Missouri
Big 12 Championships
Women Take Fourth at Big 12 Meet; Men Finish Sixth
10/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 29, 2011
Men's Results
Women's Results
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Mizzou men's and women's cross country teams competed against some of the best runners in America on Saturday (Oct. 29) at the Big 12 Championships. The Tiger women finished fourth in the team standings, while Mizzou's men's squad placed sixth. Junior Bailey Belvis (Prosper, Texas) earned All-Big 12 honors following her 14th-place finish in the women's 6K race.
The fourth-place finish is the best for the Mizzou women at the conference meet since 2005, when they placed fourth, and the men logged their best Big 12 Championships result since taking fifth place in 2008.
Head Coach Brett Halter said the Tigers gave a terrific effort, and he emphasized the team's collective improvement throughout the season. He added that today's gutsy performances were the culmination of terrific efforts all season by the men and women.
Belvis paced Mizzou on the women's side, followed by sophomore Kaitie Vanatta (Littleton, Colo.) in 18th place, freshman Liz Reida (Springfield, Mo.) at No. 21, senior Laura Roxberg (Overland Park, Kan.) in 36th and freshman Courtney Brown (Palatine, Ill.) in 38th. Outside Mizzou's top five were sophomore Marie O'Leary (Normal, Ill.) in 40th and freshman Courtney Wood (Neosho, Mo.) in 51st place.
"I was ecstatic after this meet," Belvis said. "We worked together as a team, and everyone ran hard on their own to contribute. We all executed our individual plans, and that allowed us to accomplish our goals and more as a team."
Vanatta echoed Belvis, and said the team is looking forward to getting better ahead of the NCAA Regionals.
"I couldn't be happier for our team," Vanatta said. "Everyone's really excited about our performance today. We want to keep improving as a team, and we know we can go far with regionals coming up."
The Tiger women finished ahead of three-time defending Big 12 champion Texas Tech, beating the Red Raiders by a single point. Mizzou also bested rival Kansas, which came into the meet ranked eighth in the Midwest Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, one spot above the Tigers.
"We had a great team effort, which allowed us to beat Tech by one," Women's Coach Rebecca Wilmes said. "Bailey ran fabulous, and she led up front with a great effort. This team has been focused all year, and I'm proud of our entire group. Each of our student-athletes contributed, and the whole squad did a fabulous job."
On the men's side, the Tigers finished ahead of Kansas, which came into the meet ranked eight spots ahead of the Tigers in the regional poll. Mizzou also beat out Kansas State, Texas Tech and Baylor, which was ranked 11th in the South Central Region entering Saturday.
"It was a great day to be a Tiger," Men's Coach Joe Lynn said. "We had a good game plan coming in, and our guys executed well and ran aggressively. We've been training effectively the last few weeks, and we've made great progress. We're looking forward to improving over the next two weeks, and we'll work hard to prepare for regionals."
Redshirt senior Dan Quigley (St. Louis, Mo.) finished 24th with a time of 24:24.5 to lead the Tigers in the men's 8K, while junior Max Storms (Kansas City, Mo.) came in 25th and redshirt sophomore Hayden Legg (Mexico, Mo.) was 37th. Redshirt senior Kyle Rood (St. Peters, Mo.) finished 47th and redshirt sophomore Tyler Compton (Buffalo, Mo.) was 55th to round out Mizzou's top five. Other Tiger competitors on the men's side were sophomore Merid Seleshi (Scarborough, Ontario), who finished 59th and freshman Bryant Blahnik at No. 65.
"I think this was a good step forward," Quigley said. "Everyone ran their best, and we're looking forward to running at regionals. I'm happy with my own race, and I was proud to come back from hip surgery, and it's rewarding to see that work pay off."
Storms also was pleased with the team's performance, and he applauded Quigley for leading the Tigers.
"I think we ran very well," Storms said. "It's a team effort, and all of our guys came to run today. Dan is a very talented runner, and he especially ran well in the last half of the race. He's been a team captain. We want to continue to stay focused, and we're looking to crack the top five at regionals."
The Tigers' next race is Nov. 12, when they will travel to DeKalb, Ill., for the NCAA Midwest Regional. For the latest news about Mizzou Cross Country, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
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Players Mentioned
