Nov. 24, 2003
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WATERLOO, Iowa - On a cold and windy day in Waterloo, Iowa at the 2003 NCAA Cross Country Championships, the University of Missouri women's cross country team placed 12th overall in the country, marking their best finish since 1984. Sophomore Amanda Bales earned all-American status with a 23rd individual standing, earning the best finish for a Tiger since 1990.
The Tigers outran many expectations as they came in to the six-kilometer race ranked as the No. 20 team in the nation. The Tigers came in after a second place finish in the Midwest Region behind Nebraska who finished 30th in today's race, and the third best team in the Big 12 conference after finishes behind Colorado and Baylor who finished in fifth and 25th today, respectively. The 12th place finish for the team is the best since the 1984 Missouri lady harriers finished seventh in the country. The Tigers' 383 points were one point from 11th place Villanova.
"I was obviously very happy with the way we ran today," said Jared Wilmes, Missouri's cross country coach. "We thought that we could at least finish in the top 25 today with our team that seems to match-up well with most of the teams there. But, I don't think we were expecting anything this high. I think what helped us the most was our front runners, and it's the most important thing to placing well at the national meet. It was also great to see us defeat teams that defeated us earlier in the season. I think they were trained well and ready to race and peaked at the right time."
The Tigers set five personal bests on the day. Four were set earlier in the year at the NCAA Pre-Nationals on the same course back in October. Mizzou's top three-Bales, Serena Ramsey, and Jill Petersen-all earned personal bests at the championships.
Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa) is the first Tiger to be named cross country all-American since 2001 when Ann Marie Brooks came across the finish line in 28th place. With her family looking on, Bales' 23rd place finish is the highest individual placing for a Tiger since 1990 when Susan Bliss earned her second top five national finishes. Bales was just one minute from the winning time of 19:30, provided by Shalene Flanagan of North Carolina who earned her second straight NCAA title.
Junior Serena Ramsey (Waukesha, Wis.) was one spot away from earning all-American status after crossing the finish line in 51st place of the 268 runners. Ramsey bettered the mark set by Bales and Valerie Lauver in last year's championships with their 53rd and 54th place finishes, respectively. Ramsey was all-Midwest Region earlier in the year.
Jill Petersen (O'Fallon, Mo.) was Mizzou's third finisher in 91st. Completing a fantastic year for the junior, Petersen earned all-Big 12 and all-Midwest Region honors earlier in the year and will continue to be a driving force next year.
Sophomore Valerie Lauver, a native of Allen, Texas was a beneficiary of the warm and humid conditions in Texas in October for the Big 12 Championships with her all-Big 12, 11th place finish in the conference, but today was a little different with a starting temperature of 22 degrees and a wind chill of eight, Lauver may not have been so receptive. Lauver still had a strong finish as Mizzou's fourth runner of the meet and the 21:20 finish.
Rounding out Missouri's scoring was senior Katherine Bonugli, sophomore Kristin Hansen, and senior Sonya Yamnitz. Bonugli and Hansen scored personal best 6k times on the day.
The cross country season for Missouri is now complete. Next for these distance runners will be the indoor track season that kicks off January 16th in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse with the Missouri Invitaitonal.
For complete coverage, including a season wrap-up and complete results of Mizzou runners go to our official website www.mutigers.com. The complete results of the NCAA Championships, including those from the men's race are available at Northern Iowa's website, www.unipanthers.com.