Meet the Missouri Tigers track and field athletes competing at NCAA West Regional

This year, one section of the road to the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, passes through College Station, Texas.

It’s a section of the road that the Missouri Tigers know quite well. They have competed in College Station three times during their indoor and outdoor seasons.

Nineteen MU athletes are competing in the NCAA West Regional from Wednesday to Saturday. To qualify for the regional, athletes must rank in the top 48 in an event in the East or West region. The top-12 finishes in each event at the regional will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, slated for June 11-14 in Eugene.

Field events for the West Regional will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday, and track events will start at 6 p.m.

Headlining MU’s crew of regional qualifiers is senior Kristi Perez-Snyman, who ranks third in the West in the women’s high jump. Perez-Snyman is riding high after becoming the first Tiger to win the women’s high jump title at the Southeastern Conference Championships, doing so with a program-record clearance of 6 feet, 2 3/4 inches.

She will be joined by classmate Claudina Diaz, who ranks ninth in the West with her top mark of 6-0 3/4, which she set at the Texas A&M Alumni Muster Invitational on May 3.

Mizzou junior Valentina Barrios ranks third in the regional in the women’s javelin. Barrios took home silver at the SEC Championships with her school-record throw of 190-11. She will compete alongside freshman Val Galligan, senior Kaesha George and sophomore Morgan Cannon, who rank 25th, 31st and 38th, respectively.

MU junior Ames Burton ranks 24th in the West in the women’s discus, and sophomore Reagan Kimrey ranks 36th in the women’s hammer throw.

Freshman Monica Wanjiku leads the Tigers’ distance contingent with her sixth-best time in the West in the 10,000-meter run. She clocked a time of 32 minutes, 21.97 seconds in the 10,000 at the Raleigh Relays on March 27.

Wanjiku also ranks 23rd in the 5,000 — a race she’ll be joined in by sophomore Rahel Broemmel, who ranks 38th.

Also doubling up is senior Alicia Burnett who has led MU’s women’s sprint team all season. Burnett ranks 18th in the 100 dash and 32nd in the 200.

On the men’s side, senior Callan Saldutto is ranked sixth in the men’s javelin with a mark of 237-11, which he set at the Virginia Challenge on April 18.

Sophomore Sterling Scott (triple jump) and redshirt junior Sam Innes (hammer throw) are ranked 10th in their respective events. Scott’s furthest jump, 52-5 1/4, came at the Texas A&M Alumni Muster Invitational, while Innes’ top toss of 225-7 came at the Battle on the Bayou on March 28.

Senior Skylar Coffey is ranked 20th in the discus and 44th in the shot put. Classmate Tarique George will join Coffey in the discus; the former ranks 24th in the event.

Junior Drew Rogers comes in ranked 25th in the men’s 10,000 with a program-record time of 28:14.27, which he set at the Raleigh Relays.

Junior Lasse Funck ranks 44th in the 800 with a personal-best time of 1:48.62 — and which recorded at the Battle on the Bayou — and senior Steven Marks ranks 45th in the 100 with a persona-best time of 10.28, which he set at the Virginia Challenge.

Copyright 2025 Columbia Missourian