Missouri
Notre Dame Invitational
Vanatta Comes In Seventh at Notre Dame
9/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 30, 2011
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Mizzou women's cross country team finished ninth out of 28 teams Friday (Sept. 30) at the Notre Dame Invitational, while the Tiger men came in 19th out of 26 squads. Heavy rain during the past week made for a very wet course, and winds gusted up to 40 mph. 225 student-athletes competed in the 5K women's race, while 205 entered the five-mile men's contest.
In the women's race, junior Katie Vanatta (Littleton, Colo.) finished seventh in the individual standings with a final time of 17:14, while junior Bailey Belvis (Prosper, Texas) came in 42nd. Mizzou had six runners in the top 100, as freshman Liz Reida (Springfield, Mo.) was 62nd, freshman Courtney Brown (Palatine, Ill.) finished 78th, and junior Laura Roxberg (Overland Park, Kan.) was 97th, one spot ahead of freshman Courtney Wood (Neosho, Mo.). Other Tigers in the race were sophomore Maggie Priebe (Wausau, Wis.) in 127th place, senior Aimee Bonte (Fenton, Mo.) in 152nd and sophomore Marie O'Leary (Normal, Ill.) in 173rd.
“Meets like this one are huge; there were 28 teams and we were able to finish ninth on the women's side so I was very pleased,” women's head coach Rebecca Wilmes said. “We beat a lot teams that were getting votes in the national poll. It was really a collective team effort and this is the most solid team that we've had in some time from top to bottom.”
On the men's side, junior Max Storms (Kansas City, Mo.) led the Tigers with a time of 24:53, good for 46th place. Redshirt senior Dan Quigley (St. Louis, Mo.) finished 66th, while sophomore Merid Seleshi (Scarborough, Ontario) was 104th, two spots ahead of redshirt sophomore Hayden Legg (Mexico, Mo.). Other men's finishers for Mizzou were junior Kevin McKee (Kansas City, Mo.) in 131st place, redshirt senior Kyle Rood (St. Peters, Mo.) in 149th, freshman Sam Dickerson in 152nd, freshman Bryant Blahnik in 188th and redshirt freshman JT McCarthy (Burlington, Iowa) in 192nd.
“This was an extremely tough race against some of the best teams in country,” men's head coach Joe Lynn said. “I thought it was a good experience for a lot of our guys; we really stuck our nose out and ran. We made a lot more progress coming out of this meet than we did coming out of the home meet three weeks ago.”
Mizzou's next meet is Oct. 16 at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., on the campus of Indiana State University. The nation's largest collegiate cross country meet, Pre-Nats will provide harriers with valuable experience as they prepare for the National Championships, scheduled for Nov. 21 in Terre Haute. For the latest updates on Tiger Cross Country, visit MUTigers.com.
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Players Mentioned
