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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Tigers cross country team is staying close to home this weekend as they enter the second meet of the 2015 season. Both the men and women will see their full-team debut on Friday (September 11) with the Forest Park XC Festival in St. Louis. Events at Forest Park will kick off at 4:30 pm with the women's 5000m run, followed by the men's 5000m run at 5:15.
For some, this is the second meet weekend of the year, as a group of Tigers got the competition rolling at the Illini Challenge last week (Sept. 4). All 11 women and seven men will return this weekend to join their teammates.
On the women's side, freshman Kate Smith will be back in action after leading the Tigers in Illinois with her third-place crossing (18:09.60). Fellow-freshman Kelli Jackson and sophomore Ellyn Atkinson will also return after their top-ten finishes last week. Joining them in the field will be junior Kaitlyn Fischer and sophomores Karissa Schweizer and Jamie Kempfer, who led the black and gold during the 2014 Forest Park XC Festival with top-five finishes.
Both Fischer and Schweizer are returning NCAA-qualifiers for the Tigers, having both qualified for the Championship meet in their freshman years. The pair were also SEC Freshmen of the Year in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and are looking to lead the Mizzou women to a top-three finish at the conference meet next month.
On the men's side, senior Tyler Schneider and junior Dan Roe are both returning All-SEC finishers from 2014. Schneider led the team with his fifth-place finish at the championship meet, while Roe was Second Team All-SEC after placing 14th overall.
TIGERS' STARTING LINE
Women - Teylar Adelsberger (Jr.) // Ellyn Atkinson (RS So.) // Elly DeTurris (Fr.) // Kaitlyn Fischer (Jr.) // Kayla Friesen (Jr.) // Sam Garrett (Sr.) // Emmie Hahn (Fr.) // Valeska Halamicek (RS So.) // Bailey Hession (RS So.) // Kelli Jackson (Fr.) // Jamie Kempfer (So.) // Bianca Mello (RS So.) // Nicole Mello (Jr.) // Karissa Schweizer (So.) // Kate Smith (Fr.) // Hannah Thomas (Fr.) // Carolyn White (Fr.)
Men - Jordan Cook (RS Jr.) // Will Crocker (RS Jr.) // Marc Dubrick (RS So.) // Chandler Dye (Jr.) // Ben Goodman (RS So.) // Brian Hernan (RS So.) // Tim Johnson (RS Jr.) // Patrick Kearns (RS Fr.) // Sheldon Keence (RS So.) // Billy Leighton (RS Fr.) // Ian McGinn (RS Jr.) // Dan Roe (RS Jr.) // Luca Russo (Gr.) // Tyler Schneider (Sr.) // Evan Schulte (So.) // Mark Sheridan (RS Fr.) // Cain Winebrenner (RS So.)
HEAR FROM COACH BURNS
"We are excited to compete at Forest Park on Friday, and have our entire track & field team and staff there to support the cross country crew. This is a great opportunity to compete in our home state and give our local fans a chance to see the Tigers in action. A major focus of our recruiting efforts is on the state of Missouri, so it really helps us to compete close to home. This will be our big opening meet where we race everybody who is ready to roll. We are pumped to see where we are as a team and what we need to do to be ready for the inter-regional season in two weeks. Both teams are way ahead of where they were last year in workouts, we just need to continue to work hard, be patient, and allow all the great work to pay off. The weather looks to be cooling off a bit, so that will be nice, and it's going to be a blast to race in front of all the fans and teammates!"
For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.