University of Missouri
Rod McCravy Memorial Meet
@MIZ_TrackField Take on Ranked Field at Kentucky
1/20/2016 5:04:00 PM | Track & Field
Meet Home // Schedule // Live Results
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou Track & Field will take on their first nationally-ranked field this weekend, traveling to the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet in Lexington, Ky. There, they will match up against an elite field featuring ten of the top-25 teams in the country, making this the first real test of the Tigers' 2016 season.
THE MEET
Historically one of the most competitive meets of the indoor season, this year looks to be no different as Kentucky prepares to welcome ten of the top-25 teams in the NCAA, according to the most recent USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) poll. The two-day meet will kick off Friday morning with the men's and women's combined event competition, and will continue through Saturday afternoon.
Florida (No. 1 men // No. 2 women)
Georgia (No. 6 men // No. 2 women)
Virginia (No. 18 men)
Houston (No. 25 men)
Kentucky (No. 8 women)
Baylor (No. 11 women)
Miami (No. 17 women)
Clemson (No. 22 women)
Saturday's competition will be broadcast on SEC Network+ (WatchESPN) starting at noon ET.
THE TIGERS
An exciting group of men and women are set to line up this weekend in the black and gold, including freshman stand-out Matthew Ludwig, who will look to tally his streak of PR performances to three on Saturday. Ludwig kicked off his Tiger career with the third-best pole vault mark in school history and improved to the second spot on the All-Time Top Ten list last weekend, defending his home track with a winning bar of 5.30m (17-4.50). He will be featured in the field on Saturday, while junior Alyssa Applebee, who also holds the No. 2 mark in school history on the women's side (4.06m // 13-3.75) takes the runway on Friday.
Also highlighting the Tigers' roster from the freshman class are Maya Cody and Charles Graham, Jr. Cody landed herself in the All-Time Top Ten lists for both the 60m (No. 2, 7.54) and 400m (No. 6, 55.56) dashes in her first meet in the black and gold, and joined Ludwig as the first two SEC Freshmen of the Week for 2016. Joining her in the 400m dash field will be three of the four returning outdoor 4x400m relay school record holders: Ayo Adewole, Erika Lark, and Valerie Thames. Adewole, Lark, and Thames, along with junior LaQuisha Jackson, put together the fastest 4x400m team in school history during the 2015 SEC Outdoor Championships, timing through in 3:40.68
Graham is also poised for a record performance, hitting the second-fastest 60m hurdles time in school history (7.99) at the season-opening Border Battle. While he will continue chasing the record time of 7.92, held by Nick Adcock since 2010, senior Alyssa Felton will look to solidify herself as the sole school record holder in the event, after tying the top mark in school history last weekend. Felton's 8.53 performance during the preliminary heat of the Missouri Invitational last weekend places her alongside Mizzou-greats Teri LeBlanc and Janay Woolridge at the top of the record board. She will be joined in the field by another Top Ten performer, junior Valerie Thames, who currently owns the fifth-fastest time in school history.
First up on the track, though, will be senior Ser Whitaker in the heptathlon. This will be Whitaker's first combined event competition of the season, as he returns after hitting the eighth-best score in Mizzou history during last year's SEC Championships (5214 points). He will kick off the weekend in the 60m dash at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning, followed by the long jump, shot put, and high jump competitions. The remaining three events (60m hurdles, pole vault, 1000m run) will be featured in the morning schedule on Saturday.
Senior Markesh Woodson will be back in the blocks for the 60m dash after hitting a 6.66 during the Missouri Invitational last weekend. That mark, along with the 6.68 from the Border Battle two weeks ago, have been the fastest opening times yet for Woodson. The current school record holder in the event, he broke his own top time from his freshman season on Kentucky's track last year, running 6.58 to place second at the SEC Championships.
Joining him on the line will be freshman Kahmari Montgomery, who opened his career at Mizzou with the ninth-fastest 60m dash performance in school history, hitting 6.89 at the Border Battle.
Among the highlights in the mid-distance and distance events is senior Liz Reida, who is slated to make her season debut this weekend in the 800m run. This will be her first competition on the track since she closed the 2015 outdoor season at the NCAA Preliminary Round, where she qualified in both the 800m and 1500m runs. Sophomore Karissa Schweizer, although having already opened up her season with a performance in the 800m run, will take to the line for her first mile competition of the year. She currently ranks fifth in school history for the event, after timing thorugh in 4:45.02 in 2015.
On the men's side, sophomore Mark Sheridan will take to the track in the 800m run, returning after clocking a winning effort at last week's Missouri Invitational. The men's 3000m run will see a mixture of mid-distance and distance specialists, as seniors Will Crocker and Sam Dickerson are set to take on the field. Crocker, a mid-distance specialist, currently owns the No. 2 time in school history for the mile after he clocked a 4:01.34 performance at the 2015 Tyson Invitational. Dickerson, whose primary event is the 3000m Steeplechase, is the fifth-fastest performer in school history in the outdoor record books for the event.
In the field events, the duo of senior Tony Carodine and sophomore John Warren will be back on the runway in the triple jump. Both have had good starts to their season, earning PR's in the long jump during the first two meets. Now they turn their full attention onto the triple jump, their primary event and the one in which Warren holds a USATF Junior Title from 2015 and Carodine holds three NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifications.
Events at the Nutter Field House will begin Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. ET with the men's heptathlon, followed by the start of the field events at 3:00 p.m. and the running events at 6:10 p.m. For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
THE TIGERS LINE-UP: TRACK EVENTS
60m Dash, Women - Alyssa Felton // Jacqueline Obi
60m Dash, Men - Charles Graham, Jr. // Jonathan Holder // Niager Mathis // Kahmari Montgomery // Markesh Woodson
200m Dash, Women - Maya Cody // Jacqueline Obi
200m Dash, Men - Jonathan Holder // Niager Mathis
400m Dash, Women - Ayo Adewole // Maya Cody // Sandrae Farquharson // Erika Lark // Valerie Thames // Sydney Wells
400m Dash, Men - Kahmari Montgomery // Beresford Sweeney
800m Run, Women - Valeska Halamicek // Liz Reida
800m Run, Men - Kenny Cushing // Luca Russo // Mark Sheridan // Cain Winebrenner
Mile Run, Women - Bailey Hession // Karissa Schweizer // Hannah Thomas
Mile Run, Men - Thomas George
3000m Run, Women - Teylar Adelsberger // Becca Batliner
3000m Run, Men - Will Crocker // Sam Dickerson
5000m Run, Women - Ellyn Atkinson // Jamie Kempfer // Nicole Mello
5000m Run, Men - Jordan Cook // Sheldon Keence // Ollie Lockley // Dan Roe // Drew White
60m Hurdles, Women - Alyssa Felton // Valerie Thames
60m Hurdles, Men - Charles Graham, Jr.
THE TIGERS LINE-UP: FIELD EVENTS
Heptathlon - Ser Whitaker
High Jump, Women - Karissa Roman
Pole Vault, Women - Alyssa Applebee
Pole Vault, Men - Matthew Ludwig
Long Jump, Women - Lynnsey Brim
Triple Jump, Women - Danielle Williams
Triple Jump, Men - Tony Carodine // John Warren
Shot Put, Men - Avery Carter // Will Fife
Players Mentioned
