University of Missouri Athletics

Brett Halter was promoted to the head coach of Missouri's track and field program on August 16, 2010. Since then, every Mizzou event group has experienced development with Halter at the helm.

The distance, throws, jumps and sprints groups have each had numerous All-America honors, conference titles and school records broken in his 31 years at Mizzou, with 15 of those years as the program’s head coach.

In his tenure in Columbia, the Tigers have excelled on the track under Halter both at an individual and team level. Mizzou’s track and field teams have finished in the NCAA’s top 20 seven times, with two of the performances yielding a top-10 finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2017 and 2018.

Halter’s program has also won seven individual NCAA championships, as Kearsten Peoples and Karissa Schweizer each attained national titles with Halter in charge. Peoples delivered the program its first individual national title in 14 years when she topped the podium in the weight throw at the 2015 NCAA Indoor National Championships. 

Schweizer earned six gold medals between 2016-18 to finish as the most decorated student-athlete in Mizzou Athletics history. The Tiger great won back-to-back titles in the 5000m at the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Outdoor National Championship, consecutive championships 5000m at the 2017 and 2018 NCAA Indoor National Championship, the 2018 NCAA 3000m National Championship and the 2016 NCAA Cross Country National Championship.

On the track and in the field, Mizzou has produced one collegiate record holder, 130 All-Americans, 78 school records, 59 individual conference champions and six SEC Freshman of the Year recipients under Halter’s guise. In the classroom, the program has averaged a 3.27 GPA and has had over 500 student-athletes named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Beyond success while representing the Black & Gold, Halter has coached athletes to 11 national team appearances and nine USA Championships. Christian Cantwell became Halter’s most decorated athlete on the national stage, earning seven All-American honors and a Missouri school record during his time as a Tiger, then continuing his success on to become an Olympic Silver Medalist and a four-time IAAF Indoor (2004, 2008, 2010) and Outdoor (2009) World Champion. Halter’s coaching prowess led to his appointment as throws coach for the 2010 U.S. World Junior Team and the 2011 World Championship Team, and he is also one of a select few coaches in the U.S. to hold the distinction of earning an IAAF Level V Master Coach Certification.

The 2021-2022 season served as yet another banner year for the Mizzou track and field program with numerous accolades. Coach Halter led eight Tigers to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., with six earning All-American honors at the event. Georgi Nachev and Roberto Vilches earned first-team All-American honors for their performances in the triple jump and high jump, respectively. 

One of those All-Americans, Arianna Fisher, continued her prowess at the USA Track and Field National Championships. After earning Second-Team All-American honors, Fisher placed fourth in the triple jump at nationals with a mark of 13.63m / 44.875 to break her own school record. Nachev also put in a noteworthy performance at the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, securing a bronze medal in the triple jump. 

The Tigers also secured a gold medal in the conference championships, as Mitch Weber threw his way to a gold medal in the discus.

At the NCAA Indoor Championships, the men’s team finished 24th, their best finish at the event since 2009. Nachev, Vilches, and Fisher all starred for Mizzou and earned All-American honors in the process. 

In the 2020-21 season, Mizzou sent five runners to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as Georgi Nachev earned a top-10 performance in the triple jump while Skylar Ciccolini ended her freshman season with a top-10 performance in javelin.

Two Tigers brought home hardware from the 2021 SEC Outdoor Championships in College Station, Texas, as Mitchell Weber claimed a silver medal with his men’s discus performance, while Christopher Conrad snagged the bronze medal with a strong performance in the 800m. Two other Tigers earned top-5 finishes, as Melissa Menghini posted a career-best 3000m steeplechase to take fourth and Thomas George earned a fifth-place result in the 5000m.

At the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championship, the Tigers yielded three top-10 finishers, as Euphenie Andre and Georgi Nachev placed eighth in the women’s and men’s triple jump, respectively, while Ja’Mari Ward took fourth place in the men’s high jump. 

