Oct. 30, 2004

Complete Results |  Notes

TOPEKA, Kan. - On Saturday at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships in Topeka, Kan., the Missouri women's and men's cross country teams finished in second and fifth place, respectively. Now for the eighth time in nine years, the Missouri women have finished in the top three of the Big 12. Five Tigers were named All-Big 12 from top 15 individual finishes including junior Tim Ross who became the first Tiger in at least 25 years to have finished in top 10 of the conference championship, taking sixth.

The No. 9 nationally-ranked Tiger women took a second-place team finish with 59 points, the best point total ever for a Mizzou team at the Big 12 Championships. No. 3 Colorado won their sixth-consecutive conference team crown.

Once again the Tiger women were led by junior Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa) who finished in sixth overall, crossing the line in 21:33.12. Bales has led the Missouri women two years in-a-row at the Big 12 meet and is now a nine-time All-Big 12 performer.

Seniors Serena Ramsey (Waukesha, Wisc.) and Jill Petersen (O'Fallon, Mo.) followed close behind, taking seventh and eighth. Ramsey surged from her 29th-place 2003 showing to become a four-time All-Big 12 performer. Petersen earned her second cross country All-Big 12 honor in two years and her sixth overall.

Junior Valerie Lauver (Allen, Texas) was Mizzou's fourth finisher, placing 18th. Freshman Maddie Schueler (Louisville, Ky.) in her first Big 12 race took 20th overall.

The Tiger men took fifth-place overall with 157 points, improving upon their eighth-place finish from 2003.

The women's team's 6-7-8-9 finishers were Kristin Hansen, Ashley Patten, Kate Greer, and Kasey Kimball. They hold a special note of the meet for the lady Tigers, as all nine harriers crossed the finishline before the first runner from Kansas, Iowa State, or Texas. All nine Tigers were also in the top 40, something even Colorado can't say.

The men were led by junior Tim Ross (Alto, Mich.) who finished in sixth overall, crossing the tape in 24:52. Ross' finish is the best performance - and the only in the top ten - by a Tiger male in a conference cross country championship in at least 25 years. Ross earned his second All-Big 12 cross country honor and his fifth overall.

Junior Matt Noonan (Ballwin City, Kan.) earned his second all-time All-Big 12 honor with a 15th-place showing, jumping from his 39th-place showing in the 2003 championships. Senior Josh Davis (Liberty, Mo.) was 38th-overall, juniors Chase Hall and Rem Moll rounded out scoring for the Tigers, placing in 53rd and 56th, respectively.

The course itself was somewhat soft after recent rains, but proved to be fast in most spots. A strong westerly wind, gusting to 35 m.p.h. at times, proved to be detrimental to indvidual times, being mainly destructive in the intital 600 meters. The wind was the main weather feature of the day as sunny skies allowed temperatures to warm into the mid-60s by late morning.

For more information check back with mutigers.com. Check big12sports.com and k-statesports.com for complete results.