Missouri
SEC Outdoor Championships
Kempfer Wins 10,000m; Van Zyl Earns All-SEC Honors at SEC Championships
5/11/2017 11:08:00 PM | Track & Field
Kempfer becomes Mizzou’s 12th SEC Champion, Van Zyl earns All-SEC honors for the second straight season
COLUMBIA, S.C. – On the first day of the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, redshirt sophomore Jamie Kempfer (Festus, Mo.) captured the 10,000m SEC Championship. Kempfer was one of two from Mizzou Track & Field to earn All-SEC honors, as senior Reinhard Van Zyl (Hoedspruit, South Africa) finished runner-up in the javelin. The Tiger duo was two of four athletes to score on the first day of competition, while three advanced to finals races in preliminary heats.
In the team race, Mizzou's men's team is currently in fourth place with 13 points (three events scored), while the women's team is in third place with 10 points (two events scored) following Kempfer's first-place triumph.
"It means the world to be out there grinding for my team," said Kempfer following the race. "Those 10 points mean a lot. The race started out pretty slow, as championship races usually do, so I was ready for that. I let some of the other people do more of the work on the front half so I didn't have to use that much energy at the beginning. I knew I would have to shake some off the other girls loose early on in the race, so I started picking it up with two miles to go."
Kempfer, who set the 10,000m school record at the Stanford Invitational (March 31) with a time of 33:09.67, stayed near the front of the pack throughout the duration of the race before accelerating the pace over the two miles to pull away from the rest of the pack. Kempfer crossed the finish line with a time of 33:52.19, 23 seconds ahead of the runner-up. With the conference title, Kempfer becomes the ninth female SEC Champion and 12th overall since Mizzou joined the league in 2012-13.
Van Zyl, who earned his second All-SEC honor of his career, used his fourth throw in the men's javelin to post a personal record mark of 77.20m (253-3). The throw was an improvement from his previous-best mark of 75.91m (249-0), which he set at last year's SEC Championships, where he also finished runner-up. The Tiger senior's mark currently ranks as fifth in the nation and was just under a foot away from Macauley Garton's 2015 school record mark of 77.47m (254-2). Redshirt junior Alex Pascal (Cayman Islands) also scored for Mizzou in the event, finishing eighth with a throw of 66.12m (216-11).
"Reinhard is a terrific competitor," said head coach Brett Halter. "He trusted the process, believed in his training and did really well today. Any time you can get on the board and on the medal podium at the SEC meet is a big accomplishment. He proved he can make those throws in this kind of big-time environment, and that's the most important takeaway moving forward in postseason competition."
In the men's 10,000m run, redshirt senior Ollie Lockley (Colby, Isle of Man) scored four points for Mizzou by finishing fifth. Lockley, who led for a majority of the race, crossed the finish line with a time of 30:43.92.
In preliminary races, three Tigers posted qualifying marks to advance to Saturday's finals. In the 800m run, redshirt junior Cain Winebrenner (Kansas City, Mo.) posted a time of 1:50.56, fast enough to finish seventh, while senior Valerie Thames (Milwaukee, Wis.) and redshirt junior Jerrad Mason (Bridgetown, Barbados) each qualified for the finals in the 400m hurdles. Thames finished eighth for the women with a time of 58.06, while Mason finished ninth for the men with a time of 51.34.
Mizzou continues with day two of the SEC Championships tomorrow, beginning with field events at 2:30 p.m. ET, followed by track events at 6:30 p.m. ET. A live stream of the meet will be provided on SEC Network + and will begin at start of the track events.
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).
Track Results
200m Dash, Men (Prelims) – 26. Kahmari Montgomery, 21.39 // 27. Niager Mathis, 21.46 // 34. Jonathan Holder, 22.04
200m Dash, Women (Prelims) – 22. LaQuisha Jackson, 23.58 // 33. Maya Cody, 24.00
800m Run, Men (Prelims) – 7. Cain Winebrenner, 1:50.56q // 15. Ben Goodman, 1:53.39 // Mark Sheridan, 1:53.81
800m Run, Women (Prelims) – 18. Valeska Halamicek, 2:10.99
10,000m Run, Men (Final) – 5. Ollie Lockley, 30:43.92 (4 pts)
10,000m Run, Women (Final) – 1. Jamie Kempfer, 33:52.19 (10 pts) // 18. Kaitlyn Fischer, 36:46.75
400m Hurdles, Men (Prelims) – 9. Jerrad Mason, 51.34q
400m Hurdles, Women (Prelims) – 8. Valerie Thames, 58.06q
Field Events
Hammer Throw, Men (Final) – 15. Ahren Bohanan, 60.39m (198-1) // 16. Patrick Kunza, 58.87m (193-1)
Hammer Throw, Women (Final) – 9. Rebecca Keating, 57.57m (188-10)
Javelin, Men (Final) – 2. Reinhard Van Zyl, 77.20m (77.20) PR, #2 (8 pts) // 8. Alex Pascal, 66.12m (216-11) (1 pt)
Decathlon
100m Dash – 12. Rauno Liitmae, 11.50 – 753 pts
Long Jump – 11. Rauno Liitmae, 6.25m (20-6.25) – 1,394 pts
Shot Put – 8. Rauno Liitmae, 12.70m (41-8) – 2,043 pts
Players Mentioned
