Nov. 18, 2004

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The ninth-ranked Missouri women's cross country team will compete in their ninth NCAA Championship in ten years on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind. Also making the trip is Tiger junior Tim Ross who qualified for the championships as an at-large bid in the men's 10-k race. The event starts at 10 a.m., central time, with the women's six-kilometer race followed by the men who run at 11:15 a.m.

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Location: Terre Haute, Ind. Course: LaVerne Championship Course Host: Indiana State, NCAA Scoring: Seven runners to a team, the teams' final score will be the sum of the top five of each group. Schedule: Women - 11:00am (EST), 6k Men - 12:15pm (EST), 10k Results: ncaasports.com, indstate.edu/athletics/intercollegiate/home.html Honors: To earn All-American honors, an indvidual must finish in the top 30 of the overall indvidual standings. Missouri: The Tiger women will compete as a team, junior Tim Ross will compete as an indvidual in the men's race. The Field: 31 full teams for both men and women plus 38 indviduals

Coaches' Take "We're really excited," said Rebecca Wilmes, Associate Head Coach of the Tiger Cross Country team. "It's been a great season so far and a lot of good things have happened. I think before Big 12s we were coming together pretty well, and it's only continued to get better. At regionals, we were on top of our game, and we're looking for that to continue at nationals. Nationals is just another meet, but we want to race well. The girls' goal this entire season was to finish in the top 10 nationally. We're there on paper, but now it comes down to how we run on Monday. We can't control how good the other teams are. All we can do is just go, and be us. We're coming into the meet with a lot experience, with all but one of our runners, having been in this race once or twice already."

"Tim is excited about getting to the national meet," said Jared Wilmes, Head Cross Country Coach. "It has been a big goal for him throughout his days here, and to make it for the first time is a great experience for him. He's going to go out there and put himself in position to run a great race. It's really the icing on a great season."

The Field Thirty-one teams on both the men's and women's side plus 38 individuals will make up the championship field of 245 runners per race. The goal for an individual is to finish in the top 30 to earn All-America honors. Obviously, the top teams in the nation will be on hand to take on the field. The Stanford women come in as defending champs and as the favorite according to the FinishLynx Coaches' Poll. Wisconsin is favored in the men's race, last winning the championship in 1988. Two-time defending men's champ Stanford is ranked third in the national poll. Big 12 Men's and Women's Champ Colorado are ranked fourth and third in the polls respectively. Colorado's women last won in 2000 - the men in 2001.

Getting Here Is Half the Battle A sunny day in Peoria, Ill., last Saturday produced great results for the Missouri cross-country teams at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship. The women's team produced the best (lowest) score since 1981 in a regional, claiming the Midwest title for the second time in two years and the fifth time in nine years, earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships. The top five Tigers all earned All-Region honors with senior Serena Ramsey leading the way with a fifth-place finish.

The Tiger men placed sixth, gaining a spot from their 2003, seventh-place standing. Junior Tim Ross placed eighth as an individual and earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Championships. Fellow junior Matt Noonan came within less-than-a-second to just miss an at-large bid from his ninth-place showing. Noonan and Ross both had outstanding seasons for the Tigers and will be a good foundation for the 2005 squad that will be looking to breakout.

Big Day At Big 12's The Tiger Cross Country teams brought their "A" game for the Big 12 Championships. The women's team finished with their best score (lowest) in team Big 12 Championship history scoring only 59 points to take second place, marking the eighth time in nine years that the women have achieved the feat. Amanda Bales, Serena Ramsey, and Jill Petersen placed 6-7-8 to earn All-Big 12 honors. Bales earned her ninth All-Big 12 honor of her career, and the third for cross country. The women's 6-7-8-9 finishers were even huge in the Tigers' success and may mirror great successes to come as all nine crossed the line in the top 40, a feat that six-time consecutive Big 12 Champ Colorado can not claim. Missouri's No. 9 runner also crossed the line before the first runner from Kansas, Iowa State, or Texas.

The men's team also put on stirring performance placing fifth, improving three spots from their 2003 eighth-place showing. Juniors Matt Noonan and Tim Ross earned All-Big 12 honors. Ross' sixth-place individual finish is the best for any Tiger in the conference championships in 25 years and was the only in the top 10 in that period of time.

Rebecca Wilmes to Enter Missouri's Hall of Fame Associate Head Coach Rebecca Wilmes received some good news on Tuesday as it was announced that she along five other former Tigers from around the athletic department will be inducted into Missouri's Intercollegiate Hall of Fame. Wilmes, then known as Rebecca Davis, became one of Mizzou's top distance runners in school history, and along the way, helped establish MU as one of the premier distance programs in the nation. Her list of accomplishments include: two-time All-American in track, at 800 meters (12th in 1995 NCAA Indoor Championships) and at 1,500 meters (11th in 1997 NCAA Outdoor Championships); 1996 NCAA Midwest Regional cross country individual champion, and twice led the Tiger harriers to team appearances in the NCAA Championships; NCAA All-District in cross country three times (1994-96); won two Big Eight championships (1995 Indoor 800 meters; 1995 Indoor distance medley relay); won championships at the Drake Relays and the Kansas Relays, and was an Olympic Trials qualifier at 1,500 meters in 2000.

Wilmes will join Charlie McMullen as Class of 2005 inductees. McMullen was a versatile runner and inspirational figure who brought national recognition to the MU distance core. McMullen was a master at any distance, winning three All-America honors. McMullen died in August of 2003.

The two along with four others will be honored at an induction ceremony Jan. 21st, at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Columbia.

All-American, Bales, Returning For the first time since 1990, a Tiger will return from earning All-America status the year before. Junior Amanda Bales finished 23rd as an individual a year ago to earn the honor, leading her team to a 12th-place national showing, the best since 1984.

Tigers' NCAA History The Tiger women will make their 12th NCAA Championship appearance in school history as a team on Monday. Nine of the appearances have come in the past 10 years. Nine Tigers have been named All-American. The Tigers' highest finish was in 1984 when the women finished seventh with Sabrina Dorhoefer and Andrea Fisher leading the way with All-American showings.

The Tiger men last ran in the NCAA Championship in 2000, one of three years consecutive. Charlie McMullen was the last Tiger to run as an individual, doing so in 1972, placing 13th. In 1955, Tiger Keith Bacon won the individual NCAA crown.

Note The Time Change Since the race will be in Indiana after October 30, the Hoosier State is in the Eastern Time Zone. Therefore, the 11:00 a.m., local time start of the women's race will actually be at 10:00 a.m., central. Just a head's up for anyone attending the race.

Weather Watch Being the NCAA Championships in the Midwest, it has to be a little chilly. For the race expect partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the upper-30s and a wind chill (ouch) of around 30. Winds will be out of the northwest at 10 miles per hour. In 2003, the wind chill in Waterloo, Iowa for the NCAA Championships was around 10 degrees, so it's a liitle better this year.

For complete results following the races, visit indstate.edu or ncaasports.com shortly after 1 p.m. A complete wrap-up will be available on mutigers.com later Saturday afternoon.