FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Tigers opened up competition at the Tyson Invitational on Friday (February 12) with a set of personal records, two new All-Time Top Ten marks, and the second consecutive Tyson title for senior Will Crocker. The meet, which boasts one of the most competitive fields of the indoor regular season, will continue Saturday afternoon.
THE MEET...
Meet Schedule // Live Results
The Tyson Invitational is familiar territory for the Tigers, as this weekend marks the fourth consecutive year that Mizzou has been featured in the meet's line-up. This growing history with the meet has certainly produced some exciting results over the past few years, including two 60m dash school record performances from Markesh Woodson in 2013 and 2014, a school record in the shot put from Kearsten Peoples in 2014, a new 200m dash record for LaQuisha Jackson in 2015, along with a string of All-Time Top Ten marks and NCAA qualification performances.
Events at the Randal Tyson Track Center will be streamed online on the SEC Network+ on Saturday (February 13) from 2:30 to 5 p.m. CT.
SEC Network+: Saturday
THE RANKED FIELD (M // W):
| Alabama (No. 15 // -- ) Arkansas (No. 8 // No. 1) Baylor ( -- // No. 17) Clemson ( -- // No. 25) Florida (No. 1 // No. 4) Kansas State (No. 25 // No. 6) Kentucky ( -- // No. 12) LSU (No. 4 // No. 21) Miami ( -- // No. 15) | NC State (No. 19 // No. 9) Nebraska (No. 16 // -- ) Oklahoma State (No. 24 // No. 22) Southern California (No. 17 // No. 7) TCU (No. 9 // -- ) Tennessee (No. 7 // No. 14) Texas (No. 5 // No. 5) Texas A&M (No. 2 // No. 18) Texas Tech (No. 14 // -- ) |
#MIZTF SUMMARY - FRIDAY
Freshman Matthew Ludwig was back in good form this weekend in the pole vault, placing second in the competition with a final bar of 5.21m (17-1). The young Tiger closed with a couple good looks at a new PR bar of 5.31m (17-5), which would put him within three-inches of the current record (5.38m // 17-7.75), held by five-time All-American Brian Hancock.
On the track, senior Jordan Cook got events rolling for the men with a PR performance in the mile. His 4:14.10 finish shaved three seconds off of his previous PR and earned him a third-place finish in the field.
Senior Will Crocker had quite the showing in the invitational men's mile, coming back from last in the field with two laps left to gap the rest of the pack by two-seconds at the finish. Crocker returned to the event this year after also claiming the win in 2015, where he finished in 4:01.34, the second-fastest time in Mizzou history. Although he was just off of that time on Friday, closing in 4:06.22 for his first mile finish of 2016, the performance sets him up well for the championship season approaching later this month.
Moving down into the women's 400m dash, senior Sandrae Farquharson and junior Valerie Thames both saw new PR marks with their in 55.34 and 55.36 finishes, respectively. Both held Mizzou All-Time Top Ten positions heading into the weekend, and now improve on those rankings, with Farquharson now sitting at No. 5 All-Time, and Thames at No. 6. Joining them in the field was freshman Maya Cody, who timed in at 55.77 for 27th in the field.
And, finally, senior Markesh Woodson tore through his season's best in the 60m dash, hitting 6.64 during the preliminary round before crossing in 6.58 for the semi-final. Woodson entered the meet with a top mark of 6.66 for 2016, and now emerges from the weekend only 0.01 off of his current school record mark in the event (6.58).
TWO TIGERS TAKE ON IOWA STATE CLASSIC
While most of the team competes down in Fayetteville, Ark., this weekend, two Mizzou women have made the trek north to face off against an elite mid-distance and distance field at the Iowa State Classic. Junior Teylar Adelsberger was the first to get a taste of competition on Friday night in the women's 3000m. She placed 15th in the first section of the meet with a final time of 9:41.04.
Sophomore Karissa Schweizer will take to the track on Saturday in the women's mile.
HEAR FROM COACH HALTER...
It was another terrific day for the Tigers. We had a lot of things go our way, and even the things that didn't were still terrific learning experiences and things that would have us be excited for the next couple of weeks. I thought our quarter-milers managed the track really well, it's always a very tactical thing to do, particularly on this track. It was great to see Kahmari Montgomery officially dip under 47-seconds, even though he had it taken away. He kind of fell off the curve a bit and dropped out of his lane, which isn't uncommon on this track. Great to see Will Crocker get his legs back under him and run a great race in the mile, that was really exciting. Matthew Ludwig did another terrific job, he's learning how to open up a little bit higher and manage those bigger poles. And it was great to see Markesh Woodson do what he did, now just 0.01 off from what he did last year. He ran two tactically and technically sound races, and we pulled him out of the final as a safety precaution to make sure he's 100% going into the end of the season. Just really pleased of where everyone is and really proud of the team's integrity, it's just absolute. Looking forward to tomorrow.