Mizzou earned numerous top-10 finishes at the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships in Batesville, Ark. The women’s team dominated the triple jump event with Arianna Fisher taking second, Euphenie Andre taking fourth and Mara Hausler taking fifth. Mitchell Weber and Rece Rowan each placed in the top 10 of the men’s shot put, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively. Ja’Mari Ward earned a sixth-place result in the men’s long jump while Georgi Nachev finished in the same position in the men’s triple jump final.

While Mizzou did not have the chance to compete in any national events in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a pair of Tigers took podium finishes at the 2020 SEC Indoor Championships. The women’s distance medley relay cohort of Melissa Menghini, Morgan O’Neal, Kelsey Schweizer and Sarah Chapman left College Station, Texas with a silver medal. Jordan McClendon finished out her Mizzou career with a second consecutive bronze-medal effort in the women’s weight throw. Their efforts helped the Tigers’ women’s team finish seventh at the event.

The Tigers had another star in throws during the 2018-19 season, as Sophia Rivera dominated the outdoor season with a silver-medal finish in javelin at the 2019 SEC Outdoor Championships then earned All-American status at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing sixth. Mirieli Santos also capped off her freshman year with an All-American finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a sixth-place result in the women’s triple jump.

Just like the season prior, the 2017-18 campaign was headlined by the phenomenal performance of Karissa Schweizer in her senior campaign, who won three NCAA National Championships and earned five All-America honors and one collegiate record. At the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Schweizer became just the fifth female in NCAA history to win the 3000m and 5000m national titles at the same NCAA Indoor meet. Then, at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Schweizer became the fifth female in NCAA history to win back-to-back 5000m national titles as she repeated with a spectacular performance in Eugene to close her collegiate career.

Schweizer also registered All-America performances at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships where she finished 11th and the 2018 NCAA Outdoor meet where she finished third in the 10,000m run. Running against mostly professional athletes, Schweizer set a collegiate record in the indoor 3000m run at the Millrose Games, as she completed the race in 8:41.60, eclipsing Colorado’s Jenny (Barringer) Simpson’s 209 mark of 8:42.03.

Also in 2018, Ja'Mari Ward recorded his first All-America honor with a seventh-place finish in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Ward earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors following a fifth-place finish in the long jump at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships and set a school record in the indoor long jump with a leap of 7.97m (26-1.75) at the Missouri Collegiate Challenge.

Ward solidified his place on the national scene in 2016-17, capturing the SEC long jump title with a top-10 world mark (8.13m/26-8.25) at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. For his performance during the outdoor season, Ward was named the SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year. Ward then went on to capture a PanAmerican title in the long jump at the 2017 PanAmerican Junior Championships. In 2019, Ward won the USA Track & Field long jump national title.

Mizzou found inspiration from another distance runner in 2017-18, as redshirt senior Megan Cunningham returned to competition after more than a year of recovery following a horrific car crash that left her skull cracked and her neck broken. Cunningham bounced back, winning two SEC championships in the SEC Indoor 5000m and the SEC Outdoor 10,000m. For her courageous return to competition, Cunningham was selected as the Honda Inspiration Award winner at the 2018 Collegiate Women Sports Awards.

That same year, then-junior Gabi Jacobs led a staunch group of Mizzou throwers, as 11 program top-10 marks were set over the indoor and outdoor seasons. Jacobs won an SEC title and earned All-America honors for the second consecutive season, as she defended her discus title at the 2018 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships and finished fifth in the discus at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Jacobs improved her discus school record mark (60.16m/197-4) during the outdoor season, and entered and joined the top-10 list in the indoor shot put at No. 7. Avery Carter joined Jacobs in Eugene, as the Tiger junior earned his first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the hammer throw. Carter advanced to Eugene after posting the third-best hammer throw mark in program history (64.55m/211-9) at the NCAA West Preliminary.

The breakout season of junior Karissa Schweizer was the highlight of the 2016-17 season, as Schweizer won three NCAA National Championships, becoming the fourth female in NCAA history to capture the distance triple crown (cross country, indoor 5000m and outdoor 5000m national titles). Schweizer was also the first female in Mizzou Athletics history to win multiple NCAA titles and just the second athlete in Mizzou history to win three.

