University of Missouri
SEC Outdoor Championships
Ward Wins Long Jump Title at SEC Outdoor Championships
5/10/2019 11:36:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field
Ward captures second career conference title, Mizzou women in third place heading into final day
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Mizzou Track & Field had a highly impressive second day at the SEC Outdoor Championships Friday, as eight scoring performances were highlighted by a conference championship in the long jump from redshirt sophomore Ja'Mari Ward (Cahokia, Ill.). Ward captured his second career conference title, while the women's team scored in five events and stand in third place following the second day of competition.
TEAM SCORES
The Mizzou women sit in third place with 33 points following five scoring performances on the day, led by bronze medal finishes from redshirt junior Jordan McClendon (Black Jack, Mo.) in the hammer throw and redshirt sophomore Melissa Menghini (Fenton, Mo.) in the 3000m steeplechase.
Ward's conference title vaulted the Mizzou men to ninth place with 19 points.
NOTABLE FINISHES
After winning the long jump SEC title as a true freshman in 2017, Ward captured his second career conference title with a leap of 8.10m (26-7). The mark is a season-best for Ward, ranks as the second-best in the nation in 2019, and is just shy of his personal best mark of 8.13m (26-8.25). Ward continues a long tradition of Mizzou long jumpers, as his title marks the 16th outdoor long jump title in Mizzou's history.
In the 3000m steeplechase, Menghini set a new school record, as she finished third at 10:07.76 and surpassed Kerry Hils' 2001 time of 10:08.61. Menghini set a personal record by more than 20 seconds, as she bested her previous best time of 10:31.89, which she set at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Mizzou had two athletes score in both the hammer throw and shot put, as McClendon finished third and senior Becky Keating (Reading, England) finished fourth in the hammer throw, while redshirt sophomore Emily Stauffer (Reinholds, Pa.) finished fifth and redshirt senior Gabi Jacobs (Bloomington, Ill.) finished eighth in the shot put. McClendon scored six points with a mark of 62.37m (204-7), while Keating scored five points with a throw of 61.52m (201-10). Both Stauffer and Jacobs posted personal records and moved up the Mizzou all-time top-10 lists with their performances, as Stauffer posted the fifth-best mark in program history at 16.44m (53-11.25), while Jacobs set the seventh-best mark at 16.08m (52-9.25).
In the high jump, freshman Roberto Vilches (Mexico City, Mexico) cleared seven feet for the fourth time this season, as he finished fifth with a mark of 2.21m (7-3). The mark tied his best performance in an SEC meet, as he also finished fifth at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Sophomore Jason Edwards (Eldon, Mo.) closed out a strong performance in the decathlon, as the Tiger sophomore finished fourth with 6,685 points. Edwards set personal records in the 110m hurdles (15.97) and discus (32.18m/105-7) on the second day of competition, and posted a second-place finishes in the pole vault (32.18m/105-7) and javelin (55.65m/182-7).
In preliminary races, Mizzou had two advance to the 1500m finals on Saturday, as freshman Martin Prodanov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) and redshirt sophomore Dustan Davidson (St. Louis, Mo.) finished eighth at 3:49.79 and 12th at 3:50.14, respectively. Prodanov will run in both the 800m and 1500m final races on Saturday.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou redshirt sophomore Ja'Mari Ward
On what was going through his mind before the winning jump…
"Just to jump far and stay healthy. That's it, that's been my motto all year so that's always what I'm thinking about before I jump."
On what has helped him get to this point in the season…
"My coach (Chamov). He has helped me stay grounded. I get excited and want to do things too fast, and he has helped me stay calm and take things slow."
UP NEXT
Mizzou will conclude the SEC Outdoor Championships on Saturday, as field events are slated to start at Noon CT and track events at 5:05 p.m. CT.
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).
MIZZOU RESULTS - TRACK EVENTS
100m Dash, Men – T-20. Jayson Ashford, 10.62 (W: 0.0) // T-20. Caulin Graves, 10.62 (W: 0.0)
100m Dash, Women – 25. Maya Cody, 11.98 (W: 0.0)
400m Dash, Men – 10. Nylo Clarke, 46.73
1500m Run, Men – 8. Martin Prodanov, 3:49.79Q // 12. Dustan Davidson, 3:50.14q // 22. Kieran Wood, 3:57.16 // 25. Zach Cook, 4:00.41
1500m Run, Women – 25. Reilly Revord, 4:46.31 // 27. Emma Roth, 4:48.83
3000m Steeplechase – 3. Melissa Menghini, 10:07.76 PR, SR (6 points)
MIZZOU RESULTS - FIELD EVENTS
High Jump, Men – 5. Roberto Vilches, 2.21m (7-3) (4 points) // 12. Landon Cuskelly, 2.07m (6-9.5)
Long Jump, Men – 1. Ja'Mari Ward, 8.10m (26-7) (10 points)
Shot Put, Men – 10. Will Fife, 18.04m (59-2.25)
Shot Put, Women – 5. Emily Stauffer, 16.44m (53-11.25) PR, #5 (4 points) // 8. Gabi Jacobs, 16.08m (52-9.25) PR, #7 (1 point)
Hammer Throw, Women – 3. Jordan McClendon, 62.37m (204-7) (6 points) // 4. Becky Keating, 61.52m (201-10) (5 points) // 9. Sydney Oberdiek, 56.21m (184-5) PR // 11. CeCe Johnson, 54.71m (179-6)
MIZZOU RESULTS - MULTI-EVENTS
110m Hurdles, Decathlon – 7. Jason Edwards, 15.97 PR (W: 1.0) (736 points)
Discus, Decathlon – 7. Jason Edwards, 32.18m (105-7) PR (507 points)
Pole Vault, Decathlon – 2. Jason Edwards, 4.40m (14-5.25) (731 points)
Javelin, Decathlon – 2. Jason Edwards, 55.65m (182-7) (673 points)
1500m Run, Decathlon – 8. Jason Edwards, 5:20.74 (446 points)
Overall, Decathlon – 4. Jason Edwards, 6,685 points (5 points)
Players Mentioned
