top Ten marks in the distance events, with Schneider sitting at No. 8 for the 3000m run (8:13.73), and White holding at No. 10 for the 5000m run (14:28.07).
Also taking to the line is sophomore Dan Roe, who currently holds the No. 10 time in school history for the 3000m run (8:15.14).
Closing out the men's mid-distance and distance entries is sophomore Ben Goodman (800m run), sophomore Cain Winebrenner (800m run), junior Will Crocker (mile run), junior Sam Dickerson (mile and 3000m runs), junior Chandler Dye (mile run), freshman Chris Mooneyham (mile run), sophomore Marc Dubrick (3000m run), and sophomore Jordan Cook (5000m run).
For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
TIGERS in the FIELD
High Jump, Women - Morgan Whitson
Triple Jump, Men - Tony Carodine | Jonathan Ilori | John Warren
Pole Vault, Women - Alyssa Applebee | Maggie Givens
Shot Put, Women - Kearsten Peoples | Jill Rushin
Weight Throw, Women - Camille Hackamack | Kearsten Peoples
Weight Throw, Men - Ahren Bohanan | Brian Duncan
TIGERS on the TRACK
60m Dash, Men - Markesh Woodson
60m Hurdles, Men - Ser Whitaker
200m Dash, Women - LaQuisha Jackson
200m Dash, Men - Kwadarrius Smith | Markesh Woodson
400m Dash, Women - LaQuisha Jackson | Sandrae Farquharson
400m Dash, Men - Jerrad Mason
800m Run, Women - Valeska Halamicek
800m Run, Men - Ben Goodman | Cain Winebrenner
Mile Run, Women - Liz Reida | Karissa Schweizer | Madison Waymire
Mile Run, Men - Will Crocker | Sam Dickerson | Chandler Dye | Chris Mooneyham
3000m Run, Women - Teylar Adelsberger | Kaitlyn Fischer | Liz Reida | Courtney Wood
3000m Run, Men - Sam Dickerson | Marc Dubrick | Dan Roe
5000m Run, Women - Courtney Brown | Megan Cunningham | Sam Garrett
5000m Run, Men - Jordan Cook | Tyler Schneider | Drew White