Sam Innes Mug

Sam Innes

Courtesy of Mizzou Athletics

The NCAA Track & Field West First Round began Wednesday in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Missouri sent 15 athletes to compete with others from Division I across the western half of the country for spots at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Qualifiers

Senior thrower Sam Innes punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships after qualifying Wednesday in the hammer throw. Innes secured his spot at nationals with an opening mark of 222 feet, 6 inches, the eighth-best throw of the competition.

Senior Garik Pozecki did not advance after finishing 40th in the event. Pozecki recorded a top mark of 191-9 on his final attempt.

Senior hurdler Dillon Leacock advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal round in the 400-meter hurdles after posting a personal-best time of 50.33 seconds, the seventh-fastest mark of the opening round and the program’s No. 3 all-time result.

Leacock needs to finish in the top three in one of three heats Friday or have one of the next three best times to move on to the NCAA Outdoors.

Additional results

Senior Lasse Funck fell short of advancing in the 1,500, placing 40th with a time of 3:48.26.

Junior Drew Rogers placed 39th in the 10,000 with a time of 30:07.16.

Still to come

Missouri’s men’s team will have two more athletes compete Friday, in the 3,000 steeplechase quarterfinals, as Elijah Limo and Joshua Allison continue postseason competition.

Missouri’s women’s squad will begin competition Thursday.

In field events, Missouri’s nationally ranked javelin group will compete Thursday, led by Valentina Barrios and Skylar Ciccolini, who enter the competition ranked second and third in the West. Morgan Cannon and Val Galligan will also represent Missouri in the javelin.

Petra Gombas, who ranks 26th in the hammer throw, will also compete Thursday, while Marlena Tresnjo, ranked 18th in the high jump, and Ames Burton, seeded 22nd in the discus, compete Saturday.

Monica Wanjiku, meanwhile, is set to compete in both the 10,000 and 5,000 after entering the meet ranked 15th and 49th in the West, respectively. The 10K semifinal is Thursday, while the 5K semi is Saturday.