University of Missouri
Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational
Track & Field to Honor Seniors, Coach McGuire at Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational
1/30/2025 10:00:00 AM | Track & Field
The Tigers will celebrate senior day, honor Coach McGuire and his athletes during the two-day event.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri track and field continues its homestand this weekend with the Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational on Friday and Saturday morning.
The event gets underway on Friday and will conclude on Saturday. Friday's first event will start at 10:30 a.m., while Saturday's action will begin at 11:45 a.m. with senior day festivities to start at 11:15 a.m. Attendance is free and open to the public.
INSIDE THE FIELDHOUSE
Nebraska, North Dakota State, Indiana State, Southeast Missouri State, SIUE, Illinois State, Iowa and Kansas will be in Columbia to join the Tigers for the event.
The venue received updates on its 200-meter track with an eight-lane sprint straightaway and multiple runways for pole vault and horizontal jumps. The facility has hosted indoor track and field events since its conception in 1972, including the 1991 Big Eight Indoor Track & Field Championship.
HONORING A LEGEND - DR. RICK MCGUIRE
Mizzou Track and Field will honor legendary coach and alumnus Dr. McGuire this weekend, celebrating his nearly 30-year impact on the program. Known not only for his teams' accomplishments on the track but also for his pioneering work in sports psychology and positive coaching, McGuire helped shape the future of the sport.
During his tenure, he coached 143 All-Americans, 100 conference champions, 29 USATF National Team picks, seven NCAA champions, five Olympians, three World Champions, two Olympic silver medalists and three collegiate record holders.
McGuire led Mizzou's women's track and field team from 1983-2010 and the men's team from 1988-2010. His influence extended beyond competition, founding the nationally recognized Positive Coaching School at MU. His standout protégés were Christian Cantwell, Natasha Kaiser, Derrick Peterson, Hans Uldal, Chris Rohr and Pam Page.
A respected leader in the sport, McGuire was the Big 12 Conference Indoor Coach of the Year in 2000 and was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame that same year. He also served as president of the NCAA Division I Track and Field Coaches Association from 2006-09. He served as a sports psychology consultant for national teams, including the U.S. Olympic team for the 1996 Atlanta Games.
His commitment to academic excellence ensured his teams were consistently recognized among the best in the classroom.
SENIOR DAY
MU will host its senior day celebration on Saturday with the ceremony starting at 11:15 a.m. The program will honor 25 seniors, including Euphenie Andre (Dover Planes, New York), Kiyah Bast (Cuba, Missouri), Angus Beer (Rozelle, Australia), Alicia Burnett (St. Louis, Missouri), Ames Burton (Manhattan, Kansas), Skylar Ciccolini (Lewistown, Pennsylvania), Taylor Ciccolini (Lewistown, Pennsylvania), Skylar Coffey (Spring Hill, Tennessee), Carolina Daza (Bucaramanga, Colombia), Claudina Diaz (Merida, Mexico), Royce Fisher (Grain Valley, Missouri), Marysa Flieg (Ste. Genevieve, Missouri), Tarique George (Kingston, Jamaica), Renee Lewis (Sydney, Australia), Nicole Louw (Sasolburg, South Africa), Steven Marks (Los Angeles, California), Johnny Martin (St. Louis, Missouri), Kristi Perez-Synman (Cape Town, South Africa), Austin Popplewell (Yorkville, Illinois), McKenna Revord (Hinsdale, Illinois), Rece Rowan (Colorado Springs, Colorado), Isabella Sokolova (Sofia, Bulgaria), Callan Saldutto (Toronto, Canada) and Anneken Viljoen (Paarl, South Africa).
LAST TIME OUT
Redshirt junior Sam Innes (Columbia, Missouri) recorded a program record in the weight throw with a 22.98m (75-4.75) result, good for eighth nationally. The previous record was held by Chris Rohr, throwing 22.71m (74-6) in 2009 at the Iowa State Classic.
Senior Allison Newman (Germantown, Tennessee) posted a time of 4:43.50 in the women's mile, marking the eighth-fastest indoor time in program history. Newman earned first place and logged her personal best time in the event.