Behind the leadership of Schweizer, Mizzou’s women’s cross country team made it to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2004. Jamie Kempfer also experienced much for the distance group in ‘16-17, as Kempfer earned All-America honors twice, first finishing 27th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, then racing to a ninth-place finish in the 10,000m run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Schweizer and Kempfer’s All-America performances at the NCAA Cross Country Championships marked the first time since 1984 that Mizzou had two All-Americans at the NCAA meet.

The 2015-16 season was a historic one for the Mizzou track & field program, as the men’s team cracked the top 10 for the first time with a No. 9 ranking in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll heading into the NCAA Championships. The Tigers finished the season with 13 All-America marks between the indoor and outdoor seasons, the most in one season in program history. In a sign of things to come, sophomore Karissa Schweizer led the way with the highest finish of all, as she finished third in the 5000m run at the Outdoor Championships. Under the direction of Halter, junior Reinhard Van Zyl earned Second Team All-America honors with a 13th-place finish in the javelin.

In 2014-15, 10 Tigers earned All-America honors under Coach Halter’s guidance. Among the podium finishers included Kearsten Peoples, who won the NCAA indoor weight throw national championship, Mizzou's first national title since 2001. Peoples recorded two SEC titles and three All-America honors altogether during her senior season, as she won the SEC indoor weight throw and outdoor hammer, and finished 10th in the NCAA indoor shot put and eighth in the outdoor hammer throw. Her mark in the weight throw at the Missouri Collegiate Challenge (22.84m/74-11.25) was a school record and ranked seventh in NCAA Championships history at the time of the throw.

Following the 2014-15 season, eight student-athletes moved on to competitions at the national or international level. Peoples and Jill Rushin both qualified for the USATF Championships, while John Warren, Karissa Schweizer, Gabi Jacobs and Avery Carter all qualified for the USATF Junior Championships. At the Junior Championships, Warren captured the junior national title in the triple jump and Schweizer finished third in the 3000m. In addition, Markesh Woodson represented the United States and Kartine Harrklau represented Norway at the World Games.

Peoples and Rushin led the way for Mizzou in 2013-14, as the pair combined for 11 points at the NCAA Indoor meet to guide Mizzou to a 16th-place finish, its highest finish at the meet since 2001. Peoples notched her career third conference title in the indoor shot put and Rushin her first in the outdoor shot put as the pair combined for five All-America honors. Peoples sat atop the national rankings for the shot put during the indoor and outdoor seasons, closing the latter with the overall top mark in the NCAA for the 2014 season.

Coach Halter led the transition to arguably the toughest conference in NCAA Track & Field in 2012-13, as Mizzou moved from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference. Sprinter Markesh Woodson claimed the first SEC conference title for the Tigers, winning the indoor 60m dash title. He would then go on to earn All-America honors in the indoor 60m dash (fifth) and outdoor 100m dash (10th). Kearsten Peoples also recorded two more All-America honors, finishing ninth in the indoor shot put and sixth in the outdoor shot put.

Mizzou hosted the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Audrey J. Walton Stadium in its first year in the conference, as Peoples captured the outdoor shot put title and led the Mizzou women to a sixth-place finish, while the men finished ninth.

In 2011-12, Mizzou’s final season as a member of the Big 12 Conference, four Tigers earned six All-America honors, including the first two in the storied career of Kearsten Peoples, who finished sixth in both the outdoor discus and shot put.

In Halter's first year as head coach, the Tiger Track & Field program showed plenty of potential highlighted by its youth and savvy veterans.  Halter saw a couple of Missouri school records fall, as pole vault stand-out Brian Hancock took down the indoor and outdoor records.  Hancock was one of two All-Americans from the 2011 season and was joined on the NCAA podium by fellow-senior and combined events specialist Lars Rise.

The 2010-11 season also gave a glimpse into the years to come, as a young throws contingent made their debut and would later become the cornerstone of the Mizzou program. Highlighting the group of young Tigers was freshman Kearsten Peoples, who kicked off her Tiger career with an All-Big 12 finish in the weight throw.

