University of Missouri
IndianaInvite/Pre-Nationals
Women Place 18th at National Caliber Meet
10/16/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 16, 1999
The University of Missouri cross country teams went up against the toughest competition of the season on Saturday (Oct. 16) in Bloomington, Ind. at Pre-Nationals. Both teams came away from the meet with 18th place team finishes. The MU women accumulated a team score of 444 points while the men's score totaled 469 points. The competition gave the teams an opportunity to see how they stacked up against the nation's best teams.
The NCAA Championships are still a month away, but seven Big 12 schools including Missouri got a preview of what lies ahead. The other Big 12 schools competing at the meet were Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. There were fourteen of the nation's Top-20 men's squads and 13 of the country's Top-25 women's teams that competed. A few of the teams included in the field outside the conference were BYU, Stanford, Georgetown, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, Villanova, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Washington.
"This was not the best race we have run this season on either side," head coach Jeff Pigg said. "We were flat today. It was a weird meet. Both squads beat some teams that were ranked ahead of us. They both came out an defeated teams that beat them two weeks ago at Notre Dame which is a positive step, but the meet did not turn out the way we had hoped."
For the second consecutive meet, junior Nick Smith led the Tigers. Fellow juniors Adam MacDowell and Greg Speicher were the No. 2 and No. 3 runners for Mizzou. All three ran solid races according to Pigg.
"Our top three ran a solid race. The fourth and fifth runners needed to be much closer to the pack. If that took place, it would have been a whole different race. That goes for both teams. They both ran identical races individually and as a team."
Leading the charge for the women was freshman sensation Amy Chipman. It was the first time the young Tiger has crossed the finish line as MU's No. 1 runner. Missouri's second and third runners for the women were sophomore Anne Marie Brooks and junior Anna Gullingsrud. Just like the men, the first three runners turned in good performances.
Pre-Nationals served as the final tune-up for both Missouri teams as they both have a week off before heading into the championship portion of their season. Up next for MU is the Big 12 Championships in College Station, Texas, October 30th. Following the conference meet, Mizzou travels to Champaign, Ill to compete at the NCAA Region V meet (Nov. 13) where they look to earn a bid for the NCAA Championships held on November 22, back in Bloomington, Ind.
