@MIZ_TrackField Returns to Drake Relays

Thursday, April 27

Des Moines, Iowa

University of Missouri

Drake Relays

4/26/2017 5:47:00 PM | Track & Field

Schweizer and Kleve set to run in home state

DRAKE RELAYS
MEET	LOCATION	DAY	TIME	MEDIA
Drake Relays Meet Notes	Des Moines, Iowa	April 27-29	Meet Schedule	Live Stream Live Results

Mizzou Returns to Drake Relays

After a year off last season, Mizzou Track & Field returns to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays, April 27-29 at Drake Stadium. Mizzou will kick off its appearance at the famous Relays with distance events on Thursday evening, followed by a full slate of events on Friday and Saturday. A live webcast of the meet will be available through usatf.tv, while live results will be through pttiming.com.
Three Tigers have close connections to Iowa, as junior Karissa Schweizer and redshirt freshman Jordyn Kleve both grew up in nearby Urbandale, Iowa, while Associate Head Coach Natasha Brown hails from Des Moines and was the head coach of Drake Track & Field from 2000-2016. All three competed in the Drake Relays as high school athletes, while Brown and Schweizer have both competed as collegiate athletes.
In a gloomy weather weekend at the John McDonnell Invitational, redshirt sophomore Gabi Jacobs was a bright spot for Mizzou, providing first place finishes in the discus and shot put. Jacobs began the day by throwing 56.35m (184-10) in the discus, then followed up the performance by winning the shot put with a personal best mark of 15.03m (49-3.75). Jacobs' discus mark ranks second in t program history.
For the second straight meet, freshman Ja'Mari Ward posted a top-30 regional mark in a jump event, recording a jump of 15.44m (50-8) in the long jump at the John McDonnell Invitational, a mark that ranks No. 26 in the west region. The week prior, Ward posted a jump of 7.88m (25-10) to win the long jump at the Tom Botts Invitational. The mark, which was ineligible for school records after a wind recording of 3.2 m/s, currently ranks sixth in the NCAA West Regional and will most likely hold up for round one competition in Austin, Texas.
Two weeks ago, sophomore Maya Cody was named the female Most Outstanding Performer of the Tom Botts Invitational following first place finishes in the 200m dash and 4x100m relay, as well as a second place finish in the 100m dash. Cody's banner day began in the 4x100m relay, where she ran the opening leg for Mizzou, who finished first with a time of 45.61. Cody then transitioned to individual events, starting with the 100m dash where she finished at 11.56 to earn the second place finish. Cody finished the day by winning the 200m dash with a time of 23.71.
With two meets remaining before round one of the NCAA Championship in Austin, Texas (May 25-27), Mizzou has had 21 individuals (10 men, 11 women) and two relay teams post top-48 qualifying marks in 27 events. Among the 27 top-48 marks, six rank in the top-10, led Schweizer who has top-10 marks in the 5000m run (second - 15:39.75) and the 1500m run (ninth - 4:15.77). Joining Schweizer with top-10 marks is redshirt sophomore Jamie Kempfer in the 10,000m run (second - 33:09.67), senior Reinhard Van Zyl (third - 73.13m/239-11), Jacobs in the discus (fourth - 56.35m/184-10) and Ward in the long jump (sixth - 7.88m/25-10).

Jacobs Wins Discus & Shot Put at John McDonnell Invitational

Redshirt sophomore Gabi Jacobs was victorious twice on at the John McDonnell Invitational, winning the discus and shot put events.
Jacobs began the day by throwing 56.35m (184-10) in the discus to record her first event win of the day. The throw was an improvement from her previous personal best of 55.69m (182-8), set on March 30 at the Bobcat Invitational, and now puts her under a meter away from the school record mark of 57.31m (188-0), set by Kearsten Peoples in 2014. The Tiger sophomore followed up the discus performance by winning the shot put with a personal best mark of 15.03m (49-3.75).
Also recording top-10 program marks at the meet for Mizzou was freshman Ja'Mari Ward, who posted the eighth-longest triple jump in program history at 15.44m (50-8) and the women's 4x400m relay team, who checked in at 3:40.08, the fourth-fastest time in program history. The 4x400m squad consisted of senior Sandrae Farquharson, senior LaQuisha Jackson, senior Sydney Wells and senior Valerie Thames.

