PEORIA, Ill. - Day one of the back-to-back meet weekend for Mizzou Cross Country is in the books as the 31 men and women return from the Bradley Pink Classic in Peoria, Ill. Both teams emerged with a lot of positives as they close the regular season, with the men placing third in the red and second in the white races, and the women taking sixth in the red race.
Freshman Valeska Halamicek got the day going for the Tigers with the women's white race, placing 17th in the field of 112 with a final time of 24:07.10. Following her up was a third-place team effort from the men's middle distance specialists in the white race, led by sophomore Will Crocker who placed fifth overall with a 26:17.30 effort. Behind him was freshmen Cain Winebrenner (26th) and Cody Johnson (27th), sophomore Adam DeSplinter (35th), and sophomre Grant Inskeep (36th).
Next on the line was the women's red race, who placed sixth in the field behind the leadership of junior Maria Effinger's 22:06.10 performance. Senior Courtney Brown was second in for the Tigers right behind Effinger with a final time of 22:06.80, followed by sophomore Megan Cunningham, fresshman Madison Waymire, and sophomore Kaelyn Balch.
The four-race afternoon concluded with the men's red race, which saw an all-freshman top five behind Sheldon Keence, who crossed in 17th with a final time of 25:03.30. Following him was Chris Mooneyham in 20th, Marc Dubrick in 27th, Alex Pierce in 40th, and Evan Schulte in 45th to give the men a third-place finish in the field.
The weekend isn't over yet for the Tigers, as the top seven on both sides have yet to toe the line. They'll do so tomorrow morning at the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., matching up against 14 of the top-ranked teams in the nation.
On the women's side, sophomore Kaitlyn Fischer will back in action, as will freshman Karissa Schweizer, who led the squad at Louisville two weeks ago with her 11th-place finish. Also suiting up will be freshman Jamie Kempfer, sophomores Nicole Mello and Kayla Wolf, junior Sam Garrett, and senior Courtney Wood.Lacing up for the me is junior Tyler Schneider, who hit the top performance ever for a Mizzou athlete at the Greater Louisville Classic, crossing in ninth overall. Joining him will be senior Sam Dickerson and sophomores T.J. Carey, Jordan Cook, Chandler Dye, Dan Roe, and Drew White.
This will be the final competition for Mizzou before they head into the Championship portion of the season. For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the tea, on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
WOMEN'S RED RACE
34. Maria Effinger, 22:06.10
36. Courtney Brown, 22:06.80
38. Megan Cunningham, 22:10.50
53. Madison Waymire, 22:22.10
55. Kaelyn Balch, 22:23.60
76. Teylar Adelsberger, 22:39.40
86. Kayla Friesen, 22:44.20
126. Libby Luciani, 23:04.50
158. Ashlynn Yokom, 23:19.10
169. Brooke Wolfe, 23:22.40
204. Morgan Nelson, 23:47.50
214. Becca Batliner, 23:54.0
TEAM - Sixth | 216 points
WOMEN'S WHITE RACE
17. Valeska Halamicek, 24:07.10
MEN'S RED RACE
17. Sheldon Keence, 25:03.30
20. Chris Mooneyham, 25:07.90
27. Marc Dubrick, 25:20.70
40. Alex Pierce, 25:34.80
45. Evan Schulte, 25:38.30
48. Billy Leighton, 25:39.10
63. Shannon Hall, 25:52.10
99. Ian McGinn, 26:10.70
102. Tyler Rusboldt, 26:12.30
103. Ben Goodman, 26:14.30
132. Brian Hernan, 26:31.80
172. Tim Johnson, 27:05.40
TEAM - Third | 146 points
MEN'S WHITE RACE
5. Will Crocker, 26:17.30
26. Cain Winebrenner, 27:22.10
27. Cody Johnson, 27:23.0
35. Adam DeSplinter, 27:47.20
36. Grant Inskeep, 27:47.50
TEAM - Second | 62 points