Oct. 25, 2004
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - This weekend the Missouri cross-country teams will take on the Big 12 Championship meet to be held in Topeka, Kan. The Tiger women are ranked No. 9 in the national coaches' poll and will look to finish in the top three in the conference for the eighth time in nine years. The women's six-kilometer race will get underway at 10 a.m., Saturday morning, with the eight-kilometer men's race to follow at 11 a.m.
Coaches' Take
"I think our women's team is the best in team history in this point in the season," said Jared Wilmes, Head Cross Country Coach. "Things are really starting to come around for our team. The Pre-National meet was a good indication of our strength. We felt happy with what we accomplished there without two of our best runners in the mix. It's great to know both Valerie (Lauver) and Ashley (Patten) will be there running alongside the rest of our women, and that makes us a very strong team. We have several All-Big 12 and All-Region runners on this team, a great veteran core, and that should help us get it done.
"For both the men and the women, the past several weeks have prepared us well for these championships and we are excited. Our men are really coming around and at the right time. We're ready to go in and run great, and see where it gets us."
The Big 12 Field
The Missouri women's team may be ranked ninth in the country, but the Colorado Buffaloes will come into the conference meet with the distinction of being ranked as the third best team in the nation. The Colorado women have won seven of the eight possible Big 12 Championships and have won the meet five times straight. Colorado and Missouri are the only two teams ranked in the FinishLynx Top 30 Coaches' Poll; however, Baylor is currently receiving votes in the poll and Texas Tech and Oklahoma have appeared in the poll during the season.
Colorado is also the team to look for on the men's side, also ranked third in the national coaches' poll sponsored by MONDO. The Buffaloes have won the Big 12 Championship every year since the beginning of the conference in 1996. Oklahoma State is ranked 21st nationally, and Texas is currently 29th.
Missouri's Conference History
The Mizzou women have finished in the top three of the conference for seven of the past eight years, dating back to the days of the Big 8 Conference. In 1996 and 2002, the Tigers recorded their highest finishes in the Big 12 Conference, taking second both years. Erin Windler, a junior in 1997, was the first Tiger to win an individual Big 12 Championship. The Tigers do have two conference team championship trophies in the case, both from the Big 8 Conference with titles won in 1980 and 1984.
The Tiger men's best stretch in the conference came from 1998 to 2000, where Mizzou earned a third-place team finish in each of the consecutive years. Ryan Hampton and Adam MacDowell own the best individual finishes all-time at the Big 12 Championships for the Tigers. Hampton in 2002 as a junior placed 11th overall; MacDowell placed 11th in 1999 as a junior. Missouri last won a conference title in 1970 as part of the Big 8.
A 2003 Lookback
The 2003 championships were held Halloween morning in a hot and humid Spicewood, Texas, and, the then, No. 17 Mizzou women brought home a third-place team finish. Three women, Amanda Bales, Jill Petersen, and Valerie Lauver, earned All-Big 12 honors. Bales placed third overall for her best conference finish of her career.
Mizzou's men took eighth overall, an improvement from 2003's ninth-place finish. Tim Ross earned All-Big 12 honors with a 14th-place finish, moving up 41 spots from his 2003 showing. Josh Davis was second across the line for Missouri in 30th place.
Bales and Other Tigers To Be In The Thick of Things
Junior Amanda Bales placed third in last year's Big 12 Championships and will probably be in the thick of things again this year. But also look to Jill Petersen, senior Serena Ramsey, and Valerie Lauver to be possible contenders pushing for the top spots.
Freshman Maddie Schueler (Louisville, Ky.) makes her Big 12 debut and will help big time in the Tigers' scoring. Schueler made an immediate impact in the first two races of the season, scoring big in both the Missouri Cross Country Challenge and the Woody Greeno Invite. Junior Kristin Hansen (Milford, Iowa) is also another threat for the Tigers and will likely contribute hugely to the Tigers' final score.
All-Big 12 Tigers Returning
Four Tigers finished in the top 15 of the Big 12 Cross Country Championships in 2003 earning All-Big 12 honors, and all four return for another shot this year. Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa) is an eight-time All-Big 12 performer including two top-15 finishes her first two years of her career. Valerie Lauver (Allen, Texas) has also earned two All-Big 12 performances in her first two seasons as a Tiger. The two combine from three from the track to make Lauver a five-time All-Big 12 performer. Senior Jill Petersen (O'Fallon, Mo.) has earned five All-Big 12 performances including a 14th-place finish on the cross country course in 2003. Junior Tim Ross (Alto, Mich.) also returns as a cross country All-Big 12 performer. His 14th-place finish, earned him one of his four All-Big 12 honors.
Noonan Leads Team, Heading Home
Junior Matt Noonan has been coming on strong as of late for the Mizzou men's team. His breakthrough came at the Notre Dame Invitational where ran he ran the race of his career. Placing 30th overall in the meet that featured eight ranked teams, Noonan ran for a 30-second personal-best time of 24:20 in the eight-kilometer race. Noonan also led the men's team at the NCAA Pre-National meet two weeks ago in Terre Haute, Ind.
Noonan is also the only member of the squad from the State of Kansas. Baldwin City, Kan., to be exact.Which you can find on your map 40 miles southeast of Topeka, near Lawrence. Finally, a short trip for Matt's parents, Tom and Marilyn, who attend many of Matt's meets, if not all.
Noonan earned All-Big 12 honors in 2003 in the steeplechase event, but with a performance comparable to his past two meets, Noonan could earn his first cross country All-Big 12 honor.
Tigers' Notre Dame Road Trip Featured In Sports Illustrated On Campus This Friday
The day before the Tigers tear up the course in Topeka, they will be profiled in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated On Campus. The magazine, a close sibling to Sports Illustrated, is featured on many college campuses around the country in their respective school's newspapers on a weekly basis and highlights everything surrounding the world that is college sports. A crew from the magazine which included reporter, Maggie Haskins from ESPN's Dream Job fame followed the team through the entire round trip to and from the Notre Dame Invitational earlier this month. The story is part of a two-part series on college sports road trips called "Total Access: 72 Hours in the Life of a College Team". Last week, the magazine profiled Oregon football on a road trip to Oklahoma which occurred the same weekend as the Notre Dame Invite. The two parts are set up to contrast the worlds of a high- vs. low-budget college sports program.
More Meet Info
The Big 12 Championships is free to the public. For results soon after the meet visit, k-statesports.com or big12sports.com. A complete wrap-up of the championship meet can be found on mutigers.com on Saturday afternoon