For their last home indoor meet of the season, the Tigers went out with a bang.
Missouri dominated the field, winning many events while setting meet records and a school record along the way. Freshman Chelsie Stevens and senior Malcolm Pennix were two Tigers who stepped it up Friday.
Stevens won the women’s 60-meter dash with a school-record time of 7.56 seconds. She had previously missed the school record by .01 seconds at the Missouri Invitational earlier this year.
“My goal for today was to break 7.60 (seconds),” Stevens said, “I’m happy with today but not satisfied.”
Stevens said her goal for the season is to keep improving her time every meet.
Pennix set the meet record for the long jump with a mark of 25 feet, .75 inches. With that jump, Pennix now moves into fifth overall in both the Southeastern Conference and the NCAA.
“Overall, I was happy with today,” Pennix said. “My goals for the day were to stay focused and confident and get the school record, but two out of three ain’t bad,” he said.
Many other Missouri athletes placed in top spots. Freshmen Jonathon Ilori and Tony Carodine placed first and second in the men’s triple jump. Carodine recorded a 48 feet, 11 inch jump and Ilori had a mark of 50 feet, 11 1/2 inches . With that jump, Ilori moved up to the seventh spot in the SEC rankings.
Junior Andy Schuckenbrock finished third overall in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 8.33 seconds.
In the men’s weight throw, Missouri throwers senior Jacob Bullinger, junior Brian Duncan and junior Alex McDonald took the top three spots. Mosier set a new meet record and a personal best with a throw of 60 feet, .05 inches.
On the women’s side, senior Courtni Ervin placed first and junior Bethany Pfeiffer placed second in the weight throw. In shot put, seven out of the top 10 throwers were from MU, including the event winner, Kearsten Peoples, who threw 53 feet, 1 1/2 inches, a new meet record.
Senior mid-distance runner Laura Roxberg and freshman sprinter Markesh Woodson were among those sidelined in order to rest for the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship this weekend.
Many of the athletes said they are looking forward to next week’s conference championship and to showing what they can do on the big stage.
“I’m a little fish in a big pond,” Stevens said, “But I’m still confident I can do well and compete.”
Pennix said that after his performance on Friday, he is now ranked fifth overall in the NCAA. The only catch is all four jumpers ahead of him are from SEC schools.
“I’m as good as anyone else,” Pennix said. “I’ll be fine next weekend.”
Horizontal jumps and sprinting coach Kareem Streete-Thompson also expressed his anticipation for this weekend.
“The challenge that lies ahead is a formidable one and we have to step it up a notch,” Streete-Thompson said.
Unlike the Big 12 Conference, the SEC has depth from all angles. On the men’s side, three of the top five teams in the NCAA are from the SEC, and two of the top five on the women’s side are SEC teams as well.