Before Halter took the reins as the head coach for Mizzou’s track and field squad, he worked his way up the ranks for the Tigers as an assistant coach for throws through the 2000s. 

Halter's throwers, in particular Chris Rohr and Krishna Lee, put together one of the finest seasons in Mizzou history in 2009. Combined with what former Tiger Christian Cantwell did at the IAAF Outdoor World Championships over the summer, 2009 may indeed have been one of Halter's finest. Rohr added two more All-American honors to his already impressive ledger, picking up a pair of Big 12 Championship titles along the way.  He also reset the league's championship meet record in the hammer throw at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.  Halter's tutelage also led Rohr to a USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Field Athlete of the Year award during the indoor season, and a third-place national finish in the weight throw.

Lee highlighted the throwers on the women's side, earning a pair of All-American honors and her first individual Big 12 title to close out her senior season, blasting the competition in the women's hammer throw at the outdoor conference meet.  Lee also took home the Big 12's "Most-Points-Scored" trophy, as she totaled 21 points in her three events during the outdoor championships.  She finished first in the hammer, second in the shot put and sixth in the discus.

Cantwell put the exclamation point on the end of the season for Halter and his athletes, as he earned an IAAF World Outdoor Championship title in the shot put.  Cantwell bested 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Tomasz Majewski in the event, who had thrown the world's best throw in the fifth round at the championships.  Cantwell, undaunted by Majewski, stepped up and left little doubt about who was the best thrower in the world as he tossed a throw of 22.03m (72-3.50) in his very next attempt.  The outdoor gold for Cantwell gives him three IAAF Gold Medals, as he picked up a pair of indoor titles earlier in his career.  He is one of only two throwers to have claimed a pair of indoor world championships.

The 2008 season was full of many successes for Halter's pupils.  In addition to having five Tigers earn All-American honors during the collegiate season, Halter's tutelage of post-collegian Christan Cantwell produced a second IAAF World Indoor Championship title and an Olympic Silver Medal for the elite shot putter.

Chris Rohr gained his third All-American honor with the weight throw during the indoor season, accomplishing the feat after throwing a Mizzou school record and then a collegiate-leading mark of 22.26m (73-0.25) at the UCM Classic in Warrensburg.  The following week, Rohr connected on an even better throw of 22.42m (73-6.50) at the Big 12 Indoor Championships to earn second place.  Rohr would go on to also earn an All-American honor in the hammer throw during the outdoor season.

Jason Morris nabbed his second All-American honor with the hammer during the outdoor season.  Shernelle Nicholls took sixth at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn herself an All-American honor while Krishna Lee also earned an All-American finish in the same event.  Nate Englin swept Big 12 shot put titles in 2008, winning during both the indoor and outdoor championships.  He was the league's co-high scorer during the indoor championships.

In total, Halter saw the Tigers to 28 All-Big 12 honors among the indoor and outdoor league meets.  The Tiger men earned four spots in the weight throw, and three in the shot put, during the indoor season.  Three Tigers also notched scoring spots during the outdoor season in the men's hammer throw, women's shot put, and women's hammer throw.

Throughout Halter's coaching career at Missouri, several seasons have been filled with major accomplishments. In 2007, four Tiger throwers earned All-American honors, including three during the indoor season.  Chris Rohr and Tyler Dailey earned certificates in the men's weight throw, while Elisha Hunt had a breakthrough performance after placing fourth on the women's side.  Rohr earned his second-straight honor in the event.  During the 2006 indoor season, Halter put Missouri on the map in the weight throw as four Tigers scored in the Big 12 Indoor Championships, while Rohr earned All-American honors with his national top-15 finish with the implement.

It was an outstanding 2006 outdoor season that followed for the Tigers. Five male throwers and female shot putter Elizabeth Robe qualified for the NCAA Championships.  Halter also sent more men and women throwers to the NCAA Regional Championships than any other coach in the nation in 2006.  Sophomore Jason Morris was impressive with the hammer throw, qualifying for the USATF Championships as well as the NCAA Championships, grabbing runner-up honors at the NCAA Mideast Regional, Big 12 Championships, and the Drake Relays.  Englin and Bill Hobson earned top-five regional finishes with the shot put, and Bobby Musil and Tyler Dailey joined Morris in the NCAA Championships hammer throw event.  Nine Tiger male throwers gained 13 NCAA Regional qualifying marks during the outdoor season, the most of any team in the nation.

