Sept. 27, 2007
Columbia, Mo. - The 2007 Missouri Cross Country team will make its way to Minneapolis, Minn. to take part in the 22nd annual Roy Griak Invitational this weekend. The team will race 12 runners on both the men's and the women's side in hopes of continuing what has been a fast start to the 2007 season. Last season, the men had a strong showing, placing eighth overall.
The men will start their 8K race, the Gold Division, at 12:10 p.m., while the women will run in the Jack Johnson Women's Gold race starting a 12:55 p.m.
The women, coming off of two straight victories at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge and the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic, will look to challenge some of the elite teams in the nation for the overall title. Freshman Kinsey Farren (Dallas, Texas) is coming off of a fifth place finish at the Commodore Classic and will lead the charge for the Tigers this weekend. Kate Greer (Marshalltown, Iowa) is another Tiger that will be looked at to score big points for the Tigers. In her first race of the season, Greer finished three spots behind Farren in eighth, helping the Tigers take home the title.
Sophomore Emily Baker (Wildwood, Mo.) will look to build on her career day at the Commodore Classic where she finished 10th place in 18:38.61, both career bests for Baker. Also running for the women will be Missouri Cross Country Challenge champ Angela Potrykus (Evergreen, Colo.), Trisa Nickoley (Tecumseh, Kan.) and senior Kasey Kimball (Eureka, Mo.), who finished 12th at the Commodore Classic, her highest finish ever in a non-Missouri Cross Country Challenge race.
The men, led by Dan Hedgecock (St, Louis, Mo.) and Garrett Jeffries (Clarkson Valley, Mo.), will enter a field that is wide open. After impressive performances at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge and the Commodore Classic, the Tigers will look to climb to the top of the leader board this weekend. The Tigers plan on running twelve men for the first time this season. During the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, head coach Jared Wilmes ran the veteran runners, while sticking to racing the newcomers at Vanderbilt. The newcomers, led by freshman Big 12 Runner of the Week Ben Brammeier (Ballwin, Mo.), placed third at the Commodore Classic. With a mixture of veterans and newcomers, the Tigers will have a legitimate shot to bring home the title on Saturday.
Stay tuned to www.mutigers.com for updates and results after the race.
2007 Cross Country Notes:
Getting off to a fast start: The Tiger women have opened the 2007 season in quick fashion claiming titles at both the Missouri Cross Country Challenge and the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic. The Tigers finished with 50 points, five ahead of Georgia Tech at the Commodore Classic, and 24 points at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge to claim the title.
The men have been equally as impressive with a title at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge and a third place finish at Vanderbilt. In the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, every Tiger runner finished the 8K race before any runner from its competitor Murray State.
Brammeier Earns Big 12 Runner of the Week:
In his first race with the Tigers, RS freshman Ben Brammeier placed ninth at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic with a time of 25:52.69. His time and place helped him win Big 12 Runner of the Week for the week of Sept. 18. Brammeier is only the eighth male freshman ever to win the award and the first Tiger freshman male to do so. The last time any freshman from Mizzou took home the award was Oct. 1, 2002, when All-American Amanda Bales took home the award.
Impact Freshman and Newcomers:
Despite quality upperclassmen on the team, the 2007 freshman class has already made their impact felt for the Tigers. In her first collegiate race, Kinsey Farren was the first Tiger to cross the finish line at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic, finishing in fifth place in the 5K race at 18:24.91. Jessica Armstrong has also made her presence felt by placing second at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge.
The freshman men have had their fair share of success as well. Despite only running the freshman class in the Commodore Classic, the Tigers managed to earn third place, behind Belmont and Georgia Tech. The team also saw four of its freshman, led by Brammeier and Phillip King, finish in the top 17, showing the quality of young talent.
Among the Tiger freshman on the men, three of them occupied the top three spots at last seasons Class 4-A MSHSAA State Championships, lead by Kyle Rood, Dan Quigley and Phillip King, who finished first, second and third respectively.
Emily Baker Sets New 5K Personal Best:
Sophomore Emily Baker looks primed to make an impact for the Tigers this season. In the Commodore Classic, Baker ran the best race of her young career, finishing in 10th place at 18:38.61, both career bests. Baker steadily improved during her freshman campaign and earned a spot in the Big 12 Championships and the Midwest Regional and it seems as if she is carrying that momentum into this season.
