COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Tigers are set to depart for their final weekend on the road before the SEC Championships in two weeks as they board the bus for Fayetteville, AR, and the Tyson Invitational. The two-day meet, spanning Friday (Feb. 14) and Saturday (Feb. 15), will be set in the Randal Tyson Track Center, the site for the 2013 SEC and NCAA Indoor Championships.
“Our meets have steadily increased in intensity and quality of competition, and this meet is a terrific test to see where we are in February,” Head Coach Brett Halter said. “About half of the SEC schools will be there, so it's a great opportunity for our team. It's always a good meet, and we're looking forward to the competition.”
Events will begin Friday afternoon for the Tigers with the women's 400-meter dash, and continue through Saturday afternoon with the men's 4x400-meter relay closing out events at 5:15 p.m. Among those making the trek down to Fayetteville are three current Missouri School Record holders and 13 Missouri All-Time Top Ten performers, many of whom are bouncing back from last weekend's competitions at the Armory Collegiate Invitational and the Missouri Invitational.
Included among those going for the second consecutive weekend is junior Kearsten Peoples, who hit her second Missouri School Record performance while in New York on Friday at the Armory. Peoples, who broke the School Record in the weight throw earlier this season (21.18m/69-6), took down her own record mark in the shot put to win the event in 16.93m (55-6.5). She enters the weekend as one of the top-ranked throwers in the NCAA, coming in at No. 6 in both the shot put and weight throw, as released by the U.S. Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS).
Also landing in the top 30 in the NCAA for the throwing events are junior Jill Rushin and senior Katie Evans. Rushin threw a new personal record (PR) in the shot put on Friday (16.80m/55-1.5) to place second in the event at the Armory and land at No. 8 in the nation. Evans comes in at No. 26 in the nation for U.S. women after her PR performance of 16.00m (52-6) in the shot put earlier this season.
The men also have a nationally ranked performer in sophomore Markesh Woodson who matched his Missouri School Record performance in the 60-meter dash on Friday, crossing in 6.60 to place second. The defending SEC Champion first hit this mark last year during his conference title winning performance at the Randal Tyson Track in Fayetteville. He is currently No. 6 in the NCAA for the event.
Also taking the track this weekend is senior Max Storms, who will travel up to Ames, IA, for the ISU Classic, the second meet of his final season in the black and gold. Storms currently holds the No. 3 spot on the All-Time Top Ten list for the 5000-meter run, and is the Missouri School Record holder in the outdoor 10,000-meter run.
“They've put together a really good meet up there, attracting a lot of the top distance talent from across the country,” Joe Lynn, assistant coach in charge of the mid-distance and distance groups, said of the ISU Classic. “For Max, it's an opportunity to run with some of the nation's best and be in a position to race fast and get an NCAA qualifier.”
Storms will hit the line for the 5000-meter on Friday and the mile run on Saturday in hopes to secure a qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships next month.
Other Tigers to watch out for this weekend include:
Missouri School Record holders: Kearsten Peoples, shot put (16.93m/55-6.5) & weight throw (21.18m/69-6) | Chelsie Stevens, 60-meter dash (7.56) | Markesh Woodson, 60-meter dash (6.60)
Missouri All-Time Top Ten: Alyssa Applebee, No. 8 – pole vault (3.65m/11-11.75) | Lynnsey Brim, No. 8 – 60m dash (7.77) | Katie Evans, No. 6 – shot put (16.00m/52-6) | Maggie Givens, No. 3 – pole vault (3.95m/12-11.5) | Jacqueline Obi, No. 7 – 60m dash (7.76), No. 5 – 200m dash (24.97) | Jill Rushin, No. 2 – shot put (16.80m/55-1.5) | Morgan Whitson, No. 6 – pentathlon (3,828 pts.) | Tony Carodine, No. 6 – triple jump (15.32m/50-3.25) | Tre Chambers, No. 3 – 60m dash (6.73), No. 5 – 200m dash (21.58) | Jonathan Ilori, No. 4 – triple jump (15.53m/50-11.5) | Dan Roe, No. 9 – 3000m run (8:15.14) | Tyler Schneider, No. 7 – 3000m run (8:13.73) | Kyle Smith, No. 2 – 60m hurdles (8.06) | Max Storms, No. 3 – 5000m run (14:14.20) | Markesh Woodson, No. 4 – 200m dash (21.47)
TYSON INVITATIONAL
Participating Teams: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Florida State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Texas, Illinois, USC, Kansas, Baylor
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ISU CLASSIC
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