@MIZ_TrackField Opens Outdoor Season at Arkansas Spring Invitational

Friday, March 23

Fayetteville, Ark.

3:30 PM CT

University of Missouri

Arkansas Spring Invitational

@MIZ_TrackField Opens Outdoor Season at Arkansas Spring Invitational

3/22/2018 3:41:00 PM | Track & Field

Mizzou to have 35 student-athletes competing in 19 events

ARKANSAS SPRING INVITATIONAL
MEET	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	MEDIA
Arkansas Spring Invitational	Fayetteville, Ark.	March 23-24	Friday - 3:30 PM Saturday - 11:30 AM Meet Schedule	Watch (Saturday) Live Results
NOTES: Meet Notes

MIZZOU OPENS OUTDOOR SEASON IN FAYETTEVILLE AT ARKANSAS SPRING INVITATIONAL

Mizzou Track & Field will open its outdoor season this weekend at the Arkansas Spring Invitational, as the Tigers are set to have 35 student-athletes in 19 events in Fayetteville on Friday and Saturday. The hammer throw, which has a scheduled start of 3:30 p.m., will be the lone event on Friday, followed by the remaining events on Saturday.
A live stream of the meet will be available on Saturday on SEC Network + and through the WatchESPN app. Live results from the meet will be available on flashresults.com.
The Tigers are coming off a soft open to their outdoor season, as a group of throwers posted eight event wins and four program top-10 marks at the CMU Open on March 17. Junior Becky Keating had arguably the best performance at the meet, as she finished first in the hammer throw while posting the second-best mark in program history, 63.87m (209-6). Also in the hammer throw, redshirt sophomore Patrick Kunza posted the eighth-best mark in program history, while sophomore Allie Webb and freshman Megan Haley each posted top-10 marks in the javelin. Keating and Kunza will compete in the hammer throw on Friday, while Webb and Haley will throw the javelin on Saturday.
Redshirt junior Gabi Jacobs, who set the school record and earned All-America honors in the discus in 2017, is set to compete in the shot put and discus in Fayetteville. Jacobs opened her outdoor season with event wins in the shot put and discus at the CMU Open (March 17), and will be looking to improve on her shot put personal record (15.78m/51-9.25), which already ranks seventh in program history.
A number of Tigers will be making their outdoor debuts in the Black & Gold, as 12 from Mizzou will take to the track for the first time in a Mizzou uniform. Among the notables making their outdoor debuts for Mizzou include redshirt freshman Karina Liz, redshirt freshman Melissa Menghini and freshman Chris Conrad. Liz, who redshirted the outdoor season in 2017, ran a leg on Mizzou's SEC Champion DMR team, while Menghini finished 10th in the SEC Indoor 3000m run and Conrad finished 11th in the 800m run. Liz and Conrad will toe the line in the 800m run in Fayetteville, while Menghini is set to run in the 1500m run.
In the sprints group, Mizzou will be looking to lean on returning NCAA West Preliminary qualifiers, junior Maya Cody and redshirt senior Jerrad Mason. The pair has already put their mark on the Mizzou record book, as Cody top-10 program marks in the 100m dash (No. 5), 200m dash (No. 6) and 400m dash (No. 8), while Mason holds the fourth-best program time in the 400m hurdles. Cody will run in the 100m dash at Arkansas, while Mason will run the 200m dash for the first time in his career.

