Montgomery Clocks Top-15 World Ranking in the 400m Dash
2/26/2016 11:31:00 PM | Track & Field
The freshman highlighted day one of SEC competition with two school records
#MIZTF Meet Notes // Day One Results
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FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – Mizzou Track & Field had a historic start to the 2016 SEC Indoor Championships on Friday (February 26), due in large part to the efforts of freshman stand-out Kahmari Montgomery. The first-year Tiger accounted for two of the three school records out of the first day of competition, along with junior LaQuisha Jackson, who downed her own top time in the 200m dash. In all, the Tigers closed day one with 16 personal records, ten All-Time Top Ten marks, and a set of qualifications into the finals on Saturday.
Events at the Randal Tyson Track will resume at 11 a.m. CT with the final three of events of the men's heptathlon, featuring senior Ser Whitaker. Events in the field will kick off at 1 p.m. with senior Nick Sublett in the men's weight throw, and track events will resume at 3 p.m. with the 60m hurdle finals.
MEET INFO
Championship Central: SEC // Arkansas
SEC Network+: Saturday (2:55 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. CT)
Live Results
SPRINTS
It was quite the day for the Mizzou Track & Field sprints group, starting with senior Markesh Woodson who breezed through the 60m dash preliminary round to qualify for Saturday's final (6.64).
It was the men's and women's 400m dash, however, that would set the tempo for the evening, as freshman Kahmari Montgomery and junior Jerrad Mason laid down two of the fastest times in school history during the event's second heat.
Montgomery, who entered the weekend with the 400m school record already under his belt (47.33), shaved off an impressive 1.25-seconds to close in a new record time of 46.08. That mark, which is the fastest time for a freshman in the NCAA heading into this weekend, put him at No. 4 in the overall national rankings and, most impressively, at No. 12 in the world.
But Montgomery wasn't quite finished for the day, as he returned an hour later for the 200m dash preliminary and tallied his second school record of the day in 21.03. This bests the previous record, also ran on the Randal Tyson Track, by senior Markesh Woodson in 2014 (21.13).
Montgomery will return for Saturday's 400m dash final at 4 p.m. CT.
Junior Jerrad Mason also highlighted the 200m and 400m dash fields for the Tigers, as he emerged with a pair of PR's and All-Time Top Ten marks. Mason's 46.89 finish in the 400m dash puts him at No. 2 on the Mizzou All-Time Top Ten list, while his 21.52 crossing in the 200m dash is good for No. 7 All-Time.
"Kahmari is starting to believe in himself, and the time today showed that," Assistant Coach Carjay Lyles said. "Having Jerrad in his 400m heat was a comfort zone for him because they train together. Both of those guys dropped over a second off their personal bests at the conference meet, which is what you want to see. Kahmari is just scratching the surface of what he's capable of doing, and if he stays focused and healthy he'll make Mizzou proud for years to come."
The sprints women were also not lacking in PR performances, including a new school record performance for junior LaQuisha Jackson in the 200m dash. Jackson ducked just under her previous top time of 23.58, also achieved on the Tyson Track, with a 23.57 performance during the preliminary round.
In the women's 400m dash, four of the five athletes in the black and gold walked away from the afternoon's events with new PR's, starting with junior Valerie Thames, whose 53.80 crossing earned her the No. 2 slot on the All-Time Top Ten list. Freshman Maya Cody followed her in 54.83 (No. 5 All-Time), senior Ayo Adewole crossed in 55.77 (No. 10 All-Time), and junior Sydney Wells hit her top time of 57.00.
"I just have to say, they all came into the meet and either ran their personal best or were with a tenth-of-a-second, and that's a testament ot the hard work they've put in," Lyles said of the sprints group. "It was exciting as a coach to sit back and witness them rise to their best levels at arguably the hardest meet in the country. They really did a great job. As a coach, it is great to see, at Championship meets, athletes pleased with themselves and hungry for more after running a lifetime best. My hat is off to everyone who competed today. They did very well."
MID-DISTANCE // DISTANCE
A pair of Tiger mid-distance specialists will return to the track on Saturday for the finals, as senior Will Crocker and sophomore Valeska Halamicek advanced in the mile and 800m runs, respectively.
Crocker was the first up in the mile, breezing through in 4:06.12 to move on to the final at 3:40 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Halamicek was up next, securing her spot in the final on Saturday with a 2:09.25 PR performance, putting her at No. 10 on the All-Time list for the event.
In the men's 800m run, junior Cain Winebrenner also added his name to the Mizzou history books, running the ninth-fastest time in school history – 1:48.97.
The men's and women's 3000m runs rounded out the day's events, with sophomore Karissa Schweizer tallying points for the team with her fifth-place finish (9:27.51). Senior Teylar Adelsberger followed with the seventh-fastest 3000m time in school history (9:32.59), and Nicole Mello rounded out the field for the Tigers with a PR of 9:54.83.
