2003 Cross Country Season Preview
8/24/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Aug. 24, 2003
NOTE: Here's a look at the 2003 Missouri Cross Country schedule and outlook. We are in the process of combining the men's and women's pages to one, in that time the 2002 schedule will still be shown on the men's and women's pages until we unvail the combined page with the 2003 schedule apperaring on it. We apoligize for any inconvience in the process. However, with the change will come more features and more information on the cross country teams. We will be doing the same process for the track and field pages later in the month. Thanks for your patience.
The 2003 Schedule...under is the 2003 outlook The schedule can normally be found at http://mutigers.ocsn.com/sports/c-xc/sched/miss-c-xc-sched.html
2003 Schedule
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A Look At 2003... The 2003 version of the Missouri cross country season is shaping up to be an exciting one. Combined the men's and women's teams are returning 14 letterwinners while losing only five. In their fourth season as Head and Assistant Coaches of cross country, Jared and Rebecca Wilmes are looking to improve upon a great 2002 season that resulted in five All-Region performers and two All-Big 12 runners.
On the women's side, the Tigers are coming off a phenomenal 2002 season. Last year, the Lady Tiger harriers won the NCAA Midwest Region Championship and five Tigers were named to the All-Region team. Assistant Cross Country Coach Rebecca Wilmes was named Coach of the Region. The first place regional championship led to a 16th place finish at the NCAA Championships, a feat matched in the 2000 season. In addition, the women's team finished second in the difficult Big 12 Conference, their best team finish since the first year of the Big 12, 1996.
Sophomores Valerie Lauver (Allen, Texas) and Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa) will be leading the pack for the Lady Tigers. Last year as freshmen, Lauver and Bales came away with outstanding performances in all three big races, the Big 12 Championship, the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship, and the NCAA Championships. Lauver finished 54th in the nation, but more importantly she earned a spot on the All-Big 12 team with a fifth place finish at the Big 12 Championships. Bales was one of five Tigers named to the All-Region team thanks to her third place finish at the regional championships. Bales also finished one spot ahead of Lauver at the NCAA Championships in 53rd. After the week of Oct. 1, 2002, Bales was named Big 12 Runner of the Week after a first place finish at the Lakefront Invitational. In addition, Bales is a two-time All-Big 12 track athlete with top eight performances in last year's indoor mile and outdoor 800-meter dash.
Lauver and Bales may not be the only standouts of the season. Senior Katherine Bonugli (St. Charles, Mo.) was one of the three returning Tigers to earn All-Region honors and is expected to have another strong year. Bonugli was all named All-Big 12 in the outdoor 10,000-meter run in 2001.
Tiger veterans junior Jill Petersen (O'Fallon, Mo.), junior Serena Ramsey (Waukesha, Wis.), junior Lesley Smith (Coralville, Iowa), sophomore Kristin Hansen (Milford, Iowa), junior Erin Hagen (Mexico, Mo.), and senior Sonya Yamnitz (Hallsville, Mo.) will add some valuable experience to the team and will be important factors in the team's success. Petersen comes in to the season as a two-time All-Big 12 track athlete with top eight finishes in 2003's indoor mile run and the outdoor 1500-meter run. Ramsey was named All-Big 12 in the outdoor 5000-meter run in 2003.
Newcomers Kate Bundy (Ballwin, Mo.), Merry Uchiyama (Chesterfield, Mo.), Kate Greer (Marshalltown, Iowa) and Allison Werner (Danville, Iowa) will all contribute as well.
Redshirt freshman Ashley Patten (Clarkston, Mich.) won the 2003 Junior National Championship in the 800-meter run and will continue to help the Tigers this year. Patten is also a two-time All-Big 12 800-meter runner. After placing in fourth at the Indoor Big 12 Championships, she followed up with a second place ranking at the Outdoor Big 12 Championships
The Missouri men's cross country team improved from a 18th place regional finish in 2001 to a ninth place finish in the region in 2002. This year, the Tigers are returning seven letterwinners and losing only one.
