Sept. 2, 2004

2004 Season Schedule | Look back to 2003 For the Missouri Cross Country teams, the 2004 season is full with excitement and vigor. Coming off the best season in 20 years, the women's team will look to become one of the best top ten programs in the country and continue the streak of top conference performances. The men's team has steadily improved in the past years, looking to become one of the best teams in the Big 12 Conference. The men are returning nine of the ten 2003 lettermen and have some new talent to add to what should be a bright future ahead. In 2003, the Missouri women's team finished the season 12th at the NCAA Championships, the best team finish since 1984. This year, the women harriers return seven of the nine letterwinners from the year before and are adding nine new faces to the mix. Also returning is 2003 All-American Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa). Winning the NCAA Midwest Region individual title last season, Bales came across the line at the national championships with the best finish by a Tiger in 13 years. The women's team has also been a force in the Big 12 Conference, finishing in the top three, eight of the past nine years. Seniors Serena Ramsey (Waukesha, Wisc.) and Jill Petersen (O'Fallon, Mo.) will play huge roles in the Tigers' performances throughout the season. Petersen gained All-Big 12 and All-Region honors in 2003, hitting top fifteen finishes in both the conference and regional championships. Petersen ran for a personal-best time of 21:12 at the NCAA Championships, a performance, when repeated, will place Petersen in the top of nation. Ramsey also earned All-Region honors with a third-place finish at the NCAA Regional Championships, helping the Tigers to finish second in the region. Returning junior Valerie Lauver (Allen, Texas) comes back as a two-time All-Region performer and as one of many potential headliners for the team. Lauver was named Big 12 Runner of the Week after having a great performance at the Bradley Open. Lauver put up some great performances at the Big 12 Championships in her home state of Texas and at the NCAA Midwest Regional, where she finished seventh. Redshirt sophomore Ashley Patten (Clarkston, Mich.) took to the course for the first time last season and will contribute when called on. The 2004 indoor All-American and Big 12 Indoor Champ in the 800-meter run, Patten along with returnees Allison Werner (Danville, Iowa), Kate Greer (Marshalltown, Iowa), and Kristen Hansen (Milford, Iowa) will play a vital role in scoring for the team. As part of the Iowa invasion, Werner was on the Big 12 Indoor Champion Distance Medley Relay team, running a solid 800-meter. Hansen improved to be one of Missouri's top cross country scorers in the 2003 and will look to do some damage on the course. One of the more impacting factors of the 2004 Missouri Cross Country women are the nine newcomers adding to the mix. Several of the new Tigers are state champions, state record holders, or even High School All-Americans. Maddie Schueler (Louisville, Ky.) was named to Harrier Magazine's Footlocker Cross Country All-America list during her senior year in high school. Schueler was a two-time Kentucky Cross Country champ, helping her team to two state titles. Some other newcomers that could make an immediate impact to the cross country team include Anne Case-Halferty (Columbia, Mo.), Nicole Johnson (Chesterfield, Mo.), Becca Miller (Jefferson City, Mo.), Summer Owens (Dix, Ill.), and Carolyn Rauen (Cincinnati, Ohio). The men's team is ready for the new and challenging season up ahead. After improving their standing in the Big 12 from ninth to eighth in 2003, the men will look to jump into the top half of the conference and beyond for the upcoming season. Led by a host of juniors and seniors, the men are returning all but one letterman from the past season and will add four newcomers to the arsenal. Redshirt senior Ryan Hampton (Liberty, Mo.) will rejoin the Tiger squad after recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him for much of the 2003 season. Hampton in 2002 jumped to All-Big 12 and All-Region status after recording the best conference finish by a Mizzou male runner since the 1980s. Also in 2002, Hampton improved from a 91st place showing his sophomore year at the NCAA Regional Championships to finishing in the top twenty for his junior year. Another senior from Liberty, Mo., Josh Davis will play an enormous role in the strength of the team for 2004, carrying a top 30 conference finish from 2003. Junior Chase Hall (Tulsa, Okla.) earned his first All-Region honor in 2003, finishing in the top 25 overall and issuing Mizzou's second-best finish. Hall ran for a personal-best time of 29:29 in the 10k on the track at the Stanford Invitational in March of 2004. If Hall can bring translate the great track performance to the cross country course, it could pay dividends for this veteran team. Juniors Matt Noonan (Baldwin City, Kan.) and Tim Ross (Alto, Mich.) helped lead the team in 2003 and could very easily do so again for the '04 season. Ross earned both All-Big 12 and All-Region honors in 2003. Ross led the team in the final three meets of the season with a 14th place finish at the Big 12 Championships and a 12th place finish at the NCAA Regional Championships. Ross is also a three-time All-Big 12 performer on the track. Noonan, the team's best steeplechaser in the 2004 track season, carried the role as the Tigers' third or fourth scorer during the season, finishing 39th at the Big 12 Championships. Senior David Mertens (Ballwin, Mo.) was the men's fifth scorer at the conference championships in 2004 and could also play a vital role in the team make-up. A multitude of traditional middle-distance runners may step up to the plate for the Tigers, adding an additional punch to the line-up. Rem Moll (Tulsa, Okla.), a redshirt junior, was consistently the sixth scorer on the squad in 2004. Redshirt freshmen Jimmie Jones (Detroit, Mich.) and Marcus Mayes (Sand Springs, Okla.) may also find time on the course after finishing a dynamite freshmen track season as 800-meter runners. Junior Neville Miller (St. Louis, Mo.) will also possibly add to the mix. Miller ran a 1:48.64, half-mile in the '04 track season. And we can't forget about sophomore Tipper O'Brien (Kirkwood, Mo.) who turned some heads during the 2003-04 seasons, finishing as the Tigers' second-best at the Bradley Open 8k. The incoming freshmen could also make an immediate impact as they bring many high school conference championships and All-State honors to the group. Michael Barrows (Flint, Mich.) will be added along side many from all-over the Show-Me State with Billy Bell (Chesterfield, Mo.), Brian Graybill (Liberty, Mo.), Wade Souza (Joplin, Mo.), and Carl Speking III (St. Peters, Mo.). It should be an exciting 2004 cross country season for the Tigers, many could become team leaders, unexpected things may happen, and a new bunch may add more depth to an already great foundation. The season kicks off on the 11th of September with the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, hosted by the Tigers. The next weekend, the Tigers take the crew up to Lincoln, Neb., for the Woody Greeno Invitational. Following is a trip to South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Invitational. The Tigers get a look at the national championship course at the NCAA Pre-National Meet on October 16. Two weeks rest and then the championship season begins with the Big 12 Championships, hosted by Kansas State in Topeka, Kan. After two more weeks, the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships will face the Tigers next in Peoria, Ill. A trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships is what the cross country teams' ultimate goal entails. Indiana State will host the national championships for the first of two years in Terre Haute, Ind.