Mizzou heads into high-stakes weekend across California and Nebraska

**Big Red Classic Schedule of Events**

**Friday (Prelims)** Friday’s field events will start at approximately 12 p.m., with the men’s hammer throw and hopefully a chance for Tiger fans to watch Sam Innes in the flesh after his stellar performance at the Battle on the Bayou. Soon after, the women’s pole vault will take place at 1:30 p.m., with multiple Mizzou athletes at the ready. Women’s hammer throw will continue after, with fans looking at Gombas, Kaitlyn Morningstar and Reagan Kimrey for winning results. Saving the best for last at 6:30 p.m., the women’s javelin will compete with Valentina Barrios who broke the meet record at the Battle on the Bayou. Also, Skylar Ciccolini has continued to outshine many of her opponents in the javelin and it will be interesting to watch her performance during this meet. “You need a Sam, you need a Drew, you need a Skylar Ciccolini, or Valentina who, when they go out there, they go out there and they’re consistent and that’s the tone for everyone,” Levermore said. For the running events, the women’s 100m preliminary hurdles will start at 4:30 p.m. Hopefully, this will give Brianna Utecht a chance to show-off her talent, after a fifth place finish at the Texas Relays. The men’s 110m preliminary hurdles will begin shortly after, with Dillon Leacock who placed fourth at the Yellow Jacket Invitational hopefully making an appearance in this event. Along with those races, the men’s 100m preliminary dash will occur and Robert Hines will hopefully run. After claiming the No.3 Mizzou program record in the 400m hurdles at the Battle on the Bayou, Leacock is sure to race again during this meet. The 200m dash is next, and Hines will hopefully look to place during this event. Lastly, the night will end with the women and men’s 5,000m run. **Saturday (Finals)** The final day of field events will begin at 12 p.m. with the women’s discus, where Ames Burton will be one to watch following her eighth-place finish at the Battle on the Bayou. Later, the women’s high jump will take place, with Marlena Tresnjo looking to compete after also finishing eighth at the Battle on the Bayou. The field events will conclude with the men’s shot put, where Chase Crawford and Sam Albert—who placed sixth and eighth, respectively, at the Battle on the Bayou—are expected to compete. On the track, the women’s 100m hurdles finals are scheduled, with hopes that Utecht will qualify. On the men’s side, Leacock could contend in the 110m hurdles finals and may also compete in the 400m hurdles finals. The men’s 100m dash finals will follow, where Hines is another athlete to watch as the meet wraps up.

**Bryan Clay Invitational Meet Schedule**

The meet kicks off Thursday morning with the women’s and men’s open 10,000m races. In the evening, the schedule continues with the women’s and men’s 3,000m steeplechase open and invitational races, before wrapping up the night with the 10,000m invitational events. Friday begins with the women’s and men’s 5,000m races. Afternoon events include the 800m and 100m for both men and women, followed by the 5,000m invitational races in the evening. Field events throughout the day will feature the men’s and women’s hammer throw, high jump, and triple jump, continuing into the late afternoon. “For a lot of people, it’s inland and kind of protected by the canyons on either side from any sort of wind or anything crazy,” Levermore said. “So it tends to be just a really, really fast environment for running, and so, yeah, looking forward to it.” Saturday, the final day of competition, starts with the 1,500m open races. The track schedule then moves through a full slate of events, including the 4x100m relay, 400m, 100m, hurdles (110m), 200m, and the 4x400m relay for both men and women. The meet concludes in the evening with multiple sections of the 1,500m races. Field events on Saturday will include the javelin, shot put, discus, long jump, and pole vault, with both open and invitational divisions.

**Distance Runners Long-Awaited News**

**Overall USTFCCA Rankings**

As of this week, the Mizzou women’s javelin squad is ranked No.1 overall in the leaderboard, with Ciccolini No.3 in her division with a mark of 57.45m. In second, Barrios is sitting No.7 in her division with a mark of 55.80m. In the men’s 1500m, the Tigers sit at No.13 overall, led by Lasse Funck who is No.49 in his division with a mark of 3:41.98, and Finnian Russell at No.55, with his mark of 3:42.60. These rankings demonstrate these athletes’ ability to perform at a high level, regardless of the competition they face. “I’m excited to bring a big group back, and feel like we’ll be kind of training through this week with the group going to Nebraska and be ready to rock next weekend in Des Moines,” Levermore said. USTFCCA weekly rankings: To read more about Missouri’s Track and Field team, follow @Rock MNation and @SophBleedsLA on twitter/X.