Sept. 18, 2007

Columbia, Mo. - On the heels of his ninth place finish at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic, the Big 12 Conference announced that Tiger redshirt freshman Ben Brammeier (Ballwin, Mo.) has been named Big 12 Runner of the Week for the week of Sept. 18. Brammeier finished the race in 25:52.69 and helped the Tigers, despite only running the freshman class, take home third place against 13 other teams including Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Brammeier is the first Tiger male freshman ever to be named Big 12 Runner of the week, and the first Tiger freshman to earn the honor since all-American Amanda Bales did on Oct. 1, 2002. He is only the eighth freshman male runner in the history of the Big 12 to win the award.

After spending a redshirt season at the University of Florida, Brammeier, the St. Louis Post Dispatch Runner of the year in 2005, was the first Tiger to cross the finish line in his first collegiate race with the Tigers. He bested teammate Phillip King (Columbia, Mo.), who finished one spot behind Brammeier in tenth, by nearly eight seconds.

This week, the Tigers will continue to prepare for the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. on Sept. 29.

2007 Big 12 Cross Country Runners of the Week

Men

Sept. 4 Rob Sorrell Oklahoma So.

Sept. 11 Colby Wissel Kansas Sr.

Sept. 18 Ben Brammeier Missouri Fr.

Women

Sept. 4 Nichole Jones Baylor So.

Jessica Eldridge Oklahoma Sr.

Sept. 11 Nichole Jones Baylor So.

Sept. 18 Beverly Ramos Kansas State So.