Oct. 26, 2005
The Missouri cross country team will travel to Waco, Texas, for the 10th annual running of the Big 12 Championships, Friday, Oct. 28, beginning with the men's 8K race at 10 a.m. (CT) followed with the women's 5K challenge at 11 a.m. (CT) on the Bear Run Cross Country Course. Hosted by Baylor University, the team champions on both the men's and women's side will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, Nov. 21, in Terre Haute, Ind.
On the men's side, nine-time Big 12 champion team Colorado is back and ranked third in the nation behind teams from No. 1 Arkansas and No. 2 Wisconsin. The women of Colorado, an eight-time Big 12 championship team, are ranked 10th in the nation and lost their only league championship title in 1998, when the Buffaloes finished second to the women of Kansas State.
In the 2004 Big 12 Championships, hosted by Kansas State in Topeka, Kan., Colorado's women swept the top three finishes (Renee Metivier, 1st; Sara Slattery, 2nd; Christine Bolf, 3rd), while Benson Chesang of Kansas earned the men's title. The Tigers women tied their highest league finish in the history of the Big 12 placing second with 59 points. The feat has only been accomplished three times since the creation of the conference in 1996 (1996, 2002, 2004). Current senior Amanda Bales was the first member of the Missouri cross country team to cross the finish line, placing sixth in 21:33.12, while current senior student-athlete Tim Ross was Missouri's highest place finisher on the men's side, taking sixth on the 8K course in 24:52.98. As a team, the MU men finished fifth behind Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma State and Kansas.
Three of the league's women's teams are ranked among the top-30 in the nation, with Colorado holding the highest ranking at 10th. Oklahoma State currently sits at No. 15 with this year's Big 12 Championship host school Baylor ranked No. 20. Missouri's men will face fierce competition in the Friday morning race as four Big 12 programs are ranked among the top-30. Colorado (No. 3), Texas (No. 12), Kansas (No. 13) and Oklahoma State (No. 25) all received votes in the most recent poll released Oct. 18.
Over the past 10 years, the Big 12 Championships have moved to 10 unique sites, including the University of Missouri campus in 2002. Results from the 10th annual Big 12 Championships will be available on both the Big 12 website (www.big12sports.com) and also the Missouri athletic department website (www.mutigers.com).