HEPTATHLON
Starting off the day, though, was senior Ser Whitaker in the men's heptathlon competition. He kicked off the two-day, seven-event competition with a new PR in the 60m dash (7.12) and tied his long jump PR (7.01m // 23-0). He will enter day two and the final three events (60m hurdles, pole vault, 1000m run) in ninth place overall.
HEAR FROM COACH HALTER
Obviously it was a really exciting day. The team did exactly what we've been doing all season, and they did it in this environment. We've been talking about competitive integrity all year and they've just been terrific about getting out and engaging in the competition. They did that today against this kind of competition and this kind of track meet and terrific things happened. We always say, just go compete and the fast times, big bars, big marks will happen. Obviously that happened today. We're really excited for Kahmari, that's an amazing thing to do in this environment and in his first SEC Championship. The team as a whole did really great, just terrific.
Events at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, will resume for the final day of competition at 11 a.m. CT with senior Ser Whitaker in the men's heptathlon. For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
#MIZTF RESULTS – FRIDAY
60m Dash, Men – 4. Markesh Woodson, 6.64q // 25. Jonathan Holder, 7.04
60m Dash, Women – 16. LaQuisha Jackson, 7.45 // 32. Maya Cody, 7.66
200m Dash, Men – 9. Kahmari Montgomery, 21.03 SR // 21. Jerrad Mason, 21.52 PR #7 // 24. Niager Mathis, 22.01
200m Dash, Women – 11. LaQuisha Jackson, 23.57 SR // 33. Jacqueline Obi, 25.64
400m Dash, Men – 4. Kahmari Montgomery, 46.08q SR // 11. Jerrad Mason, 46.89 PR #2
400m Dash, Women – 14. Valerie Thames, 53.80 PR #2 // 21. Maya Cody, 54.83 PR #5 // 30. Ayo Adewole, 55.77 PR #10 // 32. Sandrae Farquharson, 55.89 // 34. Sydney Wells, 57.00
800m Run, Men – 10. Cain Winebrenner, 1:48.97 PR #9 // 22. Mark Sheridan, 1:53.03
800m Run, Women – 6. Valeska Halamicek, 2:09.25q PR #10
Mile Run, Men – 2. Will Crocker, 4:06.12q // 15. Luca Russo, 4:11.64 // 20. Thomas George, 4:13.75 PR // 22. Sam Dickerson, 4:15.42
Mile Run, Women – 21. Hannah Thomas, 5:13.87 // 22. Bailey Hession, 5:23.08
3000m Run, Men – 9. Dan Roe, 8:22.92 // 21. Tyler Schneider, 8:42.76 // 22. Patrick Kearns, 8:57.76
3000m Run, Women – 5. Karissa Schweizer, 9:27.51 // 9. Teylar Adelsberger, 9:32.59 PR #7 // 19. Nicole Mello, 9:54.83 PR
60m Hurdles, Men – 11. Charles Graham, Jr., 8.05
60m Hurdles, Women – 18. Alyssa Felton, 8.54
Long Jump, Men – 15. Tony Carodine, 7.01m (23-0)
Long Jump, Women – 16. Lynnsey Brim, 5.77m (18-11.25) PR
Pole Vault, Men – 6. Matthew Ludwig, 5.15m (16-10.75)
Shot Put, Men – 12. Will Fife, 16.33m (53-7) PR // 13. Avery Carter, 15.65m (51-4.25)
#MIZTF LINE-UP: SATURDAY
| 11:00 a.m. | 60m Hurdles, Men (Heptathlon) | Ser Whitaker |
| 11:45 a.m. | Pole Vault, Men (Heptathlon) | Ser Whitaker |
| 1:00 p.m. | Weight Throw, Men | Nick Sublett |
| 3:20 p.m. | 60m Dash, Men | Markesh Woodson |
| 3:40 p.m. | Mile Run, Men | Will Crocker |
| 4:00 p.m. | 400m Dash, Men | Kahmari Montgomery |
| 4:20 p.m. | 1000m Run, Men (Heptathlon) | Ser Whitaker |
| 4:25 p.m. | 5000m Run, Men | Jordan Cook // Ollie Lockley // Dan Roe |
| 4:30 p.m. | Pole Vault, Women | Alyssa Applebee |
| 4:30 p.m. | High Jump, Women | Karissa Roman |
| 4:30 p.m. | Triple Jump, Men | Tony Carodine // John Warren |
| 4:30 p.m. | Triple Jump, Women | Danielle Williams |
| 5:15 p.m. | 800m Run, Women | Valeska Halamick |
| 5:45 p.m. | 5000m Run, Women | Ellyn Atkinson // Jamie Kempfer |
| 6:25 p.m. | DMR, Men | |
| 6:40 p.m. | DMR, Women | |
| 6:55 p.m. | 4x400m, Men | |
| 7:10 p.m. | 4x400m, Women |
Players Mentioned