Breakout Performances for Several Tigers:
A handful of veteran Tigers have had breakout performances this season, starting with Billy Bell. Bell, a senior, earned his first ever overall title when he claimed the Missouri Cross Country Challenge title with a time of 26:29.74.
Several women runners have also seen their stock rise this season. Junior Angela Potrykus, just like Bell, earned her first overall title at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge. The Commodore Classic also brought out the best in Tiger runners. Seniors Kasey Kimball, Carolyn Rauen, Angela Potrykus and Kate Greer all finished in the top-20. Kimball's 12th place finish was the second highest of her career, not including the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, while Rauen's 16th place finish at 18:49.11 was nearly a personal best.
Getting off to a fast start:
The Tiger women have opened the 2007 season in quick fashion claiming titles at both the Missouri Cross Country Challenge and the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic. The Tigers finished with 50 points, five ahead of Georgia Tech at the Commodore Classic, and 24 points at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge to claim the title.
The men have been equally as impressive with a title at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge and a third place finish at Vanderbilt. In the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, every Tiger runner finished the 8K race before any runner from its competitor Murray State.
Brammeier Earns Big 12 Runner of the Week:
In his first race with the Tigers, RS freshman Ben Brammeier placed ninth at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic with a time of 25:52.69. His time and place helped him win Big 12 Runner of the Week for the week of Sept. 18. Brammeier is only the eighth male freshman ever to win the award and the first Tiger freshman male to do so. The last time any freshman from Mizzou took home the award was Oct. 1, 2002, when All-American Amanda Bales took home the award.
Impact Freshman and Newcomers:
Despite quality upperclassmen on the team, the 2007 freshman class has already made their impact felt for the Tigers. In her first collegiate race, Kinsey Farren was the first Tiger to cross the finish line at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic, finishing in fifth place in the 5K race at 18:24.91. Jessica Armstrong has also made her presence felt by placing second at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge.
The freshman men have had their fair share of success as well. Despite only running the freshman class in the Commodore Classic, the Tigers managed to earn third place, behind Belmont and Georgia Tech. The team also saw four of its freshman, led by Brammeier and Phillip King, finish in the top 17, showing the quality of young talent.
Among the Tiger freshman on the men, three of them occupied the top three spots at last seasons Class 4-A MSHSAA State Championships, lead by Kyle Rood, Dan Quigley and Phillip King, who finished first, second and third respectively.
Emily Baker Sets New 5K Personal Best: Sophomore Emily Baker looks primed to make an impact for the Tigers this season. In the Commodore Classic, Baker ran the best race of her young career, finishing in 10th place at 18:38.61, both career bests. Baker steadily improved during her freshman campaign and earned a spot in the Big 12 Championships and the Midwest Regional and it seems as if she is carrying that momentum into this season.
Breakout Performances for Several Tigers: A handful of veteran Tigers have had breakout performances this season, starting with Billy Bell. Bell, a senior, earned his first ever overall title when he claimed the Missouri Cross Country Challenge title with a time of 26:29.74.
Several women runners have also seen their stock rise this season. Junior Angela Potrykus, just like Bell, earned her first overall title at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge. The Commodore Classic also brought out the best in Tiger runners. Seniors Kasey Kimball, Carolyn Rauen, Angela Potrykus and Kate Greer all finished in the top-20. Kimball's 12th place finish was the second highest of her career, not including the Missouri Cross Country Challenge, while Rauen's 16th place finish at 18:49.11 was nearly a personal best.
Steady Upperclassmen lead the way: The Tigers are loaded with quality runners on both the men's and the women's side. Leading the way for the women is senior Kate Greer. Greer finished as Missouri's first or second finisher in every race last season and earned All-Midwest Region honors and missed All-Big 12 honors by two spots. Greer is fully healthy and ready to continue that trend for the Tiger this season.
The Tiger men have three runners to keep an eye on this season. Sophomore Dan Hedgecock, an All-Region performer from a season ago leads the way, while juniors Garrett Jeffries and Tim Cornell are not far behind. Jeffries also earned All-Region honors as he finished 20th. With the quality talent on both sides, look for the Tigers to keep the momentum going throughout the season.
