Columbia, Mo. — Mizzou Track and Field will travel to separate meets Friday and Saturday, sending primarily field entries to the Wooo Pig Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., Jan. 22, and track entries to the Iowa State Cyclone Invitational in Ames, Iowa, Jan. 23.
The Wooo Pig Invitational will kick off at 11:30 a.m. CT with the men's shot put, followed throughout the afternoon by the rest of the field events. The Tigers only track events will begin at 12:30 p.m. CT with the men's and women's 60m hurdles preliminary races. The meet will stream on SEC Network+ beginning at 2 p.m. CT.
The Iowa State Cyclone Invitational begins at 1 p.m. CT with the women's 60m hurdles. Mizzou will compete in all the track events, finishing with the women's and men's 4x400 races at 3:05 p.m. CT and 3:10 p.m. CT, respectively.
This is the second consecutive season the Tigers will compete in split squad meets at Iowa State and Arkansas. In Ames in 2020, a handful of personal records were recorded at the meet, including sophomores Jonathan Schmidt (Dresden, Germany) and Kelsey Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) in the men's and women's 800m races, respectively, who will compete Saturday.
Last year at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, junior Arianna Fisher (San Jose, Calif.) took home the win in the triple jump with a distance of 12.92m (42-4.75). Fisher currently holds the program record in the event, and will be amongst the Mizzou entries in the meet on Friday.
Amongst the members of the southbound squad will be junior Roberto Vilches (Mexico City, Mexico), who also holds a program record in the indoor high jump. Vilches has been named an All-American for the event in each of his first two indoor seasons. Junior Sydney Oberdiek (Platte City, Mo.) will also make the trip, one week after moving to No. 5 in program history for the weight throw.
Redshirt-senior Ja'Mari Ward (Cahokia, Ill.) will also make his season debut at the meet. Ward begins the final season of his decorated indoor career as the program record holder for the indoor long jump and a two-time Indoor All-American (long jump), with numerous honors for the outdoor event as well.
The northbound squad will be the season opener for a majority of the runners, including nine newcomers who will make their Mizzou debuts on the indoor track on Saturday. Amongst the debuts will be senior Elle Brown (Columbia, Mo.), the former guard for Mizzou Women's Basketball and daughter of Mizzou Hall of Famer and associate head coach Natasha Kaiser Brown. Brown will run in the 200m, 400m and 4x400m races.
Those making second appearances of the season include redshirt senior Karina Liz (Aurora, Ill.), freshman Rondajai Washington (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and redshirt junior Jayson Ashford (Fairview Heights, Ill.), all of whom won events a week ago at the Vanderbilt Commodore Indoor.
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouTFXC).
Wooo Pig Invitational (Friday, Jan. 22)
Mizzou Entries — Running Events (starting at 12:30 p.m. CT)
60m (W) — Ayele Gerken, Arielle Mack, Mirieli Santos
60m HH (M) — Jason Edwards
Mizzou Entries — Field Events (starting at 11:30 a.m. CT)
Shot Put (M) — Jason Edwards, Devin Roberson, Rece Rowan, Mitch Weber
Long Jump (W) — Ayele Gerken, Arielle Mack
High Jump (W) — Claudina Diaz
Shot Put (W) — Emily Offenheiser, Jordan Speer, Emily Stauffer
Long Jump (M) — Ja'Mari Ward
Weight Throw (M)— Mitch Weber
Triple Jump (W) — Euphenie Andre, Arianna Fisher, Maya Hausler
Triple Jump (M) — Georgi Nachev
Weight Throw (W) — Olivia Evans, Sydney Johnson, Sydney Oberdiek, Emily Stauffer
Iowa State Cyclone Invitational (Saturday, Jan. 23)
Mizzou Entries — Running Events (starting at 1 p.m. CT)
60m HH (W) — Morgan O'Neal
60m HH (M) — Chris McKinzy Jr.
60m (W) — Lana Dorsey, Jazmyn Shumaker, Rondajai Washington
60m (M) — Jayson Ashford
400m (W) — Elle Brown, Michaela Hackbarth
400m (M) — Jacob Brunsman, Blake Hays
Mile (W) — Ginger Murnieks, McKenna Revord
Mile (M) — Angus Beer, Davis Helmerich, Ryan Mata, Blake Morris, Jonathan Schmidt, Luke Winkler
800m (W) — Karina Liz, Kelsey Schweizer
800m (M) — Angus Beer, Chris Conrad, Jackson McAlister, Cason Suggs, Quentin Worley, Jack Warner
200m (W) — Elle Brown, Lana Dorsey, Morgan O'Neal, Jazmyn Shumaker, Rondajai Washington
200m (M) — Jayson Ashford, Chris McKinzy Jr.
3000 (W) — Isabelle Christiansen, Lexi Maddox
4x400 (W) — Brown, Drayton, O'Neal, Washington
4x400 (M) — Ashford, Brunsman, Clarke, Hays