Sept. 13, 2007

Columbia, Mo. - After a successful season opener at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, the 2007 team will continue its season this Saturday in Nashville, Tenn. as they participate in the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic. The women will run a 5K course while the men will run an 8K track at Percey Warner Park.

"We are excited to go to Vanderbilt and have a good trip," Head Coach Jared Wilmes said. "I am looking forward seeing where we are at as a team. It will be nice to run in a more competitive atmosphere against more teams, especially against teams from the ACC and SEC."

Fresh off her first career victory, Angela Potrykus (Evergreen, Colo.) will be joined by a number of runners who sat out the first race, including Kate Greer (Marshalltown, Iowa), Trisa Nickoley (Tecumseh, Kan.) and Ellen Ries (Ryan, Iowa) who will be expected to finish near the top for the Tigers. Freshman Kinsey Farren (Dallas, Texas), who did not race in the Missouri Cross Country Challenge will make her long-awaited debut with the Tigers.

Jessica Armstrong (Dorr, Mich.) will look to continue her strong freshman campaign this season. Armstrong finished second overall in her first collegiate race at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge. Also slated to run for the women are Emily Baker (Wildwood, Mo,), Kasey Kimball (Eureka, Mo.) and Carolyn Rauen (Cincinnati, Ohio).

The men will look to carry the momentum of their Missouri Cross Country Challenge title onto Vaughn's Gap CC Course. At the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, all six Tiger runners finished before their competitors from Murray State led by senior Billy Bell (Chesterfield, Mo.) who like Potrykus also claimed his first title.

Making their debut for the Tigers will be the top three runners in the state of Missouri last season, Kyle Rood (St, Peters, Mo.), Dan Quigley (St. Louis, Mo.) and Phillip King (Columbia, Mo.), who finished as the top three runners at the MSHSAA State 4-A Championships last year.

"I am excited to see how our younger runners have developed so far," Wilmes said. "It will be good for the newcomers to get into this race, and see how they measure against some good competition."

With 15 colleges on hand including Atlantic Coast Conference foe Georgia Tech and Belmont University and Vanderbilt, the Tigers will match up against some of the best competition in the country.

"It will be nice to see how we measure against some of these colleges," Wilmes said. "There are going to be fifteen or sixteen other schools, and it will be pretty good competition. I think we will gain a good amount of experience for our younger runners at this race, and we should have a pretty good understanding of where we stand."

For compelte results and a race recap, stay tuned to www.mutigers.com.