In the 2005 indoor season, Conrad Woolsey won the Big 12 men's shot put title on his final throw, claiming Mizzou's fifth title in the event over six years. Holly Scherder claimed Missouri's first conference crown in the women's hammer in 2004, setting what was then the new Tiger record.

In 2003, Russ Bell became the first in Missouri history to garner All-American finishes in four separate events (2001: discus, 2002: weight throw and hammer throw, 2003: indoor shot put). That same season, Bell recorded a career-high 20 points at the Big 12 Championships while winning the conference's hammer throw title, and became a four-time Drake Relays Champion after winning two titles over his career in the shot and discus.

Tiger throwers eclipsed several milestones in 2002. Christian Cantwell became the first American collegiate to throw better than 70 feet in the shot put since 1992. Cantwell's mark of 70-4.5 set the Big 12 record while ranking him seventh in the world for the 2002 season. Russ Bell, Cantwell, and Micah Shanks each threw better than 70 feet in the weight throw, making Missouri the first school in collegiate history to have three 70-foot throwers in a single season.

In 2000, Cantwell set the Big 12 record in the shot put with a mark of 19.65m (64-6.25) as a freshman. This was the second-longest throw of all time by an American college freshman. In addition, fellow first-year thrower Russ Bell earned USATF Junior All-American honors in the shot put, discus, and hammer. Bell also qualified for the junior team that toured Canada.

Halter is an active member of the USA Track and Field Coaches' Education Program. Halter has completed Levels I, II, and III certification in the throws. He was coordinator of the Level II school held at MU in 1996. He has also earned his IAAF Level V - Master Throws Coach, making him only one of two coaches in the nation to hold that distinction.

In 2005, Halter wrote "Progressions for Coaching the Shot Put and Discus", an instructional book on the throwing events for entry-level high school coaches. In addition, Halter has developed an instructional video entitled "Speed and Power for the Throws", that was produced by Championship Productions in 2006.

His innovative and creative ideas have made him a popular clinic speaker. Most recently, in December 2008, Halter presented a seminar on "Moving Toward a High Level of Competence Through a Systematic Approach in the Rotational Shot Put" at the USA National Podium Project in Las Vegas. Halter also presented at the 2008 USATF Olympic Trials Super Clinic in Eugene, OR, on the topic "Coaching Big Guys in the Shot". At the 2007 USTFCCCA Convention in Phoenix, Halter conducted a symposium with Arizona State coach Dave Dumble on shot put techniques, presented to track and field coaches.

CLASSROOM AWARDS & HONORS

• 1 National Scholar Athlete of the Year
• 73: Average number of Men & Women Student Athletes  with over 3.00 GPA
• 487 SEC Academic Honor Roll Recipients
• 3.00: Average Men's Track & Field team GPA
• 3.19: Average Men's Cross Country team GPA
• 3.41: Average Women's Track & Field team GPA
• 3.49: Average Women's Cross Country team GPA
• 3.27: Average combined program GPA
• Academic All-American Teams 9 of last 11 years (Men); 11 consecutive years (Women)

TRACK AWARDS & HONORS

• 1 Collegiate Record
• 1 National Runner of the Year
• 2 Honda Sports Woman of the Year
• 2 NCAA Top-10 Team Finishes
• 4 NCAA Top-10 All-Time Marks
• 6 SEC Freshmen of the Year
• 7 NCAA Champions
• 8 Top-25 NCAA Team Finishes
• 59 Individual Conference Champions
• 83 School Records
• 130 All-Americans
• 418 All-Time Top-10 Marks

COACH AWARDS & HONORS

• 2008 USTFCCCA Midwest Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year
• 2006 USTFCCCA Mideast Region Throws Coach of the Year
• USATF Level III Certified Throws Coach
• IAAF Level V Certified: Master Coach-Throws