Missouri’s track & field team is set to hit the ground running on Friday and Saturday, April 3-4, at the Battle on the Bayou in Baton Rogue, La. Events will take place at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium, where Mizzou athletes will rise to the occasion for a two-day showdown.
Meet Schedule
Friday’s action starts with the women’s hammer throw at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men’s hammer throw and other afternoon events, including pole vault and javelin. Evening field events begin at 5:00 p.m., alongside running events that
kick off with the 400-meter hurdles. The night continues with the 200 meters, steeplechase, 1,500 meters and concludes with the 5,000 meters.
On Saturday, field events start at 10:30 a.m. with discus and shot put, followed by high jump and triple jump. Running events begin late in the morning with relays and the 800 meters. The events continue with hurdles, sprints and finish with the 4×400-meter relays in the afternoon.
Meet Schedule Link: https://lionsports.net/documents/2026/3/30/t_f_lsu_battle_of_the_bayou_meet_schedule_4326.pdf
Mizzou’s Top Opponents
Missouri’s men will face top schools such as LSU (1), Texas A&M (6), Georgia (11), Alabama (12) and Oklahoma (19). For the women, they will compete against LSU (1), Georgia (4) and Texas A&M (7). All of these schools are well within the top-20 rankings, so Mizzou (47) for the men and (42) for the women will need to show-off their skills.
Rankings: https://web4.ustfccca.org/iz/tfri/collection/17387
Mizzou Contenders
Missouri brings a strong lineup to every event in this meet, with several groups standing out the most.
In the field events, women’s javelin stands out the most through their rankings. Skylar Ciccolini and everyone’s favorite, Valentina Barrios are both ranked in the top-10 nationally. In the throwing events, Petra Gombas and Reagan Kimrey have proven their worth in the hammer throw, while Ames Burton will build on her early marks in the women’s discus.
On the men’s side, the shot put duo of Sam Albert and Chase Crawford will continue with their season progression. Sam Innes will open his outdoor season in the hammer throw, following his All-American honors in the men’s weight throw during the indoor season.
Missouri’s distance squad is ready to lace up their shoes for the upcoming meet. Lasse Funck and Finn Russell have both claimed the program’s top-10 all-time list in the 1,500 meters at the Raleigh Relays. They will also be joined by Joseph Bariola, River Hardman, Andrew Hauser, Ryder James and Carter Spradling.
As for the sprinters, Robert Hines will race the 200 meters and will also compete in his first 100 meters of the season after posting a 21.93 in the 200 meters at the meet last year. Dillon Leacock will compete in the 400 meters, with hopes of strong results.
In the women’s distance events, Brianna Lee, Suzy Lecoutre, Allison Newman and Morgan Yeomans are set to compete in the 800-meter race.
On a High Note
Brianna Utecht claimed a personal best in the women’s high jump on Wednesday, April 1, during the first day of the Texas Relays, with a mark of 1.64 meters.
Last Year’s Battle on the Bayou
During last year’s meet, Barrios won the women’s javelin with a mark of 52.93 meters. In the women’s hammer throw, Gombas claimed fifth, Kimrey placed eighth and Kaitlyn Morningstar claimed ninth. For the men’s hammer throw, Innes won the event with a personal best of 68.75 meters.
In the running events, Monica Wanjiku placed third overall in the women’s 10,000 meters, with a new personal best of 32:21.97 and Rahel Broemmel claimed ninth in the women’s 5,000 meters with her personal best of 15:50.11.
End Note
With many top results from last year’s meet, the Tigers have a strong foundation to build on and will hopefully achieve similar success in 2025. Also, the team has had plenty of meets this season to prepare, with multiple Mizzou athletes placed nationally.
To read more about Missouri’s Track and Field team, follow @Rock MNation and @SophBleedsLA on twitter/X.
