1998 Season in Review
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
The women were an automatic qualifier with their second place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional. In their fourth consecutive appearance at the national championships, the women's group finished 21st.
The men used a fourth place score at the NCAA Midwest Regionals to gain an at-large-bid to the national championships. Their participation marked the first time since 1977 that the Missouri men's cross country team appeared at the championships. Their 27th place finish marked the return of MU men's cross country to the national scene.
Women
This year's version of the women's cross coutnry team missed a very important member. Senior Erin Windler, a two-time All American, was forced to miss the season with a hip injury. Windler had won five individual titles in 1997 and led the Tigers to the NCAA Championships.
Despite the loss of their top gun, the members of the team used their talent and banded together to produce another great campaign.
The season opened with the Naya Missouri Invitational and a dominating performance by MU. Freshman Ann Marie Brooks was the highest Tiger in second place followed closely by teammate Katie Meyer in thrid. Sunny Gilbert , Kim Moore and Courtney Bell also finshed in the top ten. Those top scores allowed Missouri to win the event convincingly.
After that confidence builder, the youthful Tigers headed to the Indiana Invitational. There Brooks and Meyer again led the way finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Five others finished in the top twenty as the team scored in second place.
The Pre-National event at the University of Kansas was next on the schedule and again the the Tigers produced a solid performance. At the top of the list for MU was the one-two punch of Ann Marie Brooks and Katie Meyer in 46th and 48th place. Freshman Kim Moore also turned in an excellent time of 18:58.60 for 70th place overall. The women showed well, gaining sixteenth place in the thrity-two team field.
The South Florida Inivitational presented a challenge for the Mizzou squad. The field was deep and included #19 South Florida and #28 Tennesse along with other top teams from Florida and the southeast. For the fourth time in four races, Ann Marie Brooks led the Tigers at the finish line with a seventh place time. Fellow freshman Kim Moore gave a break through performance with the thriteenth best time. Missouri ended up in third place and added another fine meet to their ever-growing list.
Four schools were ranked ahead of MU as the Big 12 Championships began. Despite their underdog status, the Tigers came up with the surprise finish of the tournament. With three Mizzou women in the top ten, the Tigers were able to manage third place. Because of their top ten times, Moore, Meyer, and Brooks all earned all-Big 12 honors. "This was an amazing finish for the women," coach Pigg said, "we were picked seventh coming into this race, so to finish third is unbeleiveable. I am just proud of them, we came in and ran as well as we possibly could."
With a second place showing at the the NCAA Midwest Regionals two weeks later, the cross country women headed to the NCAA Championships in Lawrence, Kansas.
Men
Junior Nick Smith was the leader of the pack in 17th followed by Ryan Pirtle, Joel McCune, Mike Larson, and Matt Stauffer .
At the Indiana Invitational, the men were dominant, placing five runners in the top ten and winning the inivtational by fifty-two points. In second place for Mizzou was Nick Smith with a 26:01.40 time. MacDowell, Larson, Pirtle and McCune were the other MU speedsters in the top ten. #18 in the Martin Surfacing Top 25.
The South Florida Invitational was next on the schedule and the Tigers were unstoppable. MacDowell, McCune, Pirtle and Smith finished number one, two, three and four within four seconds of each other. With MacDowell's second individual win, MU picked up their thrid team victory of the season.
Their top flight running continued at the Big 12 Championships as they recorded a third place finish, the highest ever by a Mizzou men's cross country team. The team was paced by senior Ryan Pirtle who gained 14th place followed by Smith, and McCune.
At the NCAA Midwest Regional the Tigers sewed up a National Championships berth with a fourth place finish. Nick Smith was the eighth place individual runner, the highest finish by a Tiger at the regionals in 25 years.
After twenty-one seasons, the Missouri Tiger men's cross country team was back in the NCAA Championships.