Beer placed first in the men's mile, running a time of 4:04.28. His teammate junior Ethan Lee (Liberty, Missouri) followed only .02 seconds behind him, taking second in the race.
TOP-50 TIGERS
Sophomore Sterling Scott (Starkville, Mississippi) clocks in at fourth for the men's triple jump rankings. Scott achieved the 16.28m (53-5) mark at the Alexis Jarrett Invitational on January 11.
Redshirt junior Sam Innes (Columbia, Missouri) stands eighth in men's weight throw. Innes tallied a record-setting 22.98m (75-4.75) this past weekend in the Bob Teel Invitational.
Coffey joins Innes in the rankings and is 33rd nationally in men's shot put with his standout performance of 18.31m (60-7.25) at the Alexis Jarrett Invitational on Jan. 11.
All-American Andre ranks third for women's triple jump with a 13.49m (44-3.75) mark.
Burnett claims two spots in the national rankings for women's sprints. Her 200m record of 23.58 ranks 28th and her 7.29s in the 60m puts her as the 19th-best in the country.
Three Tigers join the chart for women's high jump. Perez-Snyman stands 10th nationally with her record of 1.83m (6-0). Diaz ranks 17th at 1.81m (5-11.25) and freshman Marlena Tresjno (Vancouver, Canada) joins the Tigers' trio at 33rd with a 1.78m (5-10) result at the Show-Me Showdown.
Sophomore Rahel Broemmel (Sonsbeck, Germany) marks 39th for the women's 5000m with a time of 16:09.31 achieved in the season opener.
ALL-AMERICAN RETURNEES
Burnett capped off her breakout 2024 indoor campaign with an All-American Second Team finish at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The rising senior notched a 12th-place result in the women's 60m with a 7.29 sprint at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Massachusetts.
With her result, Burnett became the first Mizzou sprinter (male or female, indoor or outdoor) to claim an All-American position at the NCAA Championships since Markesh Woodson and Kahmari Montgomery secured placements in the 100m and 400m, respectively, at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Burnett enjoyed one of the finest seasons by a Tiger sprinter in the last decade and looks to cap off her collegiate career in impressive fashion. She qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational on Feb. 2 with a sprint of 7.21 in the women's 60m. The mark shattered the previous program record of 7.31 held by LaQuisha Jackson for nine years.
Throughout the 2024 indoor campaign, Burnett hit five runs in the 60m, breaking Jackson's old record. She ranks in the top 10 for every indoor sprint record in program history - first in the women's 60m, fourth in the women's 200m, and sixth in the women's 400m.
Scott closed his first indoor season with an All-America Second Team placement in the men's triple jump. He scored an 11th-place result with a 15.50m (50-10.25) leap to earn the best finish of any freshman triple jumper at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston, Massachusetts.
In his debut year, Scott became the first Mizzou freshman All-American (male or female, indoor or outdoor) since Mirieli Santos and Roberto Vilches each earned the status at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. With his All-America placement, the Tigers have yielded an All-American in the triple jump for a seventh consecutive year.
Scott booked his spot in the NCAA Championships meet with a bronze-medal winning jump of 16.14m (52-11.5) on his final attempt at the SEC Indoor Championship.
Scott also finished fifth place in the triple jump final at the World Athletics U20 Championships, clearing 16.09m (52-9.36) on Aug. 29, 2024, in Lima, Peru. He set a career best in the event finishing second during the qualifying round. Scott then made the finals after clearing 16.29m (53-5.25) to move into third in the program's outdoor triple jump record book.
JOINING THE PACK
Ahead of the season, Coach Halter announced the signings of Sofia Walker, Ethan Zuber and Sofia Wydra Morgan Youmans as members of the class of 2025.
On January 15, head coach Brett Halter announced the addition of five distance runners – Mirriam Chepkirui (Nakuru, Kenya), Elijah Limo (Khayega, Kenya), Chesney Peterson (Johnson City, Kansas), Monica Wanjiku (Kaimbu, Kenya) and Kobi Walker (Melbourne, Australia) – to its 2025 roster. All are immediately eligible to compete for the current indoor season.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagramand X (MizzouTFXC).
Players Mentioned
