THE MEET

• Mizzou Track & Field begins postseason competition for the outdoor season with the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships, May 9-11 in Fayetteville, Ark. The three day conference meet will serve as the final competition for athletes to post top-48 regional marks, which would qualify them for the NCAA West Preliminary, set for May 23-25 in Sacramento, Calif. The SEC meet will begin on Thursday with the men's hammer throw at Noon CT, followed by multi-events at 2 p.m. CT and track events at 6:30 p.m. CT. On Friday, the women's hammer throw will kick off field events at Noon CT, followed by multi-events at 1:45 p.m. CT and track events at 6 p.m. CT. The meet will conclude on Saturday with field events at 12:30 p.m. CT and track events at 5 p.m. CT. The meet will be stream through SEC Network + on Thursday and Friday beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT and 6 p.m. CT, respectively, while Saturday's event will be televised on SEC Network beginning at 5 p.m. CT.

THROWS GROUP LEADS THE WAY

• In what has become a staple with the Mizzou Track & Field program, the throws group is once again leading the way for Mizzou in 2019. For the women, Mizzou will have eight athletes who have posted two school records and 11 program top-10 marks (nine set in 2019) competing in four throws events.
• Redshirt senior Gabi Jacobs will lead the way for Mizzou in the discus and shot put. She is the current school record holder in the discus (60.25m/197-8), and holds the No. 7 mark in the shot put (15.78m/51-9.25). Jacobs is seeking her third SEC title at this week's meet, as she has captured the 2017 and 2018 SEC discus championships. Her season-best discus mark of 60.25m (197-8) currently ranks third in the NCAA West Region and fourth in the NCAA overall.
• Redshirt sophomore Sophia Rivera, Mizzou school record holder in the javelin (55.73m/182-10) and No. 3 in the discus (55.75m/182-11), will be making her SEC Outdoor meet debut this week. Her javelin mark currently ranks third in the NCAA West Region and fifth in the NCAA overall. 

VILCHES' EMERGENCE

• Freshman Roberto Vilches, a highly-touted prospect out of Mexico City, has been nothing short of spectacular in his first season for Mizzou. Vilches enters his first SEC Outdoor meet with the nation's top mark in the high jump at 2.27m (7-5.25). The Tiger freshman's clearance at the Mizzou Spring Open was good enough to vault him to No. 2 on Mizzou's all-time top-10 list, and earned him SEC Field Athlete of the Week honors. Vilches has cleared seven-feet in each of his three meets this season, and has placed first in his last two meets.
• During the indoor season, Vilches earned NCAA All-America Second Team honors after finishing 15th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He also broke Mizzou's oldest school record at the Missouri Intercollegiate (Jan. 11), as Vilches broke Nat Page's 1977 high jump school record with a mark 2.26m (7-5). Vilches finished fifth in the long jump at the SEC Indoor Championships with a clearance of 2.22m (7-3.25). 

WARD'S RETURN

• After redshirting during the 2018 outdoor season, redshirt sophomore Ja'Mari Ward returns to the SEC Outdoor Championships for the first time since winning the SEC Long Jump title as a true freshman in 2017. At that meet, Ward captured his first conference title with a mark of 8.13m (26-8.25), which still ranks second all-time at Mizzou. Following his performance in 2017, Ward won SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year honors. This season, Ward has jumped once, at the Texas Relays, where he posted a mark of 7.90m (25-11), which ranks fourth in the NCAA West Region and 11th in the NCAA overall. 
• During the indoor season, Ward captured All-America honors for the second straight season following an eighth place finish in the long jump at 7.79m (25-6.75) at the NCAA Indoor Championships. At the 2018 NCAA Indoor meet, Ward finished fifth with a leap of 7.82m (25-8). 
• Ward will also compete in the triple jump this week, where he currently holds the No. 9 mark in program history at 15.44m (50-8).

#EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS

• More on Mizzou's elite throws group on the women's side - Mizzou currently ranks in the nation's top-five in the USTFCCCA #EventSquad Rankings in the hammer throw and javelin. The rankings measure a team's average in a specific event where team has four or more competitors.
• In the hammer throw, Mizzou ranks third in the nation with an average of 59.14m (194-0)
  • Jordan McClendon - 65.68m (215-6)
  • Becky Keating - 61.88m (203-0)
  • CeCe Johnson - 56.27m (184-8)
  • Sydney Oberdiek - 52.71m (172-11)
• In the javelin, Mizzou ranks third in the nation with an average of 48.69m (159-9):
  • Sophia Rivera - 55.73 (182-10)
  • Ava Curry - 50.74m (166-6)
  • Allie Webb - 48.24m (158-3)
  • Blair Widmer - 40.05m (131-5)

DYNAMIC FRESHMEN

• Mizzou looks to have two mainstays in the women's triple jump for the next four years, as freshmen Mirieli Santos, and Arianna Fisher currently hold the No. 1 and No. 4 program marks, respectively. 
• Santos set the school record at the Tom Botts Invitational (April 20) with a mark of 13.01m (42-8.25), while Fisher posted a season-best mark of 12.58m (41-3.25) at the Mizzou Spring Open (April 6) to rank fourth all-time at Mizzou. The duo currently ranks 19th and 38th in the NCAA West Region, respectively. 
• During the indoor season, Santos earned NCAA All-America honors with an 11th-place finish in the triple jump at 12.88m (42-3.25) in the NCAA Indoor Championships. Santos set the school record and finished eighth at the SEC Indoor Championships with a mark of 13.21m (43-4.25).