University of Missouri
Notre Dame Invitational
Tiger Harriers Finish Big At Notre Dame Invitational
10/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 1, 2004
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The University of Missouri cross country teams scored outstanding personal and team finishes at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Friday afternoon. The women's team scored better than three nationally higher-ranked teams on the way to an impressive fourth place finish with only three in national top ten topping the Tigers. The Tiger men placed 13th of the 26 teams in the meet, scoring better than all conference and region foes.
The women's team placed in fourth with 164 points, beating out #22 Michigan State, #24 William & Mary, #12 UCLA, #19 Butler, Florida State, and Purdue who rounded out the top ten. Only #1 Stanford, #6 Michigan, and #4 Notre Dame did better than the Tigers on this day.
The Tiger women were led by junior Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa) who placed ninth overall in the five-kilometer race, running in a personal-best time of 17:01. Bales was only in the top 20 after the first mile in a race that separated quickly. Bales crept to 12th by the second mile, and made her final surge at the second-to-last straightaway to take the ninth spot.
Seven of the nine women scored personal bests in the race. Seniors Serena Ramsey (Waukesha, Wisc.) and Jill Petersen (O'Fallon, Mo.) finished in 14th and 20th, respectively. Ramey bettered her personal best by over 40 seconds, clocking in at 17:09. Junior Kristin Hansen (Milford, Iowa) had a great race, placing in 59th, running in 17:52, a 15-second personal best. Ashley Patten, Maddie Schueler, and Kate Greer rounded out scoring for the Tigers.
The men's team took 13th of 24 teams in the eight-kilometer race, scoring better than conference foe Oklahoma, and regional opponents Oklahoma and Southern Illinois.
Junior Matt Noonan (Baldwin City, Kan.) ran the race of his career up-to-now, leading the Tigers with a 30th-place finish, running a 30-second personal-best time of 24:20. Noonan was in the top 45 after the first two miles, improving to the top 35 by the fourth mile.
Junior Tim Ross (Alto, Mich.) and senior Josh Davis (Liberty, Mo.) placed second and third, respectively. Senior David Mertens (Ballwin, Mo.) scored a 27-second PR, crossing the finish line in 25:12. Junior Chase Hall (Tulsa, Okla.) was the fifth Tiger across the line in 25:31. Freshman Billy Bell (Chesterfield, Mo.) ran a good race with a PR of 25:57.
In the open races, Tiger volunteer coach Lesley Read (Dover, N.H.) won the women's section in 17:51. Tiger freshman Kacey Kimball (Eureka, Mo.) impressively finished third, clocking in at 18:14. Fellow freshman, Carolyn Rauen (Cincinnati, Ohio) placed sixth in the open race.
The Tigers will now take a weekend off and will prepare for the NCAA Pre-National Meet to be held October 16 in Terre Haute, Ind., the site of the late-November NCAA Championships. For more information and complete results, visit mutigers.com.
Players Mentioned