A LOOK AT SATURDAY
The Tigers will ride the momentum from Friday into day two of the competition, starting at 11 a.m. CT with junior Alyssa Applebee in the women's pole vault.
Among the athletes featured in the field events is sophomore John Warren, who will face the invitational triple jump field at 3 p.m.
Senior Markesh Woodson and junior LaQuisha Jackson are both scheduled to return to competition on Saturday, after competing in Friday's 60m dash. Woodson closed the evening with the second-fastest time in the semi-final heat, crossing in 6.59 before scratching out of the final.
Jackson earned a season's best finish of 7.44 during the preliminary round of the dash, placing 18th in the field.
The women's 3000m will see the return of freshmen Jamie Kempfer and Ellyn Atkinson, who have gone back-to-back with PR performances in the 5000m run over the past two meets. In fact, Kempfer enters the weekend currently undefeated for 2016, after she won the season-opening 3000m at the Border Battle, then earned consecutive victories in the 5000m run.
The relays will end the weekend for the Tigers, with the men's DMR looking to make their way toward a top-12 ranking in the NCAA to earn a coveted qualification into the national championship meet.
On the women's side, the 4x400m relay squad will look to land themselves at the top of the Mizzou record board for the event, after narrowly missing that mark last weekend with a 3:40.27 finish, only 0.07 off from the current record.
For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
| EVENT | RESULT | |
| 60m Dash, Women | 18. LaQuisha Jackson, 7.44 | |
| 60m Dash, Men | 2. Markesh Woodson, 6.59Q // 51. Jonathan Holder, 7.11 | |
| 400m Dash, Women | 20. Sandrae Farquharson, 55.34 #5 // 21. Valerie Thames, 55.38 #6 // 27. Maya Cody, 55.77 | |
| 400m Dash, Men | 22. Jerrad Mason, 48.35 | |
| 800m Run, Women | 4. Valeska Halamicek, 2:11.78 // 6. Liz Reida, 2:11.90 | |
| 800m Run, Men | 10. Mark Sheridan, 1:52.76 // 19. Thomas George, 1:56.28 // 22. Kenny Cushing, 1:57.24 | |
| 800m Run, Men (Invite) | 8. Cain Winebrenner, 1:52.45 | |
| Mile Run, Women | 8. Bailey Hession, 5:09.43 | |
| Mile Run, Men | 3. Jordan Cook, 4:14.10 | |
| Mile Run, Men (Invite) | 1. Will Crocker, 4:06.22 // 4. Luca Russo, 4:10.38 // 9. Sam Dickerson, 4:12.20 | |
| 60m Hurdles, Women | 27. Alyssa Felton, 8.58 // 34. Valerie Thames, 8.68 | |
| 60m Hurdles, Men | 19. Charles Graham, Jr., 8.10 | |
| Long Jump, Women | Lynnsey Brim, F | |
| Pole Vault, Men | 2. Matthew Ludwig, 5.21m (17-1) | |
| #MIZTF LINE-UP: SATURDAY | ||
| 11:00 a.m. | Pole Vault, Women | Alyssa Applebee |
| 12:00 p.m. | High Jump, Women | Karissa Roman |
| 12:00 p.m. | Triple Jump, Women | Danielle Williams |
| 12:00 p.m. | Triple Jump, Men | Tony Carodine |
| 12:15 p.m. | 3000m Run, Men | Patrick Kearns |
| 12:30 p.m. | 200m Dash, Women | Maya Cody // LaQuisha Jackson |
| 1:00 p.m. | Shot Put, Women | Gabi Jacobs |
| 1:15 p.m. | 200m Dash, Men | Jerrad Mason // Niager Mathis // Kahmari Montgomery // Markesh Woodson |
| 2:00 p.m. | 3000m Run, Women | Ellyn Atkinson // Jamie Kempfer |
| 2:15 p.m. | 3000m Run, Men | Ollie Lockley // Tyler Schneider |
| 3:00 p.m. | Shot Put, Men | Avery Carter // Will Fife |
| 3:00 p.m. | 5000m Run, Women | Nicole Mello |
| 3:55 p.m. | DMR, Men | |
| 4:30 p.m. | 4x400m, Women | |
| 4:45 p.m. | 4x400m, Men | |