Cody Leads Mizzou Women to Victory at Tom Botts Invitational

Behind first place finishes in seven women's events Mizzou finished first in the women's standings at the Tom Botts Invitational. Mizzou was led by sophomore Maya Cody, who was named the female Most Outstanding Performer of the meet following first place finishes in the 200m dash and 4x100m relay, as well as a second place finish in the 100m dash.
The women's team finished atop the team race with 153 points, finishing ahead of Nebraska (125 points) and Northern Iowa (121 points).
Cody's banner day began in the 4x100m relay, where she ran the opening leg for Mizzou, who finished first with a time of 45.61.
The Tiger sophomore then transitioned to individual events, starting with the 100m dash where Cody finished at 11.56.to earn the second place finish.
Not yet done for the day, Cody returned to the start line for the 200m dash. This time, she came out on top, finishing first with a time of 23.71.
Both of Cody's times in the 100m and 200m dash were recorded with a wind exceeding 2.0 m/s, making them ineligible for school records, but eligible for NCAA Championships round one qualifying.

Ward Shines in First Home Meet

Making his home debut at Audrey J. Walton Stadium, freshman Ja'Mari Ward provided a glimpse of the potential that made him one of the most sought-after jumping recruits in the nation.
Ward finished first in the long jump with a mark of 7.88m (25-10.25), nearly a full meter ahead of runner-up Charles Brown's mark of 6.95m.
Ward's jump currently ranks sixth in the west regional and will most likely hold up as a qualifying mark for the first round of the NCAA Championship, which is scheduled to take place May 25-27 in Austin, Texas.
Since the jump was recorded with a wind measurement of 3.2 m/s, the jump doesn't count for records, but counts towards NCAA qualifying.

Five Top-10 Marks Set at Crimson Tide Invite

Five Tigers set top-10 program marks were set at the Crimson Tide Invite, including two No. 2 marks from junior Karissa Schweizer in the 1500m run and the women's 4x100m relay team of sophomore Maya Cody, senior LaQuisha Jackson, redshirt sophomore Tsai-Anne Joseph and senior Sandrae Farquharson.
Schweizer finished second in the 1500m run with a personal record time of 4:15.77, improving from her previous best mark of 4:17.47. Her time still ranks second in program history on the list of 1500m outdoor times and currently ranks eighth in the nation this season.
In the women's 4x100m relay, Mizzou crossed the finish line with a time of 45.00, a mark that only trails last season's time of 44.54 in program history. The relay squad of Cody, Jackson, Joseph and Farquharson finished third in the event, finishing behind two Alabama teams.
Cody set a top-10 program mark of her own, finishing fourth in the 100m dash with a personal record time of 11.72. The sub-12 second time now ranks fifth in program history, as the Tiger sophomore passes six-time Mizzou All-American and current Associate Head Coach Natasha Brown's (formerly Natasha Kaiser) time of 11.75 on the top-10 list.
Two top-10 marks were set in field events as redshirt senior Mollie Gribbin (Montpelier, Vt.) set the third-longest triple jump with a mark of 12.46m (40-10.5) and freshman Emily Stauffer the 10th-farthest shot put throw at 15.17m (49-9.25). Even though Gribbin posted the third-best triple jump in Mizzou history, she was still short of her personal record mark of 13.04m (42-9.5), set in 2015 while a member of the Nebraska Track & Field team.

Schweizer and Kempfer Set School Records

Junior Karissa Schweizer and redshirt sophomore Jamie Kempfer each set school records at the Stanford Invitational on March 31, as Schweizer set the 5000m mark and Kempfer the 10,000m record.
Both competing in marquee invitational heats, Schweizer finished second with a time of 15:39.75, while Kempfer finished eighth with a time of 33:09.67.
Schweizer, who now holds both the indoor and outdoor 5000m school records, surpasses Sabrina Dornhoefer's 1985 5K outdoor mark of 15:42.22.
Kempfer passed teammate senior Kaitlyn Fischer (Pevely, Mo.) to earn the top-spot in program history at 10,000m. Fischer posted a time of 33:12.37 at the 2014 NCAA Championships.