Scouting the Roy Griak Invitational -By- Mike Wojtychiw Unlike recent years, the men's competition at The 2007 Roy Griak Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota, has a field that is wide open. In previous years, the prestigious invitational, known as one of the country's elite meets, has hosted the top ranked men's teams, along with many others in the top ten. Despite no top ten teams being at this year's invitational, it would be fair to say that this year's field is quite balanced, with five teams in the field ranked between 18th and 29th, including the host team, Minnesota at 18th.
Many of the teams that participated in last year's event will be returning in the men's field. The one team that will be noticeably absent, however, is defending champion Arizona. That is certainly not any condolence to the rest of the field, however, as the second through fifth place finishers all return, led by the Golden Gophers on Minnesota. Virginia, the third place finisher from a season ago also brings in an experienced group of runners that will take aim at the title. Rounding out the top-five from last years race is Arizona State and Iowa State, who should once again fit into the mix. Set to challenge the returnees are the squads from Missouri, which finished eighth, Northern Arizona, which finished 11th and Michigan State, last year's tenth place finisher.
Each squad will essentially be equally represented, with each team having between seven and 12 members. The highest returning runner is Northern Arizona's Lopez Lomong, who ran a 24:19 in last year's event. Ironically, all of the ranked teams in the event, Minnesota, Northern Arizona, Michigan State, Iowa State, and Virginia are each sending 12 participants. Five of last year's top 10 finishers return, each finishing within 36 places. Kansas will look to follow the lead of last year's second and sixth place finishers.
As one may suspect, the tournament field is dominated by Midwest schools, but schools from coast to coast will be in attendance, ranging from Washington State to the University of Virginia. According to the Preseason Division I Cross Country Regional Rankings, two of the top ten teams in the Western Region (Washington State and Arizona State), the third best team in the Mountain West region (Northern Arizona), six of the top fifteen Midwest schools (Iowa State, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Bradley), the third best team in the South Central Region (Lamar), the third best team in the Great Lakes Region (Michigan State), the fifth best team in the Southeast Region (Virginia), and the fourth best team in the South Region (Baylor), will all be in attendance. This shows the balance of power in the level of competition that is expected this weekend.
Minnesota, the host team, returns six of last year's top seven finishers in this event. The team is led by Chris Rombough, who ran a 24:58 in last year's event. The junior finished: 03 out of the top ten. The Gophers are coming off of a win in the BYU Autumn Classic, their first meet of the fall season. Along with the team winning the overall title, Rombough won the individual title. Not only did Minnesota have the top individual finisher, they also added four of the rest of the top ten individuals. One of the three teams in the event, Utah Valley State, will be in the Griak Invitational.
Women: Unlike the men's side of the competition, the women's side looks to be dominated by four teams, Arizona State, host Minnesota, Michigan State, and Virginia. In the National Poll, the teams rank 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th, respectively. All four teams finished in the top four of last year's event. Unlike the men's side, however, last year's champion, UC Santa Barbra, will be in attendance, but Baylor, the third place finisher, will not. Only one other top ten finisher, eighth place Nebraska, will be returning for this year's event.
For the most part, all the women's teams will be bringing between seven and 15 runners. The one outlier is the host team, Minnesota, which has 45 participants. Michigan State junior Alissa McKaig, last year's fourth place finisher, is the top returning runner.
Many of the schools that are sending men's teams will also be sending women's teams, including the number two, five and seven teams in the Western Region (Arizona State, UC Santa Barbra and Washington State). The number two, four, eight, 11, 12 and 14 teams in the Midwest Region (Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas State, Kansas, and Iowa State), the eighth best Mountain Region team (Northern Arizona), the fifth best team in the South Central Region (Lamar), third best team in the Great Lakes Region (Michigan State), the best team in the Southeast Region (Virginia), and the ninth best team in the Southern Region (Belmont) round out the teams that look to be the most competitive. Even thought there are four teams that are expected to challenge for the title, any of these main contenders have the ability and firepower to stir an upset. The home team, Minnesota has had extraordinary success so far this season, finishing first in all three of its events so far this fall. In two of the team's events, they have won them with perfect scores of 15 points. Gopher sophomore Jamie Cheever has won both events she has participated in.
All in all, it seems as if this weekend will be an exciting one for those fans of College Cross Country. Not only will there be some of the top teams in the country, along with the top runners, there will also be some up and coming programs, there to provide good competition. The prestigious Griak Invitational will once again, as it always has, prove to be an excellent measuring stick for all those who compete.