WARRENSBURG, Mo. — The Missouri Southern throwers had a stellar day full of new school records and NCAA Automatic Qualifying Marks as the throwers competed at the Mule Relays Friday in Warrensburg.
Desirea Buerge had two event wins, two NCAA Automatic Qualifying Marks and a broke her own shot put record in a stellar day at the Relays. Buerge started things off with a win in the discus, hitting an AQ of 54.42m (178-06) that was a little short of her previous best mark and school record set earlier in the season. Payton Roberts and Kirsten Leisinger both had NCAA Provisional marks of their own and finished second and third, hitting marks of 157-01 and 152-00, respectively. Alexandra Rodriguez was sixth in the event.
Buerge followed that up with a win in the shot put as she eclipsed her own school record in the event with a distance of 16.21m (53-02.25), more than a foot in front of her previous best. The mark is an NCAA AQ in the event and is the second-best throw in the shot put this season. Roberts was third in the event with a big NCAA Provisional mark of her own, hitting a distance of 15.19m (49-10.00), which sits fifth best in the NCAA at this point.
Leisinger was second in the hammer throw with an NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark of 54.81m (179-10), while Rodriguez finished seventh.
On the men’s side, Travis Petersen finished fourth in the hammer, but was the second-best collegian, and in the process broke the MSSU school record in the event, hitting a mark of 62.73m (205-10) which tops the previous school record of 201-11 set by Bryan Burns last year. Petersen’s mark is an NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark and ranks ninth nationally. Josh Fulmer was seventh in the event with a provisional mark of 57.75m.
Rajindra Campbell won the discus with a strong NCAA Provisional mark of 55.72m (182-10) which is just shy of his previous best set last week which sits fourth nationally. Fulmer had a provisional of his own, finishing fourth in a distance of 50.17m, while Elijah Smith was 20th.
Campbell was second in the shot put, but was the top collegian in the event, hitting an NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark of 17.86m (58-07.25), while Fulmer was 17th and Smith was 27th in the event.
