Columbia News

The University of Missouri track and field team began its participation at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, Virginia, with notable performances on Friday. The event saw two school records set by Alicia Burnett and Drew Rogers.

Burnett broke a 38-year-old school record in the women's 100-meter dash, running 11.27 seconds in the preliminaries and improving to 11.23 seconds in the finals. Her performance also set a new meet record for the Virginia Challenge and earned her first place in the event. Rogers established a new men's 5000-meter invitational school record with a time of 13:41.63, finishing fourth.

Additional achievements included Steven Marks finishing third in the men's 100 meters with a time of 10.27 seconds, placing him seventh all-time at Missouri. Elijah Limo secured first place in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:53.23, ranking eighth in school history for that event as a freshman. Monica Wanjiku, also a freshman, finished second in the women's 5000-meter invitational with a time of 15:40.79, making her second fastest in program history.

In total, Missouri athletes achieved five podium finishes in track events on day one: Burnett (first), Marks (third), Limo (first), Wanjiku (second), and Joshua Allison (third) who ran an 8:57.17 in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase.

Field events also brought success for Missouri competitors. Sam Innes placed third in the men's hammer throw with a mark of 67.40 meters (221-1). Petra Gombas claimed second place in the women's hammer throw at 57.17 meters (187-6).

Other notable results included Annekan Viljoen's twentieth-place finish in the women's race at 4:25.22; Tyler Freiner taking seventeenth and Austin Popplewell twenty-third place respectively in their events; Kobi Walker finishing fourth; Reagan Kimrey earning twentieth; and Clayton Kamp placing ninth.

The Tigers' performances on day one reflect strong showings both on track and field as they continue their season at this competitive meet.