Aug. 29, 2008
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Missouri cross country squads began its 2008 campaign on Friday in Carbondale, Ill., with the SIU Early Bird, a training run with Southern Illinois.
Sophomore Kinsey Farren (Dallas, Texas) won the women's 4k race by nearly 23 seconds in clocking 14:36.8 over Tiger frosh Laura Roxberg who impressed with a second-place showing at 15:06.4, leading the pack for a large portion of the race.
"Kinsey looked spectacular," said Head Coach Jared Wilmes. "It was great to see two of our really young athletes go out and run strong today. It was impressive how Laura was out to take control and go for the win."
Mizzou went on to pick up the fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, and seven-place finishes with Angela Potrykus, Layne Moore, frosh Aimee Bonte, and Jessica Armstrong, following close behind to take all-but-one top five slot
On the men's side, senior Michael Barrows (Flint, Mich.) led the way with a fourth-place finish in the 6k race, crossing in 19:38.5.
"It was good to see Barrows have a breakthrough race after having to sit out quite a bit in the last couple years because of injury," Wimes continued.
Senior Brian Graybill was sixth at 19:51.9, while Ben Wade and freshmen Aaron Dixon and Stanton Ragland placed eighth, ninth, and tenth, respectively.
The Tiger harriers will get back on the course by hosting the Missouri Cross Country Challenge on September 13. Expected to be in attendance, among other teams, is the University of Kansas.
A complete preview of the 2008 Mizzou Cross Country season will be published in a few days.
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