MIZZOU SETS FOUR TOP-10 MARKS, EIGHT EVENT WINS AT CMU OPEN

A group of Mizzou throwers opened the outdoor season March 17, as Mizzou recorded eight event wins and four program top-10 marks at the Central Methodist Open. On both the men's and women's side, the Tigers had first-place finishes in the shot put, discus, hammer throw and javelin.
Joining the top-10 list was junior Becky Keating and redshirt sophomore Patrick Kunza in the hammer throw, as well as sophomore Allie Webb and freshman Megan Haley in the javelin.
Keating posted the second-best hammer throw in program history, as the Tiger junior won the event with a mark of 63.87m (209-6). Keating entered the meet with the fifth-best mark in program history, as she improved on her previous personal best of 58.59m (192-3) from the 2017 NCAA West Preliminary (May 25), and now only trails Kearsten Peoples' 2015 mark of 66.17m (217-1) on Mizzou's top-10 list. In the men's hammer throw, Kunza and redshirt junior Avery Carter finished first and second at 62.70m (205-8) and 60.49m (198-5), respectively. Both set personal records, while Kunza's mark was good enough to rank eighth on the top-10 list.
In the women's javelin, Webb and Haley went 1-2 with marks of 43.62m (143-1) and 41.70m (136-10), respectively. Webb's mark ranks eighth on the top-10 list, while Haley's mark ranks 10th.
Mizzou also recorded event wins in the men's shot put and discus from redshirt junior Will Fife, women's shot put and discus from redshirt junior Gabi Jacobs, and men's javelin from senior Rauno Liitmae. Fife recorded a personal record in his performance, as he posted a mark of 17.68m (58-0.25).

SCHWEIZER BECOMES DOUBLE CHAMPION AT NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Mizzou senior Karissa Schweizer won her fourth and fifth career national titles at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, becoming the most decorated national champion in Mizzou history, as she surpassed former wrestler J'den Cox's three national title. Schweizer became the fifth female in NCAA history to win the 3000m and 5000m national titles in the same NCAA Indoor meet, as she joins Notre Dame's Molly Seidel (2016), Dartmouth's Abbey D'Agostino (2013 & 2014), Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego (2007) and Providence's Kim Smith (2004).
Schweizer's two national titles led Mizzou to a ninth place finish with 20 points, its fourth-best finish in program history. The finish only trails Mizzou's seventh-place finish in 2001, and its eighth-place finishes in 1989 and 2017. The ninth-place finish marks the fourth time in the last five seasons Mizzou has finished in the top-20 at the NCAA Indoor Meet, a feat that only 11 female programs have accomplished.
First, Schweizer led the 5000m race wire-to-wire, as she pulled away from 2017 NCAA Cross Country National Champion Ednah Kurgat (New Mexico) with two laps remaining to finish at 15:43.23 and secure her fourth national title. Schweizer's 2018 title is the fourth 5000m run national title in program history, as she is preceded by Sabrina Dornhoefer's 1985 outdoor title, as well as her own indoor and outdoor titles in 2017. With the win, the Tiger senior becomes the fifth female in NCAA history to win back-to-back indoor 5000m run national championships (event began in 1989), and the first since Dartmouth's Abbey D'Agostino won in 2013 and 2014.
Next, Schweizer led the 3000m run for a vast majority of the race, as she took the lead a few laps into the 3000m race, and never looked back. Boise State's Allie Ostrander stayed near Schweizer for much of the race before the Tiger senior pulled away in the final lap to take the victory at 8:53.36, the third-fastest 3000m time at the NCAA Indoor meet. Schweizer's title is the first 3000m run national title in program history, and the eighth overall 3000m run All-America honor in program history, as Schweizer is preceded by a Sabrina Dornhoefer (second at 1984 indoor, fourth at 1984 outdoor), Susan Bliss (eighth at 1990 Indoor, ninth at 1990 outdoor, 11th at 1991 indoor), Ann Marie Brooks (second at 2001 indoor) and herself (second at 2017 indoor). Schweizer's eight overall All-America honors match Dornhoefer for the second-most in program history, regardless of gender, and only trails Kearsten Peoples' 10 All-America honors.