Senior Ryan Hampton (Liberty, Mo.) will lead the Tigers returning from an incredible junior season where Hampton showed much improvement. Hampton made huge strides in big meets in 2002. He improved from a 79th place finish in the 2001 Big 12 Championships to an 11th place, All-Big 12, performance in the 2002 meet, hosted by Mizzou. Hampton was also named to the All-NCAA Midwest Region team after an 18th place finish, improving on a 91st place finish the year previous. Hampton is also an All-Big 12 indoor mile runner from the 2003 season.
In total the 2003 men's cross country team accounts for eight runners that have been named All-Big 12 for performances on the track in 14 events. Junior Josh Davis (Liberty, Mo.) is looking to have a solid year after being named to the All-Big 12 team in the 10,000-meter run two years in a row of the outdoor track season. Sophomore Chase Hall (Tulsa, Okla.) is also a good prospect to have a great year. Hall is coming off a great freshman outdoor track season in which he finished second in the Big 12 Championships' 10,000-meter run. A race where Hall was pushing for the lead all the way through the 26 minute race only to come four seconds short of the Big 12 crown. Senior Stewart Kimball (Eureka, Mo.) is a five-time All-Big 12 track performer. Kimball has made the All-Big 12 team for three years consecutive in the indoor 800-meter run and has also clamed spots on the outdoor 800-meter run and indoor 1000-meter All-Big 12 teams. Rem Moll (Tulsa, Okla.) is another with two All-Big 12 selections under his belt, receiving both in the indoor 1000-meter run in the previous two seasons. Neville Miller (St. Louis, Mo.) claimed an All-Big 12 honor in the indoor 800-meter run in 2003. Matt Noonan (Baldwin City, Kan.) will also add valuable contributions to the team being an All-Big 12 runner in the outdoor steeplechase. And sophomore Tim Ross will be looked upon much in the 2003 season after a 33rd place finish in the NCAA Regionals in his freshman year. Ross is also a two-time All-Big 12 team member after performances in the outdoor 5000-meter run and in the indoor 3000-meter run.
Also returning to the team after a solid track season is junior David Mertens (Ballwin, Mo.) and junior Mark Munzlinger (Hannibal, Mo.). Mertens had three top five finishes in the 1500-meter run in the 2003 outdoor season and finished second at the Missouri Invitational's mile run. Munzlinger primarily concentrated in the steeplechase event in 2003.
New additions to the 2003 cross country team include freshmen Colton Green (Roach, Mo.) and Nathan Smith (Columbia, Mo.). Green is a two-time Missouri 1A Cross Country Champion and Smith was last year's champion in the Missouri 4A Cross Country Championship.
The season begins Saturday, September 6th, when the Tigers host the annual Missouri Cross Country Challenge. The competition will include many local colleges and universities, and, as usual, early in the day will include open, high school, and junior varsity races. The week after the Tiger harriers will set out for Peoria, Ill., and the Bradley Open. Two weeks later on September 27th, Mizzou will run in the Roy Griak Invitational, hosted by Minnesota, in Minneapolis. On October 18th, the Tigers will compete in Arkansas' Chili Pepper Invitational or will prepare themselves for the NCAA Championships in the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the site for the national championships hosted by Northern Iowa. Friday, October 31, will mark the holiday Halloween, but it will also mark the date of the Big 12 Cross Country Championships. Last year, Missouri hosted the event and the women's team finished second. This year, the conference championships will be on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin. November 15th is the date set for the NCAA Midwest Regional, this year on the Big 12's turf in Stillwater, Okla., home to Oklahoma State. The Missouri women's team is the defending champions of the region and will attempt to defend their title. On Thanksgiving Monday, November 24, the Tigers will hope to be in Cedar Falls, Iowa once again for the NCAA Championships hosted by Northern Iowa.
