Sept. 1, 2000
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri men's and women's cross country teams kick off the 2000 campaign Sept. 8, at home in the Missouri Challenge. Both Tiger squads placed second at the 1999 NCAA Midwest Regional to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Mizzou women placed 21st overall while the men came in 28th at last year's Championships.
"The 1999 teams set the foundation for the future and the veterans on this year's teams know what it takes to get back to that level," said head coach Jared Wilmes (pronounced Wil-muss).
This season, the Mizzou men are ranked 25th in the country in the latest National Coaches Poll. The men were also tabbed the third-best team in the Midwest Region.The MU men will look for leadership from seniors Nick Smith (Rocheport, Mo.), who placed sixth at the NCAA Midwest Region and Adam MacDowell (Manchester, Mo.), who finished eighth at the Regional.
Last season, MacDowell recorded a first-place finish and a season best time of 25:00.14 at the Missouri Invitational. He finished 11th at the Big 12 Championships (25:08). Smith posted his best 1999 finish at the same meet with a time of 25:18.11. He placed 15th at the Notre Dame Invitational (24:35) and 28th at the Big 12 Championships (25:56).
On the ladies' side of things, a pair of sophomores, two juniors and a senior will light the path to success. Sophomore Amy Chipman (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs HS) placed 12th at the Midwest Region and chalked up a time of 17:35, her best of 1999. She placed second at the Missouri Invite (18:22.35), seventh at Notre Dame (17:37) and 18th at the Conference Championships (17:46).
Juniors Ann Marie Brooks (St. Joseph, Mo./St. Joseph HS) and Kim Moore (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood HS) placed 13th (17:36) and 19th (17:49) respectively at the Conference Championships. Both times were season highs. Brooks turned in a first-place time of 18:09.81 at the Missouri Invite while Moore's 19:06.28 was good for a ninth-place finish at that meet.
Senior Katie Meyer (Collinsville, Ill./Collinsville HS) recorded top-30 finishes at the Missouri Invite (18:37.93/third), the Minnesota Invitational (18:14/19th), a season-high at Notre Dame (17:33/fifth) and the Big 12 Championships (18:07/30th). Sophomore Kerry Hils recorded a time of 19:31.39 at the MU meet and a season-best time of 18:09 at the Big 12 Championships.
Also on the docket for the MU meet is one of the best high school cross country invitationals in the Midwest. Fifty schools from the state of Missouri will compete with races starting at 2:00 p.m.
"We want to use the first home meet of the season to prepare for the upcoming season and get our kids some race time," Wilmes said.
Meet Information
Place: A.L. Gustin Golf Course
Race times: 2:00 freshmen girls, 2:30 freshmen boys, 3:00 junior varsity girls, 3:30 junior varsity boys, 4:00 varsity girls, 4:30 varsity boys, 5:00 collegiate women, 5:30 collegiate women, 6:00 p.m. open race
College teams: Southwest Missouri, Lincoln, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville