Nov. 11, 2001
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Senior harrier Ann Marie Brooks' fourth-place finish at the 2001 NCAA Midwest Regional cross country meet at Southern Illinois University was not only the highest individual finish for the Tigers, but it was also Brooks' highest career finish at the meet.
The fourth place finish qualified Brooks for the NCAA National Championship meet to be held at Furman University on November 19. This is the first time during Brooks' career that the team did not qualify for the national meet.
"It's going to kind of be like track," Brooks said about the upcoming meet. "I have warmed up by myself in track but cross country is a team thing. I'll be practicing with the team all week so it will only be different the night before and the day of the race. Maybe I'll have to call up the team before the race."
At the Midwest Regional, Brooks ran the 6K in 20:56. Her previous best at the annual meet was a seventh-place finish as a freshman in 1998. As a sophomore she placed 13th and was 12th last season.
Other women runners who scored points for the Tigers were junior Amy Chipman in 23rd place (21:58.3), junior Kim Moore in 28th (22:04.8), sophomore Katherine Bonugli in 39th (22:19.4) and freshman Jill Petersen in 53rd (22:41.5).
The women placed fifth at the meet, with Oklahoma State taking the title. OSU's Siri Alfheim took the individual title, running in a time of 20:31.4.
The men's team had a tougher time at the regional, placing 18th as a team. Senior Steve Wade led the way for the Tigers, placing 68th (32:32.2) in the 10K. Other harriers scoring points for Missouri were freshman Josh Davis in 86th place (32:53.9), sophomore Ryan Hampton in 88th place (32:56.4), senior Ryan Fitzgerald in 91st place (33:04.0) and freshman Mark Munzlinger in 93rd place (33:05.9).
The University of Minnesota won the event with 78 points. Kansas State's Shadrack Kimeli took the men's individual title with his time of 30:37.3.