Mizzou’s track and field teams participated in two meets on Friday, with athletes competing at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston and the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville.
At the Valentine Invitational, junior Drew Rogers set a new Missouri school record in the men’s 3000-meter run. Rogers finished second with a time of 7:48.11, improving his previous record by more than five seconds. He was just behind Wisconsin’s Matan Ivri. Rogers’ prior best had been established last year at the SEC Indoor Championships.
In the same race, Ryder James won his heat and achieved a personal best of 8:00.51, which ranks as the fourth-fastest time in school history.
Meanwhile, at the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas, senior Dillon Leacock posted a personal-best time of 47.61 seconds in the 400-meter dash, making it the ninth-fastest ever for Missouri. Junior Sam Innes finished tenth in the weight throw with a distance of 21.83 meters (71 feet, 7.5 inches).
Other notable performances included Joseph Bariola finishing 28th in Boston’s men’s 3000-meter run (8:24.60), Carter Spradling placing 50th with a personal best of 4:03.49 in another event, and several athletes achieving new personal records in longer distances.
The Tigers will continue competition at both locations on Saturday before taking next week off ahead of post-season events at the SEC Indoor Championships scheduled for February 26-28.
For updates on Missouri track and field, fans can visit MUTigers.com or follow their social media accounts.
