COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Track & Field is staying in Columbia for their second of three home meets on Friday (February 6), hosting UMKC, Memphis, SIUE, Lincoln, and Missouri State for the Tiger Invitational. The meet comes after an exciting two weeks of travel for the Tigers, highlighted by five Missouri School Record performances and ten new All-Time Top Ten marks.
TIGER INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
Meet Schedule | Live Results
The Tigers will host UMKC, Memphis, SIUE, Lincoln, and Missouri State for the inaugural Tiger Invitational. Events at the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse will begin at 2 p.m. with the field events, followed by the running events at 3 p.m. This will be a scored meet, with the first six places in each event earning points for their respective team (10-8-6-4-2-1).
RECORD RANKINGS
The Mizzou women enter the weekend at No. 13 in the latest USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) national ranking. The Tigers launched into the top 15 of Division I for the first time since the rankings began in 2008. Their 15-spot improvement was the biggest jump in the NCAA last weekend.
RE-WRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
Topping the highlights for the Tigers thus far this season is the pair of school record-breakers, sophomore LaQuisha Jackson and senior Kearsten Peoples. Only in her first season with the Tigers, Jackson already has several record performances to her name in the 60m and 200m dashes. The most recent of these came from last weekend's Armory Track Invitational, where she broke her own 60m dash record during the preliminary (7.33) and semi-final (7.31) rounds. She closed the weekend with a new record in the 200m dash, breaking Natasha Kaiser-Brown's top time of 24.01 from 1989 with a final time of 23.90.
Peoples also broke her own record at the Armory Track Invitational on Saturday (January 31), besting her previous top mark of 21.18m (69-6) in the weight throw with a winning effort of 22.15m (72-8). Peoples now leads the NCAA in the event by nearly a foot.
The Tigers have also seen the re-shuffling of several All-Time Top Ten lists, with returners and newcomers alike making their mark on Mizzou Track & Field history.
60m Dash, Men - No. 8 Kwadarrius Smith, FR (6.86) | Border Battle (Jan. 10)
60m Hurdles, Women - No. 5 Alyssa Felton, JR (8.63) | Armory Track Invitational (Jan. 30)
60m Hurdles, Men - No. 3 Ser Whitaker, JR (8.21) | Armory Track Invitational (Jan. 30)
400m Dash, Women - No. 6 Sandrae Farquharson (55.77) | Rod McCravy Memorial Meet (Jan. 24)
400m Dash, Women - No. 9 Ayo Adewole, JR (56.28) | Rod McCravy Memorial Meet (Jan. 24)
400m Dash, Men - No. 10 Jerrad Mason, FR (48.26) | Rod McCravy Memorial Meet (Jan. 24)
Mile Run, Women - No. 9 Karissa Schweizer, FR (4:46.75) | Rod McCravy Memorial Meet (Jan. 24)
3000m Run, Women - No. 4 Karissa Schweizer, FR (9:25.31) | Armory Track Invitational (Jan. 31)
Triple Jump, Men - No. 5 John Warren, FR (15.62m / 51-3) | Armory Track Invitational (Jan. 31)
Shot Put, Women - No. 2 Jill Rushin, SR (17.07m / 56-0) | Armory Track Invitational (Jan. 30)
TIGER INVITATIONAL LINE-UP
Peoples will be the only indoor school record holder in action on Friday, taking to the ring for the shot put competition. Peoples also holds the record for this event with her 2014 best of 17.81m (58-5.25). Joining her will be fellow-senior Jill Rushin, who remained in the No. 2 spot on the All-Time Top Ten list after her personal record (PR) and winning performance at the Armory Track Invitational (17.07m / 56-0). Rushin currently holds the No. 4 spot in the current NCAA rankings for the event. She also holds the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse Record of 16.90m (55-5.50), marked during the 2014 Collegiate Challenge.
Another event to look out for is the pole vault, which is highlighted by a trio of women who hold three of the top five marks in school history - seniors Katrine Haarklau and Maggie Givens, and sophomore Alyssa Applebee. Haarklau, who is No. 2 on the indoor list, holds the outdoor school record in the event (4.35m / 14-3.25).
On the track, junior Alyssa Felton will return to the blocks after her PR performance at the Armory Track Invitational, where she clocked the fifth-fastest time in school history for the event (8.63). She will also be featured in the 60m dash, joining junior Chelsie Stevens, who holds the No. 2 time in school history.
Freshman Jerrad Mason, who is No. 10 for the 400m dash, and junior Kyle Smith will be the sole Tigers in the men's 60m dash. Freshman Kwadarrius Smith, who opened his Tiger career with the eighth-fastest 60m dash time (6.86) will be back in the 200m dash on Friday.
Junior Ayo Adewole, who cracked her way into the All-Time Top Ten for the first time two weeks ago in the 400m dash at No. 9 (56.28), will be joined by sophomores Emma Vickers and Sydney Wells in the blocks for the event.
There will also be a full crew in the men's and women's mile and 3000m runs, including several SEC Championship competitors from the cross country season. Included in these fields are sophomores Tyler Schneider and Drew White, who will make their season debuts in the 3000m run. Schneider was First Team All-SEC during the country season, and sits at No. 8 in Mizzou history for the event (8:13.73).
TIGER LINE-UP: IN THE FIELD
Long Jump, Women - Lynnsey Brim | Morgan Whitson | Danielle Williams
Long Jump, Men - Ser Whitaker
High Jump, Women - Morgan Whitson
Pole Vault, Women - Alyssa Applebee | Maggie Givens | Katrine Haarklau
Pole Vault, Men - Parker Brush | Luke Darrough | Ser Whitaker
Shot Put, Women - Kearsten Peoples | Jill Rushin
Shot Put, Men - Nick Sublett | Ser Whitaker
Weight Throw, Women - Camille Hackamack
Weight Throw, Men - Ahren Bohanan | Brian Duncan | Sean Harrell | Nick Sublett
TIGER LINE-UP: ON THE TRACK
60m Dash, Women - Alyssa Felton | Chelsie Stevens
60m Dash, Men - Jerrad Mason | Kyle Smith
200m Dash, Women - Sydney Wells | Morgan Whitson
200m Dash, Men - Kwadarrius Smith
400m Dash, Women - Ayo Adewole | Emma Vickers | Sydney Wells
400m Dash, Men - Drake Stuedemann
800m Run, Women - Valeska Halamicek | Libby Luciani
800m Run, Men - Mark Sheridan
Mile Run, Women - Becca Batliner | Sam Garrett | Bailey Hession | Bianca Mello | Courtney Wood
Mile Run, Men - Jordan Cook | Marc Dubrick | Brian Hernan | Tim Johnson | Sheldon Keence
3000m Run, Women - Morgan Nelson
3000m Run, Men - Tyler Schneider | Drew White
60m Hurdles, Women - Alyssa Felton | Chelsie Stevens
60m Hurdles, Men - Kyle Smith | Ser Whitaker
Events at the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse will begin at 2 p.m. with the field events, followed by the running events at 3 p.m. For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.