Tigers get five individual wins at Tom Botts Invitational

Missouri freshman DaJuan Young clears the high jump bar at the Tom Botts Invitational on Saturday at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. Young finished in fourth place.

Hal William Estep
April 10, 2021

The Tigers hosted Friday’s portion of the meet at Walton Stadium, but most of Saturday’s events did not take place due to inclement weather. The high jump and pole vault were moved indoors to the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse.

The Tigers took part in just the men’s high jump Saturday, with freshman DaJuan Young and sophomore Roberto Vilches participating. Vilches, who took first place in the same event in 2019, once again was victorious, earning first place with a mark of 6 feet, 10¾ inches. Vilches hadn’t competed in over a year before Saturday’s high jump victory.

Saturday was a continuation of the Tigers’ strong opening Friday. On the first day of the invitational, 18 Missouri athletes set new personal bests, with Sydney Oberdiek and Sarah Chapman moving into the top 10 in program history in the women’s hammer throw and 1500-meter run, respectively. Chapman finished second in the 1500. Oberdiek finished seventh and senior Jordan McClendon finished third in the women’s hammer throw.

“I lost count of the personal bests throughout the day.” Missouri coach Brett Halter said in a release.

Before Vilches’ Saturday victory, four other Tigers took home event wins Friday. Arielle Mack won the women’s long jump, Jason Edwards finished first in the men’s javelin, Emily Stauffer was the women’s shot put winner and William Sinclair topped the men’s 1500. The Tigers also swept the top three spots in the men’s 1500 and the top four in the men’s javelin.

Halter said he was pleased with where his teams stand moving forward.

“Both teams are where we want to be for early April,” Halter said in the release. “Several more weeks of work ahead of us as we continue to prepare for the postseason.”

In another notable finish Friday, Southern Illinois’ DeAnna Price broke the American women’s hammer throw record with a 257-feet, 10-inch throw at Walton Stadium. It was the third-longest distance for a women’s hammer throw in world history.

Missouri will continue its season Friday and Saturday at the War Eagle Invitational in Auburn, Alabama.