@MIZ_TrackField Ready for NCAA Championships

Wednesday, June 8

Eugene, OR

Missouri

NCAA Championships

6/8/2016 1:13:00 PM | Track & Field

14 Tigers will take on the national championship meet this week

EUGENE, Ore. – Mizzou Track & Field enters the final meet of the collegiate season this week, as 14 Tigers head to Eugene, Oregon, to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Set at Historic Hayward Field, the four-day competition will close what has been a historic season for the team, highlighted by school records and a series of program milestones in the national rankings.

ABOUT THE MEET
Meet Home // Meet Schedule // Live Results

The 2016 schedule will match what was started in 2015, with men's and women's events alternating between each day. The only exception to this divided schedule is the combined events, as the men's decathlon will take place during the first two days of competition followed by the women's heptathlon on the final two days.

Live Broadcast

Wednesday, June 8	ESPNU (7:30 – 8:30 p.m.) ESPN2 (8:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.) ESPN3 (3:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.)
Thursday, June 9	ESPNU (7:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.) ESPN (8 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) ESPN3 (1:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.)
Friday, June 10	ESPN (8:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.) ESPN3 (3:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.)
Saturday, June 11	ESPN (6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.) ESPN3 (2:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.)

#MIZTF MEN BREAK INTO TOP TEN
This past week marked a historical move in the USTFCCCA national rankings for the Missouri men's track & field team, as they jumped nine spots to land at No. 9 in the NCAA. The highest ranking for both the men and women in program history, it was just the latest in a trio of record placing's for the team in the top 25 national poll. The jump began with a No. 19 ranking the week after the men's eighth place finish at the SEC Championships, followed by another small move into No. 18 on the eve of the NCAA Championships West Preliminary Round.

#MIZTF NOTES

Senior Ser Whitaker will kick the week off for the Tigers on Wednesday with the start of the decathlon competition. Whitaker qualified for the NCAA Championships during his PR performance at the SEC Championships, where he finished sixth with 7488 points. He is the first Mizzou decathlete to qualify for the national championship meet since Lars Rise placed fourth in 2011.
Kahmari Montgomery leads the group of six Tigers ranked in the top ten of their respective fields heading into competition. The freshman holds the second-fastest 400m dash time in the NCAA this season with his 45.13 title-winning performance at the SEC Championships last month. Montgomery was named the Midwest Track Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA after racing to his second conference title, and second top 20 world ranking, in the 400m dash.
Coach Carjay Lyles also earned regional honors this week, as he was named the 2016 Midwest Assistant Coach of the Year. Lyles, who coaches the sprints/hurdles and triple jump, has been instrumental in the revival of the Mizzou sprints group, with his athletes hitting 19 school record marks throughout the indoor and outdoor season.
Like Montgomery, Markesh Woodson has been an instrumental factor in the rise of the men's program throughout the national rankings. The senior is coming off his second podium finish at the SEC Championships, and currently ranks seventh in the NCAA with his 10.13 PR from the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
A pair of newcomers are also well-ranked heading into their first NCAA Championship competition. Freshman Matthew Ludwig and junior Reinhard Van Zyl both enter the meet after All-SEC finishes at the conference championships a few weeks ago. Ludwig, who owns the Mizzou school record in the pole vault (5.46m // 17-11), leads the freshman field with his No. 9 ranking. Van Zyl, a transfer who has made his Mizzou debut this year with the No. 2 mark in school history for the javelin (75.91m // 249-0), was second at the SEC Championships with that PR and enters the national meet ranked seventh.
Rounding out the group of male qualifiers for the Tigers is the pair of triple jump specialists – senior Tony Carodine and sophomore John Warren. Both laid down huge PR's during the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Lawrence, Kansas, two weeks ago to secure their qualification into the finals this week. Warren returns to Hayward Field after a pair of exciting meets at the conclusion of the 2015 season. The then-freshman placed 11th at the NCAA Championships in the triple jump before going on to win the USATF Junior title in the event. He enters this week ranked eighth in the field with his 16.27m (53-4.50) performance at the Preliminary Round. Joining him on the runway will be Carodine, who qualified for his first NCAA Championships competition with a huge PR, topping his previous best by nearly a foot with his 16.14m (52-11.50) performance two weeks ago.
On the women's side, two relays made history with their qualification as the 4x100m and 4x400m squads became the first women's relays to qualify for the NCAA Championships since the 1980s. Senior Alyssa Felton, juniors LaQuisha Jackson and Sandrae Farquharson, and freshman Maya Cody ran their third 4x100m school record time this season to qualify for the NCAA final, crossing in 44.40 at the NCAA West Preliminary.
The 4x400m squad also hit a new school record en route to their NCAA Championships qualification, with Jackson, Farquharson, Cody, and junior Valerie Thames crossing in 3:34.10 to place 10th in the West Preliminary. That performance is the fourth 4x400m record this outdoor season.
All five of the relay women are first-time qualifiers into the NCAA Championships, including Farquharson and Thames who are set to return to the track as individual qualifiers. Farquharson will be featured in the 400m dash field, while Thames will take to the blocks in the 100m hurdles. Thames enters the competition as the school record holder in the event after timing through with three record performances throughout the season.
Sophomore Karissa Schweizer rounds out the individual qualifiers on the track, entering the meet ranked eighth in the 5000m run with her 15:58.09 PR from the Mt. SAC Relays.
Junior Alyssa Applebee is the lone women's qualifier in the field events after she jumped to a new school record in the pole vault during the West Preliminary Round (4.22m // 13-10).

#MIZTF SCHEDULE - WEDNESDAY

*#MIZTF LINE-UP - WEDNESDAY*
12:30 p.m.	100m Dash, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker
1:10 p.m.	Long Jump, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker
2:25 p.m.	Shot Put, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker
3:40 p.m.	High Jump, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker
5:00 p.m.	Pole Vault, Men	Matthew Ludwig
5:45 p.m.	Javelin, Men	Reinhard Van Zyl
5:46 p.m.	100m Dash, Men	Markesh Woodson
6:00 p.m.	400m Dash, Men	Kahmari Montgomery
6:56 p.m.	400m Dash, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker

*#MIZTF LINE-UP - THURSDAY*
10:30 a.m.	110m Hurdles, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker
11:20 a.m.	Discus, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker
12:30 p.m.	Pole Vault, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker
3:00 p.m.	Javelin, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker
4:32 p.m.	4x100m, Women
5:00 p.m.	Pole Vault, Women	Alyssa Applebee
5:32 p.m.	100m Hurdles, Women	Valerie Thames
6:00 p.m.	400m Dash, Women	Sandrae Farquharson
6:56 p.m.	1500m Run, Decathlon	Ser Whitaker

*#MIZTF LINE-UP - FRIDAY*
5:30 p.m.	Triple Jump, Men	Tony Carodine // John Warren

*#MIZTF LINE-UP - SATURDAY*
5:25 p.m.	5000m Run, Women	Karissa Schweizer