With just one week until the Southeastern Conference indoor championships, Missouri men’s and women’s teams used Saturday’s meet as a final tuneup, competing against schools from NCAA Division 1, 2 and 3, as well as some NAIA foes.
The Tigers took control of this meet from the outset, although each of the Tigers’ 13 opponents had some individual successes scattered throughout the day. For the men, redshirt senior Will Fife and freshman Roberto Vilches were starred in the field events. Fife improved his personal record and continued placing his name in program history with an 18.37 meter performance in shot put.
Vilches, competing in the long jump for the first time in his MU career, finished with a jump of 7.82 meters, good for the fourth best mark in program history and the 11th best nationally this season. In other men’s field events, redshirt senior Avery Carter came in first in the weight throw with a finish of 19.34 meters.
The MU women were also scattered throughout the top of the field, placing a Tiger on the podium in three events. Weight thrower and redshirt junior CeCe Johnson set a new PR on the way to a first place finish in the weight throw, with a toss of 19.16 meters. Her new best tied for No. 6 in program history. With a throw of 17.88 meters, redshirt junior Becky Keating took second, and redshirt freshman Emily Stauffer placed fifth with a throw of 16.47 meters, a new PR. Stauffer also took first place in shot put, throwing 15.44 meters. In the high jump, junior Valeria Kostiuk finished second.
Many Tigers also placed highly on the oval. Six new PRs were set by female track athletes. Freshman Arianna Fisher and sophomore Jazmyn Shumaker both set new PRs in their qualifying heats for the 60-meter dash. Their times were 7.73 and 7.74, respectively. Shumaker also won second place in the final with a time of 7.77. For unknown reasons, Fisher did not compete after qualifying. 400-meter dasher Karina Liz, a junior, topped her previous best time, taking second place with 57.75.
Tiger women swept the 800-meter podium. Redshirt sophomore Michaela Hackbarth clocked in at 2 minutes 20.17 seconds, redshirt freshman Jenna Lutzow came in close behind with a 2:20.35 and freshman Emma Roth wasn’t too far behind either, as she clocked a 2:22.13. Junior Faramola Shonekan earned fourth with 2:23.22. Senior Erica Rideout enjoyed seventh place with a new career-best with 2:26.14. Senior Elly DeTurris came in 10th, also with a PR of 2:29.01 and sophomore teammate Richelle Bain rounded out the Tigers in 12th.
Four Missouri women competed in the mile. Redshirt sophomore Susan Forbis took ninth with a time of 5:32.46, redshirt junior Kayla Funkenbusch was right behind her in 10th, clocking in at 5:33.28, freshman Abby Hake placed 14th and freshman Lilly Hamilton took 15th. Sophomore Lexi Maddox and redshirt junior Samantha Farmer won second and third in the 3,000-meter run with times of 10:41.88 and 10:48.28, respectively. Also competing was redshirt sophomore Kiley Deain. Her time was good for 14th place. In the 60-meter hurdles, freshman Kalescia Thomas placed fifth with a final time of 9.42. Her qualifying time of 9.25 was a personal best. Also running, but not qualifying for the finals, were freshman Arianna Butler and sophomore Blair Widmer.
Rounding out the night were 4×400-meter runners freshman Morgan O’Neal, Liz, Shumaker, and sophomore Maya Puller. That group placed second, clocking in at 4:00.84.
In men’s track events, it was much the same story, with Tigers scattered at the top of the leaderboard. However, none of the Tiger men finished first in a track event. Freshman Khmari Thompson finished eighth in the 60-meter dash, with a time of 7.16. Sophomore Jason Edwards and freshman Cason Suggs finished 10th and 20th, respectively in the 200. Junior Robert Kuhlmann and Suggs each enjoyed personal best finishes in the 400, clocking in with times of 51.04 and 53.34, good for third and 13th place. Redshirt sophomore Dylan Quisenberry turned in a 155.7 finish in the 800. Lastly, junior Justin Loquercio set a PR in the mile run with a time of 4:18.15 on his way to a third place finish.
Next week, the competition will be much stiffer as the Tigers head to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to compete in the SEC Championships on Friday and Saturday.
_Edited by Adam Cole | acole@themaneater.com_