ACCOLADES, AWARDS CONTINUE FOR SCHWEIZER

The accolades and awards Mizzou senior Karissa Schweizer's have not slowed down at all in 2018, as she continues to be named to The Bowerman Watch List, as announced by the USTFCCCA. The Bowerman is annually awarded to the nation's top male and female student-athlete in NCAA Track & Field. Schweizer was also named the SEC Runner of the Year, USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Women's Track Athlete of the Year and the USTFCCCA Women's Track National Athlete of the Year.
Schweizer's two national titles capped a dominant 2018 indoor campaign in distance running for Schweizer, who set collegiate top-five times in the mile run, 3000m run and 5000m run in 2018. Schweizer set the collegiate record in the 3000m run at the Millrose Games (Feb. 3), winning USTFCCCA Division I Women's National Athlete of the Week and the Southeastern Conference Women's Runner of the Week honors in the process. Schweizer was the top collegiate finisher in the race, as she crossed the finish line fourth at 8:41.60. Schweizer's time surpassed the previous collegiate record from 2009 by Colorado's Jenny (Barringer) Simpson (8:42.03), as well as the Mizzou school record mark of 9:06.39, which was set by Sabrina Dornhoefer in 1984. She also clocked a time of 4:27.54 in the mile run at the Columbia Challenge (Jan. 27), the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history, and a 15:17.31 in the 5000m run at the BU Season Opener (Dec. 2, 2017), the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history.
Schweizer continued her distance dominance at the 2018 SEC Indoor Championships, capturing her sixth and seventh conference titles in the 3000m run and distance medley relay. Schweizer set a conference meet record in the 3000m run, clocking a time of 9:00.56, while her 4:25.56 anchor leg split gave the Tigers the DMR title. The Tiger senior's seven career conference titles match Sabrina Dornhoefer for the most conference championships by a female in program history.

WARD COLLECTS FIRST ALL-AMERICA HONOR

Mizzou redshirt freshman Ja'Mari Ward finished seventh in the men's long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn his first career All-America honor.
Ward posted a mark of 7.82m (25-8) with his fifth attempt to finish seventh in the men's long jump and earn First-Team All-America honors. The seventh-place finish is Mizzou's best long jump finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships since 1978 when Ajayi Agbebaku finished third. Ward's All-America honor is the fourth-ever indoor long jump All-America honor by a Mizzou male, the seventh overall, indoor or outdoor and the first since 2013 when Malcom Pennix finished 14th at the NCAA Indoor Meet.
The All-America honor capped an impressive debut indoor season for Ward, who set the school record in the long jump, earned All-SEC Freshman Team honors and posted a program top-10 mark in the triple jump. Ward received SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Week honors on Feb. 20, following a school record performance at the Missouri Collegiate Challenge (Feb. 16) where the Tiger freshman set a season-best mark of 7.97m (26-1.75). Ward surpassed a 34-year-old record with the leap, as he surpassed Yussuf Alli's 1984 mark of 7.91m (25-11.75). At the SEC Indoor Meet (Feb. 24), Ward was the top-freshman finisher in the long jump, as he finished fifth at 7.75m (25-5.25), while his jump of 15.66m (51-4.5) in the triple jump at the Tyson Invitational (Feb. 10) ranks sixth all-time in program history.

EIGHT FROM MIZZOU EARN ALL-SEC HONORS

Mizzou garnered eight honors as the Southeastern Conference announced its SEC Indoor. Senior Karissa Schweizer earned the SEC Women's Runner of the Year following conference titles in the 3000m run and distance medley relay. This is second consecutive season she's been named the league's top female indoor runner.
Joining Schweizer with All-SEC first team honors was redshirt senior Megan Cunningham, who captured the 5000m SEC title, as well as Schweizer's DMR teammates, junior Maya Cody, redshirt senior Valeska Halamicek and sophomore Karina Liz. Three Tigers, distance runner Austin Hindman, jumper standout Ja'Mari Ward and thrower Emily Stauffer also earned All-SEC Freshman Team honors as the top freshman finisher in their event.
Mizzou's freshmen set themselves up for a successful future at SEC meets in the Black & Gold, as the Tigers' three All-SEC Freshman Team honors are tied for the second-most in the conference. Ward led the way, as he finished fifth in the long jump (7.75m/25-5.25), while Stauffer finished 11th in the weight throw (17.81m/58-5.25) and Hindman finished 16th in the 3000m run (8:21.48). Ward, the 2017 SEC Outdoor Freshman Field Athlete of the Year, set the school record and posted a NCAA Indoor-qualifying mark at the Missouri Collegiate Challenge (Feb. 16), as he jumped 7.97m (26-1.75).