University of Missouri
US Olympic Team Trials
@MIZ_TrackField Well Represented at U.S. Olympic Trials
6/30/2016 8:35:00 AM | Track & Field
Nine current and former Tigers will compete in Eugene, Oregon, July 1-10
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Nine current and former Mizzou Tigers will take to the track at the Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, over the next ten days (July 1-10) for their chance to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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The top three finishers in each event, who have also hit the Olympic qualifying mark, will move on to Rio in August. NBC will air over 30 hours of coverage on NBC, NBC Sports Network, or the NBC Sports Live Extra stream. For a full schedule of coverage, click here.
#MIZTF NOTES
Of those nine, five are current student-athletes with freshman Kahmari Montgomery (400m dash), sophomore John Warren (triple jump), junior LaQuisha Jackson (200m dash), and seniors Tony Carodine (triple jump) and Markesh Woodson (100m dash) all set to compete.
Montgomery enters the Trials fresh off of a Team USA qualification last weekend during the USATF Junior Championships in Clovis, California. The school record holder in the 400m dash placed second in the event with a final time of 45.64. Montgomery is coming off quite the debut year, which culminated in two SEC titles in the indoor and outdoor 400m dash, and two top 25 world rankings. His current PR of 45.13 puts him at No. 25 in the world, No. 3 for juniors, and No. 10 in the U.S.
Woodson also headlines the group of qualifiers for the Tigers, coming off a sixth-place finish in the 100m dash during the NCAA Championships earlier this month. His 10.05 PR during the semi-final round of the championship competition moved him up into the No. 2 slot on the Mizzou All-Time Top Ten, and ranks him 11th in the U.S. for the event. Woodson closed his Tiger career as a five-time All-American and five-time All-SEC finisher.
Warren and Carodine both head to Eugene after PR seasons in the triple jump. Warren, who was the 2015 USATF Junior Champion in the event, hit the No. 2 mark in school history during the NCAA West Preliminary Round, qualifying for the NCAA Championship meet with a mark of 16.27m (53-4.50). Carodine was not far behind, clinching his first NCAA qualification with a leap of 16.14m (52-11.50). He currently sits at No. 4 in the Mizzou history books.
On the women's side, junior LaQuisha Jackson is the sole current Tiger set to take the track next week, qualifying for the 200m dash with her 23.10 school record performance from the 2016 Florida Relays. Jackson has had several school record performances throughout the 2016 outdoor season, as a member of the record-breaking 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in both, taking 13th with the 4x100m and 18th with the 4x400m.
A squad of Mizzou alumnae rounds out the list of female qualifiers for the Tigers. The most recent of these are 2015 grads Kearsten Peoples and Jill Rushin, who are set to take on the shot put field. Peoples was a ten-time All-American during her tenure as a Tiger, including claiming a national title in the weight throw during the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. One of the top-ten weight throw women in collegiate history, Peoples also held school records in each of her five events – indoor/outdoor shot put, weight throw, discus, and hammer throw.
No stranger to the Olympic Trials, Peoples was fourth in the shot put in 2012, just missing out on qualifying for the Games with her school record toss of 18.22m (59-9.50). She secured her spot at the Trials, and the qualification mark for the Games, on June 22 with her 17.89m (58-8.50) toss during a meet at SIU-Carbondale.
Joining her in the field is longtime teammate Jill Rushin, who helped rewrite the Mizzou record books in her own right with No. 2 All-Time marks in the indoor and outdoor shot put, and discus. Rushin secured her spot at the Trials during the final meet of the 2015 regular season, hitting a PR of 17.72m (58-1.75) in the shot put at the Tom Botts Invitational.
Rushin closed her Tiger career with four All-American honors, two SEC titles, and seven All-SEC finishes.
Rounding out the list of Tiger qualifiers is Shannon Leinert ('10) and Serena Burla (Ramsey) ('06). Leinert will face the women's 800m field while Burla will take on the 10k. Leinert still holds the No. 2 time in school history for the indoor 800m (2:04.32), and is No. 4 for the outdoor 800m (2:05.53).
Burla, who returns to the track after placing 8th in the Trials for the marathon in February, was an All-American in the 10k during her time as a Tiger and still holds the second-fastest time in school history for the event (33:52.59).
#MIZTF SCHEDULE (all times are in CT)
| Fri. July 1 | 6:45 p.m. | 800m, Women | 1st Round | Shannon Leinert |
| 7:15 p.m. | 400m, Men | 1st Round | Kahmari Montgomery | |
| Sat. July 2 | 1:04 p.m. | 10k, Women | Final | Serena Burla |
| 1:43 p.m. | 800m, Women | Semi | (Leinert) | |
| 3:01 p.m. | 100m, Men | 1st Round | Markesh Woodson | |
| 3:46 p.m. | 400m, Men | Semi | (Montgomery) | |
| Sun. July 3 | 6:19 p.m. | 100m, Men | Semi | (Woodson) |
| 6:48 p.m. | 400m, Men | Final | (Montgomery) | |
| 7:53 p.m. | 100m, Men | Final | (Woodson) | |
| Mon. July 4 | 7:42 p.m. | 800m, Women | Final | (Leinert) |
| Thurs. July 7 | 1:00 p.m. | Shot Put, Women | Qualifying | Kearsten Peoples // Jill Rushin |
| 6:45 p.m. | Triple Jump, Men | Qualifying | Tony Carodine // John Warren | |
| 8:15 p.m. | Shot Put, Women | Final | (Peoples // Rushin) | |
| Fri. July 8 | 5:30 p.m. | 200m, Women | 1st Round | LaQuisha Jackson |
| Sat. July 9 | 6:15 p.m. | Triple Jump, Men | Final | (Carodine // Warren) |
| 7:03 p.m. | 200m, Women | Semi | (Jackson) | |
| Sun. July 10 | 7:11 p.m. | 200m, Women | Final | (Jackson) |
For the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
Players Mentioned
