EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Throughout her career as a Tiger, senior Kearsten Peoples has landed herself at the top of school record boards for the indoor shot put, weight throw, outdoor shot put, and discus. Now, she can add a fifth and final school record to her resume, as she finally clinched the top mark in school history for the hammer throw, placing first at Saturday's Gateway Invitational in Edwardsville, Ill., with a best toss of 64.42m (211-4). While earning five school records is an impressive accomplishment in of itself, the feat is made even more astounding considering the world-class quality of those record boards, which boasts shot put marks worthy of top-ten spots in the current world rankings, not to mention the national-caliber performances currently found on the discus and hammer All-Time Top Ten lists.
"This was a terrific day for Kearsten," Head Coach Brett Halter said. "She has been working hard to balance three events for the last several years, and it was fun to see the validation of all that hard work today."
It's been a long-time coming for Peoples, who has been sitting in the No. 2 position on the All-Time Top Ten list for the event since the 2012 NCAA West Preliminary Round where she hit her last personal record mark in the event, 62.38m (204-8). Since then, she's sat within five inches of the 2009 record (63.77m / 209-2), held by current Mizzou assistant coach, Krishna Lee. Now, with only a couple months left to her collegiate career, Peoples has officially claimed the top spot in the Mizzou record books for every event she has competed in while donning the black and gold.
"It feels crazy to not only get the record, but to be able to get a new personal best that has been in the making for a couple years," Peoples said. "The throw that happened today was expected, but hopefully nowhere near where I'll be by the end of the season! I'm just taking what I did today and will get back to work to fix a couple things for the rest of the season."
Performances in the field events ruled the day, as the Tigers collected eight individual event wins, including a third-consecutive first-place finish in the shot put by senior Jill Rushin. Rushin started her season a month ago at the Texas Relays, defending her shot put title from 2014 with a top throw of 17.04m (55-11). She followed that performance up with yet another event win, tying her outdoor best of 17.62m (57-9.75) at last weekend's John McDonnell Invitational, putting her at No. 8 in the current world and No. 2 in the current national rankings. Although this weekend's 17.13m (56-2.50) falls just short of that personal best mark, it was good for a new Gateway Invitational meet record. People also threw beyond the previous record, placing second in the competition with her top throw of 15.92m (52-2.75).
Also earning a new meet record was the pair of first-place pole vault finishers, as senior Katrine Haarklau and sophomore Alyssa Applebee tied for the win with a top bar of 4.00m (13-1.50).
Rounding out the day's highlights was sophomore Jennifer Berilla, who clinched her first event win as a Tiger with a PR performance in the javelin. Berilla entered the weekend at No. 10 on the All-Time Top Ten list for the event with her top throw of 39.46m (129-5) from the Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invitational last month. She bested that mark by nearly eight feet during Saturday's competition, hitting a top throw of 41.78m (137-1) to move into the No. 8 spot in the Mizzou record books.
The Tigers now head into a three-meet week, as groups prepare to compete at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Ia., Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Penn., and the Triton Invitational in San Diego, Calif. For the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
TIGERS' RESULTS
HIGH JUMP, MEN - 2. Mitch Hatten, 2.05m (6-8.75)
HIGH JUMP, WOMEN - 1. Camille Hayes, 1.70m (5-7)
POLE VAULT, MEN - 2. Luke Darrough, 4.55m (14-11) // 3. Parker Brush, 4.55m (14-11)
POLE VAULT, WOMEN - 1. Katrine Haarklau, 4.00m (13-1.50) MR // 1. Alyssa Applebee, 4.00m (13-1.50) MR // 4. Maggie Givens, 3.70m (12-1.50)
SHOT PUT, MEN - 4. Nick Sublett, 14.51m (47-7.25)
SHOT PUT, WOMEN - 1. Jill Rushin, 17.13m (56-2.50) MR // 2. Kearsten Peoples, 15.92m (52-2.75) MR
DISCUS, MEN - 4. Tanner Buschmann, 45.75m (150-1) // 5. Brian Duncan, 43.40m (142-5)
DISCUS, WOMEN - 1. Jill Rushin, 52.25m (171-5)
HAMMER THROW, MEN - 1. Brian Duncan, 59.93m (196-7) // 3. Ahren Bohanan, 54.92m (180-2) // 4. Nick Sublett, 51.94m (170-5) // 7. Sean Harrell, 48.81m (160-2)
HAMMER THROW, WOMEN - 1. Kearsten Peoples, 64.42m (211-4) SR MR // 5. Camille Hackamack, 50.14m (164-6)
JAVELIN, MEN - 1. Alex Pascal, 62.80m (206-0)
JAVELIN, WOMEN - 1. Jennifer Berilla, 41.78m (137-1) #8
800m RUN, WOMEN - 2. Valeska Halamicek, 2:15.98 // 3. Libby Luicani, 2:17.80
1500m RUN, WOMEN - 3. Madison Waymire, 4:37.75 // 5. Bailey Hession, 4:45.85 // 13. Morgan Nelson, 4:58.75 // 14. Becca Batliner, 4:58.94 // 15. Bianca Mello, 5:02.08
1500m RUN, MEN - 6. Chandler Dye, 4:00.79 // 9. Mark Sheridan, 4:06.93 // 11. Chris Mooneyham, 4:08.13 // 12. Billy Leighton, 4:09.96 // 13. Brian Hernan, 4:12.99 // 16. Tim Johnson, 4:21.55 //
3000m RUN, WOMEN - 3. Sam Garrett, 10:35.48 // 4. Kaelyn Balch, 10:43.44
4x400m RELAY, WOMEN - 2. (Halamicek, Luciani, Hession, Waymire), 4:03.57
4x400m RELAY, MEN - 2. (Dye, Hernan, Sheridan, Mooneyham), 3:35.20