COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Track & Field is back on the road this weekend, heading down to Athens, Georgia, for the Spec Towns Invitational.  A relatively small meet compared to last weekend's Florida Relays competition, the field will feature fellow-SEC competitors Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina, as well as Wisconsin, North Carolina, Duke and Virginia Tech.  Events at Spec Towns Track will begin Friday afternoon with the men's discus at 2 p.m., followed by the start of track events at 4:30 p.m.

ABOUT THE MEET
Meet Schedule // Live Results // Friday Heats // Saturday Heats

RANKED FIELD (M // W) - Georgia (No. 11 // No. 7), Kentucky (-- // No. 9), North Carolina (No. 20 // --), South Caroline (No. 9 // --), Virginia Tech (No. 19 // No. 20)

#MIZTF LAST TIME OUT

• The Tigers are coming off a successful weekend at the Florida Relays (March 31 - April 2) and Embry-Riddle Spikes Classic (April 1 - 2), earning a total of 13 PR's, 10 All-Time Top Ten marks, and two new school records throughout both meets.
• Junior LaQuisha Jackson served as one of the highlights of the weekend for the black and gold, running new All-Time Top Ten marks in each of her four events, including a pair of school record performances in the 200m dash (23.10) and 4x400m relay (3:35.97).  That 200m PR, which overtook her previous record by nearly 0.50-seconds, also qualified Jackson for the U.S. Olympic Trials in July.
• Other key performances out of the weekend include sophmore Karissa Schweizer's season-opener in the 1500m run, where she timed through in 4:23.11, a new PR and the seventh-fastest time in school history.  Junior Teylar Adelsberger also highlighted the distance field, dropping nearly 30-seconds off of her 3000m Steeplechase PR to finish in 10:24.52, the No. 3 time in Mizzou history.
• Four Tigers in the field events will also return after history book performances, including freshmen Bri Gibbs in the pole vault (No. 10), Gabi Jacobs (discus), Rebecca Keating (hammer throw), and junior Reinhard Van Zyl (javelin).
• As the teams approach the mid-season competitions, several Tigers have already positioned themselves well within the national and regional rankings.  Jackson leads the team in individual rankings with the eighth-fastest 200m dash time (23.10) in the country.  Also sitting within the top 15 of the current national rankings are seniors Tony Carodine (No. 9, triple jump) and Markesh Woodson (No. 15, 100m), junior Reinhard Van Zyl (No. 15, javelin), and freshman Kahmari Montgomery (No. 14, 200m).  
• The teams now look toward solidifying their qualification into the NCAA West Preliminary Round, which takes the top 48 in each event out of the west region.  Thirty Tigers currently sit within the qualification standards.

#MIZTF FRIDAY PREVIEW

• Friday afternoon will kick off events in Athens with a 2 p.m. start in the men's discus, featuring junior Tanner Buschmann, freshman Will Fife, and senior Ser Whitaker.  Following them in the ring for the women's competition will be freshman Gabi Jacobs, who is returning after tossing the No. 5 mark in school history during the Florida Relays (50.67m // 166-3).
• Freshman Rebecca Keating will look to continue her climb through the All-Time Top Ten in the women's hammer after she landed the No. 8 mark in school history last weekend (56.87m // 186-7). 
• The men's and women's hurdles will kick off the track events for the weekend, with freshman Charles Graham, Jr., in the 110m hurdles field, and senior Alyssa Felton and junior Valerie Thames in the 100m hurdles.  Thames and Felton both own two of the top six times in school history for the event.

For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.