Missouri track and field got their outdoor season out to an amazing start at the Yellow Jacket Invitational on March 16.They finished with three event wins, 10 top-3 and 21 top-10 finishes.

For the track runners, the biggest standout was sophomore Austin Popplewell, who won the men’s 5,000m with a personal best time of 14:32.60. Other standouts included the relay team of senior Quinton Brown, sophomore Robert Hines, junior Steven Marks and junior Marc Poland Jr. who as a squad placed second in the men’s 4x100m. Marks also placed second in the individual men’s 200m. Junior Angus Beer also made some waves, placing fifth in the men’s 800m.

As for the field runners, the two largest standouts were graduates Mitch Weber and Erin Zimmerman. Weber won the men’s discus event with a 58.43m (191-8) throw while Zimmerman won the women’s javelin throw with a personal best 51.18m (167-11) throw. 

The Tigers didn’t stop there, as freshman Emanuele Bellanova finished second in the men’s long jump with a 7.14m (23-5.25) distance jump and fourth in the men’s high jump with a 1.81m (5-11.25) distance jump. Junior Skylar Coffey placed second in the men’s shot put with a 18.04m (59-2.25) throw and junior Tarique George had a personal best throw of 56.12m (184-1) to finish just behind Weber. Graduate Skylar Ciccolini finished third behind Zimmerman with a 48.16m (158-0) throw while graduate Emily Offenheiser placed fifth in the women’s shot put with a 14.69m (48-2.5) throw.

Edited by Grace Ainger | [email protected]

Copy Edited by Grace Knight | [email protected]Edited by Genevieve Smith | [email protected]