Nov. 15, 2013

Gallery - Women  |  Gallery - Men 

Men's Team Results     |     Men's Individual Results

Women's Team Results     |     Women's Individual Results 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Memorable performances closed out an equally memorable season for the Tigers on Friday as the men finished eighth and the women sixth at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Ames, IA.  For one Tiger, however, the season will continue as freshman Kaitlyn Fischer once again rose to the occasion to place sixth in the meet and secure her spot at the NCAA Championship. 

Fischer battled to the line with the chase pack, crossing in 20:26.4 to add an All-Midwest Region finish to her All-SEC and SEC Freshman of the Year honors.  She is the first Tiger woman to qualify for the NCAA Championship meet since 2009 when Kaitie Vanatta went on to finish 54th overall as the fifth-fastest freshman in the field.

"It's an exciting thing, I'm really pumped," said Fischer. "I don't like to look at rankings, really, but I did yesterday and saw I was ranked 22nd.  But I really wanted to qualify for Nationals and the more I thought about it the more I wanted to go, so the middle of the race I just told myself 'I'm going to try and do this'."

Fellow-freshman Nicole Mello turned in the second-fastest time for the Tigers, crossing in 21:44.6 for 56^th overall followed by junior Courtney Brown in 21:44.7 and junior Liz Reida in 21:47.2.  Freshman Kaelyn Balch rounded out the top five with her final time of 21:55.1, placing 80^th.  

The women made big strides this year, improving on their 13th-place finish at the 2012 SEC Championship with a seventh-place finish this year, then bringing down their 16th-place finish at the 2012 Midwest Regional by ten places on Friday.  They also made their highest appearance yet on the NCAA Regional Rankings after the win at Bradley in October, coming in at No. 4.  All seven of the women who competed in Ames will return next year.

The men will also return most of their team next year, with Hayden Legg being the sole senior on the Regional squad.  Legg earned his second career All-Regional finish on Friday, finishing 22nd in 31:00.4.  His first All-Region finish came in 2011, when he finished 20th in the field.

"I'm glad that I finished [the season] well, even though I really wanted to make Nationals," said Legg. "[The pace] was kind of yo-yo-ing, and then at about 7k it really picked up.  I think I only had three guys pass me in the last 3k, which was good."

Four of the seven Tiger men had their first 10k experience in Ames on Friday, starting with SEC Freshman of the Year T.J. Carey who clocked in at 31:13.3 for 34^th overall.  Freshman Drew White was next with 31:22.4 for his career-first 10k.  Junior Sam Dickerson and sophomore Tyler Schneider rounded out the Tiger's top five in 31:31.1 and 31:31.2, respectively.

"It's good that these guys came out here and got experience," said Legg.  "I'm happy about how we went out there and executed the race plan, we just didn't have it today."

Kaitlyn Fischer will be back in action next weekend for the black and gold as she takes on the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, IN, on Saturday November 23^rd.  For the latest on your Tigers stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField. 

Missouri Results
WOMEN				MEN
6.	Kaitlyn Fischer	20:26.4		22.	Hayden Legg	31:00.4
56.	Nicole Mello	21:44.6		34.	T.J. Carey	31:13.3
57.	Courtney Brown	21:44.7		47.	Drew White	31:22.4
62.	Liz Reida	21:47.2		54.	Sam Dickerson	31:31.1
80.	Kaelyn Balch	21:55.1		55.	Tyler Schneider	31:31.2
81.	Courtney Wood	21:55.4		59.	Evan Chiplock	31:37.9
96.	Sam Garrett	22:04.9		139.	Kenny Cushing	33:08.6

Full Team Results
WOMEN				MEN
1.	Iowa State	39		1.	Oklahoma State	45
2.	Minnesota	59		2.	Tulsa	57
3.	Oklahoma State	192		3.	Iowa State	113
4.	Southern Illinois	217		4.	Oklahoma	156
5.	Kansas	218		5.	Kansas	157
6.	Missouri	261		5.	Minnesota	157
7.	Bradley	265		7.	Illinois	210
8.	Illinois	270		8.	Missouri	212
9.	Northwestern	275		9.	Nebraska	319
10.	Loyola	277		10.	South Dakota State	328