CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Tigers kicked off their 2014 season on Friday, going head-to-head against fellow-Midwest Region competitors, Illinois, on their home course in Champaign. It was an exciting showing under new head coach, Marc Burns, with both teams showing a lot of positives early on.
"We're very pleased, very happy with the performances today. We kind of threw a really specific, conservative, game plan at the crew on both sides and you never know, especially the first time out, how they're going to handle that. But both teams executed the plan to a T," Burns said. "They ran very smart, had great leadership on both sides that set the tone; they went out together, stuck together, they were communicating, and rallying around each other."
The women kicked off the the evening, besting the Fighting Illini behind a trio of underclassmen in sophomore Kaitlyn Fischer and freshmen Jamie Kempfer and Karissa Schweizer. The women had a strong lead pack throughout most of the race, with junior Sam Garrett, senior Courtney Wood, and sophomore Megan Cunningham maintaining with Fischer, Kempfer, and Schweizer until 1000-meters left in the race.
"The women didn't panic when Illinois shot out ahead of them," Burns said. "They stayed close enough then rolled up into that pack the second half of the race."
The three Tiger leaders then broke away from the pack, chasing down the Illinois leader with Fischer crossing in second-place overall followed by Kempfer in third, and Schweizer in fifth. Garrett was not far behind in seventh overall, fourth for the black and gold, and Wood rounded out the top five scorers in ninth, clinching the team win with 26 points to Illinois' 31.
The men also had a strong presence in the front of the field as the group of junior Tyler Schneider, junior Kenny Cushing, senior Sam Dickerson, and sophomore Chandler Dye held in with the lead Illinois pack. Schneider and Dickerson broke away from the pack with about 2000-meters to go, battling to the line with Cushing holding not far behind.
"Those front four guys were really patient up there. Illinois got out hard the first 1000-meters and our guys were just relaxed and stayed on the back edge of them. Then the last 2k they took off and challenged them and almost came back to beat them," Burns said. "And we have some guys who weren't running today in T.J. (Carey), Dan (Roe), Drew (White), and Ian (McGinn), that we'll pick back up in a couple of weeks. So it'll be nice to have a full house two weeks from now."
Schneider wound up taking the win with an 18:40 crossing, with Cushing crossing in third and Dickerson in fourth. Freshman Sheldon Keence was next across the line for the black and gold in 12th overall, followed by Dubrick in 14th to close out the Tigers' top five. The men finished a mere two points behind Illinois with a final tally of 30 points to the Fighting Illini's 28.
"We're going to continue to crank it up a bit from a training standpoint, throw a little bit more at them and get them prepared for a similar type of effort at St. Louis," Burns said. "Then we'll get ready in four weeks to turn them loose a little bit at Griak, race against some really good teams and we'll really know where we're at."
The Tigers return now to Columbia for two weeks of training before making the short trek to St. Louis, Mo., for the Forest Park XC Festival on September 12. For the latest on Mizzou Cross Country, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
MIZZOU WOMEN (4960-meters)
2. Kaitlyn Fischer, 18:06 | 3. Jamie Kempfer, 18:07 | 5. Karissa Schweizer, 18:09 | 7. Sam Garrett, 18:26 | 9. Courtney Wood, 18:38 | 10. Megan Cunningham, 18:39 | 11. Kayla Wolf, 18:43 | 13. Madison Waymire, 19:03 | 14. Courtney Brown, 19:05 | 17. Kayla Friesen, 19:11 | 18. Nicole Mello, 19:15 | 20. Becca Batliner, 19:32 | 23. Libby Luciani, 19:49 | 26. Brooke Wolfe, 20:03
MIZZOU MEN (5985-meters)
1. Tyler Schneider, 18:40 | 3. Kenny Cushing, 18:46 | 4. Sam Dickerson, 18:50 | 12. Sheldon Keence, 19:11 | 14. Marc Dubrick, 19:22 | 15. Shannon Hall, 19:24 | 16. Joe McKenna, 19:26 | 17. Chris Mooneyham, 19:29 | 18. Alex Pierce, 19:32 | 19. Chandler Dye, 19:35 | 22. Ben Goodman, 19:46 | 23. Jordan Cook, 19:49 | 24. Billy Leighton, 19:58 | 26. Will Crocker, 20:07 | 27. Tyler Rusboldt, 20:13 | 30. Tim Johnson, 20:32 | 34. Brian Hernan, 20:55 | 36. Grant Inskeep, 21:31