KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Mizzou Track & Field had three student-athletes finish in the top-eight of their respective events and four advance to finals races Saturday at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. A pair of Tigers – senior Rauno Liitmae (Estonia) and freshman Jason Edwards (Eldon, Mo.) – finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in the men's decathlon, while redshirt junior Gabi Jacobs (Bloomington, Ill.) placed seventh in the women's shot put.
TEAM SCORES
With seven events scored in both the men's and women's team race, the women's team sits in eighth place with 17 points, while the men's team sits in 12th place with six points.
NOTABLE TIGERS
Just like the SEC Indoor meet, Liitmae and Edwards both scored, as they finished fifth and seventh, respectively. Liitmae set a program top-10 mark with his finish, as he set the No. 5 mark in school history with 7,524 points, while Edwards scored 6,569 points. Liitmae's best finish of the decathlon came in the javelin, as he finished first with a mark of 67.00m (219-9), a throw which ranks seventh overall in program history. Edwards posted his best finish in the pole vault, as he finished fourth at 4.50m (14-9). Liitmae's mark should put him in range to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as the top-24 decathlon marks in the nation qualify to Eugene. There are no multi-event competitions at either NCAA Preliminary meets.
In the shot put, Jacobs posted a season-best mark with her seventh-place finish, as she posted a toss of 15.75m (51-8.25) with her second throw. The throw is just an inch short of her personal-best mark of 15.78m (51-9.25), which she set at the 2017 NCAA West Preliminary meet. The throw will improve her rank on the 2018 NCAA West qualifying list this season, which she entered the meet ranked 44th with a throw of 15.26m (50-0.75) at the Tom Botts Invitational (April 21).
In preliminary races, Mizzou had four runners qualify for two finals races, as senior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) and senior Valeska Halamicek (Weldon Spring, Mo.) qualified for the women's 1500m run final, while redshirt junior Zach Cook (Columbia, Mo.) and redshirt senior Marc Dubrick (DeKalb, Ill.) qualified for the men's 1500m run final. Schweizer ran the fourth-fastest preliminary time at 4:21.53, while Halamicek ran the eighth-fastest at 4:26.66. In addition to running in the 1500m run final at 5:20 p.m. (CT), both will run in a second finals race tomorrow, as Schweizer will run in the 5000m run final at 7:40 p.m. (CT) and Halamicek the 800m run final at 6:40 p.m. (CT).
Heat two of the men's 800m run preliminaries may have been the story of the day, as a crazy crash caused every runner in the heat to advance to the finals. Jack Bruce (Arkansas), the leader runner at the beginning of the bell lap, fell as he was making the first turn on the back stretch, causing a pile-up of at least five runners. After a long protest, the meet officials could not make a determination as to what caused the crash, and decided every runner was affected because of it. Cook finished third in the heat, and automatically qualified with a time of 3:53.16, while Dubrick was given entry to the final from the officials. Sunday's final, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CT), will feature 20 runners.
UP NEXT
The SEC Outdoor Championships conclude on Sunday, as field events are slated to begin at 2:30 p.m. (ET)/1:30 p.m. (CT) and track events at 6 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (CT). Mizzou will have student-athletes competing in four field events, as well as five finals events on the track.
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).
RESULTS - TRACK EVENTS
100m Dash Prelims, Women – 34. Tsai-Anne Joseph, 12.18 (W: 1.1) // 35. Jazmyn Shumaker, 12.32 (W: 0.5)
1500m Run Prelims, Men – 9. Zach Cook, 3:53.16 Q // 17. Marc Dubrick, 3:57.67 q // --. Ben Goodman, 3:54.69
1500m Run Prelims, Women – 4. Karissa Schweizer, 4:21.53 Q // 8. Valeska Halamicek, 4:26.66 q // 24. Shannon Browning, 4:45.36 // 25. Melissa Menghini, 4:49.45
RESULTS - FIELD EVENTS
Shot Put, Men – 12. Will Fife, 17.65m (57-11) // 16. Avery Carter, 15.89m (52-1.75)
Shot Put, Women – 7. Gabi Jacobs, 15.75m (51-8.25) (2 points)
Javelin, Women – 13. Allie Webb, 43.43m (142-6) // 16. Megan Haley, 38.41m (126-0)
RESULTS - MULTI-EVENTS
110m Hurdles, Decathlon – 5. Rauno Liitmae, 15.19 (827 points) // 7. Jason Edwards, 16.04 PR (728 points)
Discus, Decathlon – 5. Rauno Liitmae, 39.15m/128-5 (647 points) // 7. Jason Edwards, 28.88m/94-9 (442 points)
Pole Vault, Decathlon – 4. Jason Edwards, 4.50m/14-9 (760 points) // 5. Rauno Liitmae, 4.50m/14-9 (760 points)
Javelin, Decathlon – 1. Rauno Liitmae, 67.00m/219-9 #7 (844 points) // 5. Jason Edwards, 55.55m/182-3 (671 points)
1500m Run, Decathlon – 3. Rauno Liitmae, 4:48.54 (627 points) // 7. Jason Edwards, 5:19.23 (454 points)
Overall – 5. Rauno Liitmae, 7,524 points #5 (4 points) // 7. Jason Edwards, 6,569 points (2 points)