Oct. 13, 2006

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri men's and women's cross country teams will run in the Pre-Nationals Invitational Saturday. The meet is hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind., at the same course that will hold the NCAA Championships in November. The women will race in the Blue Race at 10 a.m. (CT) and the men will compete in the White Race at 11:50 a.m. (CT).

The women are coming off a successful Notre Dame Invitational. On Sept. 29, the Tigers finished 10th in the Blue Divsion race, finishing ahead of Texas A&M, who finished 11th. The Tigers also finished ahead of host Notre Dame, who finished 12th. Both Texas A&M and Notre Dame were receiving votes in the Sept. 25th USTFCCA poll. In her first race of the season, Missouri senior Amanda Bales (Bettendorf, Iowa) finished 10th with a time of 17:08 (5k) to lead the Tigers to their 10th place finish in the Blue Division race, which featured seven teams ranked in the Sept. 25th USTFCCCA top-30 poll. Overall, 19 schools and 157 runners competed in the Blue Division race. Junior Kate Greer (Marshalltown, Iowa) finished 28th with a personal-best time of 17:27

The men have had three weeks to prepare for the Pre-Nationals. They finished eighth in their last meet, the Roy Griak Invitational, Sept. 23, in Falcon Heights, Minn. Senior Tim Ross (Alto, Mich.) led the Tigers with a 31st place finish. Tiger Sophomore Garett Jeffries (Clarkson Valley, Mo.), the winner of the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, finished second for the Tigers, and 45th overall. Freshman Dan Hedgecock (St. Louis, Mo.), finished third among Tiger finishers and 63rd overall.

The Field

Women's Blue Race

The Tigers will run in the competitive Blue Race (6k), which starts at 10 a.m. (CT). The race includes 35 teams, including 11 teams currently ranked in the USTFCCCA top-30 poll. The ranked teams in the Blue Race include; Stanford (1), BYU (6), Princeton (7), Providence (10), Iowa (11), Florida State (12), Wake Forest (13), Arizona State (16), Minnesota (18), Michigan State (21) and Virginia (26). The field also includes two other Big 12 schools, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

Men's White Race

The men will run in the White Race (8k), which starts at 11:50 a.m. (CT). The race includes 11 teams ranked in the USTFCCCA top-30. The ranked teams include; Stanford (3), Iona (5), BYU (9), Michigan (14), Virginia (16), William & Mary (19), Arizona State (20), Notre Dame (21), Florida (25), Eastern Michigan (28), and Cal Poly (30). The field also includes Big 12 foes Baylor and Kansas.

Up Next for The Tigers

After this weekend's Pre-Nationals, the Tigers will prepare for the Big 12 Championships, which will be held Oct. 27 in Lawrence, Kan.