Oct. 1, 1999

COLUMBIA, MO., - The University of Missouri men's and women's cross country teams both took part in one of the nation's top collegiate competitions Friday (Oct. 1). The women ran to a second place team finish while the men earned a sixth place finish. Both teams competed against some of the nations top teams and runners.

The men were up against tough competition as MU took on three other teams ranked in the top-25. No. 13 Michigan and No. 14 Georgetown tied for first with 81 points. No. 23 Missouri placed sixth with 196 points, only five points behind Ohio State who finished 5th. For the second consecutive week, all five of Mizzou's scorers were within 35 seconds of each other.

MU's men were led by junior Nick Smith who tackled the 8K Notre Dame Golf Course in a time of 24:35 to finish 15th overall. Mizzou's No. 2 runner was fellow junior Mike Pitts who ran a time of 24:54 good enough for 35th place. The other three scorers for the Tigers were junior Greg Speicher who placed 39th with a time of 24:57, junior Derrick Peterson finished 53rd in 25:09 and sophomore Steve Wade ran a 25:10 to finish 54th. Seniors Mike Larson and Joel McCune were the sixth and seventh runners for Missouri placing 63rd (25:15) and 68th (25:17).

The University of Missouri has a week off before again traveling to the Hoosier state to compete at the Pre-Nationals on October 16 in Bloomington, Ind. There, MU will get a chance to run on the NCAA, however both teams will still have to earn a birth in November.

Men's Team Results Top 10 Teams (23 total)

1. Michigan 81 2. Georgetown 81 3. Notre Dame 86 4. Idaho State 177 5. Ohio State 191 6. MISSOURI 196 7. Eastern Michigan 240 8. Malone College 266 9. Clemson 293 10. Cornell 297

Men's Individual Results **Winner and Missouri Only**

1. Ryan Shay (ND) 23:52 15. Nick Smith 24:35 35. Mike Pitts 24:54 39. Greg Speicher 24:57 53. Derrick Peterson 25:09 54. Steve Wade 25:10 63. Mike Larson 15:15 68. Joel McCune 25:17

Men's Open Results **Winner and Missouri Only**

1. Yimin WU (Edinboro) 24:59 3. Phil Councilor 25:14 6. Owen Donahue 25:25 25. Dan Dellegrazio 26:04 34. Ryan Fitzgerald 26:24 63. Timothy Dunne 27:21