University of Missouri
Roy Griak Invitational
Mizzou Runners Turn in Solid Performances at Griak, Lakefront
9/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 27, 2008
Men's Results (Griak) | Women's Individual Results (Lakefront) | Women's Team Results (Lakefront)
The Missouri cross country teams competed at two separate locations, midday, on Saturday. The Tiger men took 11th in the elite, Gold-division 8k race at Minnesota's Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis while Mizzou's women placed second in its 5k race at the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago.
Senior Garett Jeffries (St. Louis, Mo.) led the Tiger men with a 20th-place showing, running the 8,000-meter course in 24:54.2. Sophomore Phillip King (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge HS) was the Tigers' second finisher at 39th place with a 25:15.2 clocking. Junior Dan Hedgecock (St. Louis, Mo.), at 74th place, was the third scorer for MU at 25:42.8.
"Although I was hoping for a higher team finish, I was impressed by how some our guys stepped up today," said Head Coach Jared Wilmes. "This is a really good meet, and its been a long while since we've had a guy finish at the top 20 here, that made Garett's run important. Seeing Phillip King run very well was eye-opening as well."
The five scorers for the Mizzou men also included freshman Phil Bascio (Florissant, Mo.), who surprised the Tigers with a 77th-place showing, a second from Hedgecock's finish, and senior Michael Barrows (Flint, Mich.) who took 90th.
Adams State, NCAA Division II's top-ranked squad, took the meet with 75 points. No. 29 Iowa State (89), No. 30 BYU (91), and No. 9 Minnesota (107) were all close to each other in finishing second, third, and fourth, respectively. Iowa, a Midwest region team, placed ninth with 255 points to Mizzou's 284 who placed 11th overall. The only other Midwest region team in the race was Bradley who took 24th of the 25 full squads in the race.
Auburn junior Elkanah Kibet blazed the course in 23:55.3 to win by more than 12 seconds over Minnesota sophomore Hassan Mead. The lead Big 12 rep was Iowa State sophomore Hillary Bor who took eighth.
The Mizzou women placed second in their run with 93 points at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational in Chicago. Northwestern was crowned the winners in scoring 76 points. Malone (Ohio) College was a close third at 97.
Sophomore Kinsey Farren (Dallas, Texas) again led the team in placing seventh overall with an 18:12 clocking in the 5,000-meter race. Sophomore Layne Moore (Emporia, Kan.) captured her second personal best in as many races with a 16th-place, 18:37 showing. Scoring for the women was rounded out by sophomore Jessica Armstrong (21st, 18:42), Angela Potrykus (23rd, 18:42), and frosh Aimee Bonte (30th, 18:49).
Alabama's Sara Vaughn won the race in 17:37.
The Tiger teams are next scheduled to run in the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., on October 18, its last tune-up before the Big 12 Championships that will be held November 1 in Ames, Iowa.
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