The Missouri track and field team put forth a strong showing at the Woo Pig Invitational this past weekend, as the team claimed three wins at the event.
One week after traveling to Nashville to compete in the Vanderbilt Commodore Indoor events, the team traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas to compete in mainly field events. Reigning SEC Indoor Champions Arkansas was the host, with Big 12 women’s indoor champs Texas also in the mix.
Kentucky, LSU, Oklahoma State and even the USC Trojans made appearances at the event as well.
High expectations surrounded senior Ja’Mari Ward entering this season after an impressive junior campaign, and he started out with a bang. The Cahokia, Illinois native earned a first-place finish in the men’s long jump with a distance of 7.88m, moving Ward to third place in the country for the event.
The women’s triple jump was another very strong event for the Tigers, as sophomore Euphenie Andre and junior Arianna Fisher finished first and second respectively. Andre edged Fisher with a distance of 13.18m, while sophomore Mara Häusler placed fifth to secure a dominant overall performance for Missouri in this event.
With this performance, the duo of Andre and Fisher moved into fifth and seventh in the country in the triple jump.
On the men’s side of the triple jump, junior Georgi Nachev set a new personal record with a 15.57m mark that was good for first on Friday as well. Nachev, hailing from Bulgaria, now has five first-place finishes in the triple jump throughout his decorated career.
Both junior Sydney Johnson and grad student Emily Stauffer added roughly a meter onto their weight throws this week compared to their efforts in Nashville, while Mitch Weber set a personal best with a 17.62m throw.
The women’s shot put saw an improvement from last week in both placement among others and distance thrown across the board.
Following the meet, coach Brett Halter expressed how pleased he was with the team’s start to the season.
“It was nice to see so many personal bests across the board tonight,” Halter said. “Another example of the quality of work our team has put in over the last several months coupled with their willingness to be tested in the competitive arena.”
Halter said that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
“We have much work to get done over the next couple of weeks heading into February,” Halter said. “I fully expect several Tigers, both men and women, to be at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.”
With only two more meets on the shortened schedule before the SEC Championship and ensuing NCAA Indoor Championship, every event is meaningful for this team’s development.
The Tigers will be back in action Friday, Feb. 5, as they venture back to Fayetteville for the Arkansas Qualifiers.
_Edited by Jack Soble | jsoble@themaneater.com
