This weekend was full of firsts for the Tiger track and field team.
Missouri competed in its first-ever Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship last weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., and made a splash while doing so.
Freshman sprinter Markesh Woodson won the men’s 60-meter dash with a school record time of 6.60 seconds, defeating his older SEC counterparts in Sunday’s final race. With this new personal best, Woodson now moves into third in the 60-meter NCAA rankings. This is the fourth time this season Woodson has broken the school record. Woodson ran a solid time of 6.63 seconds during Saturday’s preliminary round to earn himself a spot in Sunday’s final.
Senior Laura Roxberg finished second overall in the women’s mile with a final time of 4 minutes, 36.02 seconds. Fellow distance runner sophomore Merid Seleshi earned an eighth place finish for is personal best time of 4 minutes, 7.2 seconds in the men’s mile.
Missouri had many outstanding performances in field events this weekend as well.
On Saturday, sophomore Jill Rushin finished second overall in the women’s shot put with a throw of 54 feet, 8.25 inches.
“I never placed All-Conference in the Big 12, so it feels great to get my first medal at SEC’s our first year,” Rushin told MUTigers.com. “My goal was to PR, and I did that. So I’m happy with my performance.”
Senior Cortni Ervin finished eighth in the same event with a mark of 50 feet and 3.5 inches.
There were also plenty of medals won on the men’s side of the pits as well. Senior Brooks Mosier placed sixth in the shot put with a distance of 58 feet, 2 inches. Fellow senior Jacob Bullinger finished fourth overall in the weight throw with a mark of 66 feet, 5.25 inches, while junior Brian Duncan placed eighth in the same event with a throw of 63 feet, 6.75 inches.
“Yeah, I was definitely feeling it (today). I think good things are coming in the next couple of weeks,” Duncan said before going on about his teammate. “(Bullinger) is a good teammate, a good training partner, and we just have to keep up the tradition. Coming into the new conference, we just have to bring what we had in the Big 12’s.”
In the women’s weight throw, Missouri placed three athletes in the top 10 of the competition. Sophomore Kearsten Peoples earned the third place medal with a throw of 65 feet, while junior Bethany Pfeiffer and Cortni Ervin placed sixth and ninth in the same event.
On Sunday, freshman Jonathon Ilori placed eighth in the triple jump while fellow freshman jumper Tony Carodine placed eleventh. During Saturday’s session, senior Malcolm Pennix finished fifth in the men’s triple jump with a jump of 25 feet 8 inches.
“I’m kind of hard on myself, so I got to do better,” Pennix told MUTigers.com. “But it feels good. I’m just clawing away at the (school) record, that’s where I want to get right now.”
The Arkansas Razorbacks, the host school, won both the men’s and women’s team crowns after three days of fierce competition. The Missouri Tigers finished around the middle of the pack, as the men’s team placed eighth and the women’s team ended up ninth overall. The Tigers will compete in the NCAA Championship Qualifier next week, with the location yet to be determined. The next challenge for the Tigers after that will be the NCAA Indoor Championship in Fayetteville.
