University of Missouri
Forest Park XC Festival
Winning Efforts Highlight XC Meet Weekend
9/11/2015 10:19:00 PM | Cross Country
The men and women of Mizzou XC placed first at Friday's Forest Park XC Festival
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - A pair of team wins highlighted the second weekend of competition for the men and women of Mizzou Cross Country, as they dominated the field at the Forest Park XC Festival in St. Louis on Friday (September 11). Led by a sophomore-junior duo on both sides, both teams placed their top five scorers within the top 12 of the field in the first full-team competition of the season.
"I'm really proud of both teams. It was exactly what we were looking for - a nice stepping-stone meet to get ready for the main part of the season," Head Coach Marc Burns, currently in his second year with the Tigers, said. "It was exciting for them to compete well and represent Mizzou at the front of the race on home turf here in Missouri. We don't get a chance to compete in-state very often, so it's really important for us to race well when we do."
The women kicked off the afternoon's events at Forest Park with a strong 1-2 punch from sophomore Karissa Schweizer and junior Kaitlyn Fischer. This was the season debut for the pair, who highlight the Tigers' roster as the two returning NCAA Championships qualifiers. Leading the field from start to finish, they crossed the line side-by-side in 18:17.
"The ladies executed the game plan perfectly. I was excited to see Kaitlyn and Karissa out there leading the way, I thought they set the tone for the day and looked really good," Burns said. "Kelli Jackson looked strong, making a big step up from last week. Teylar Adelsberger, Sam Garrett, Nicole Mello, and Ellen Atkinson are really operating at a new level from where they were a year ago. When we get Kate Smith and Jamie Kempfer back in the line-up, that's going to give us a lot of depth, it's going to be really exciting to see what this group does."
Jackson has had a strong start to her Tiger career, crossing second for the black and gold last weekend during her collegiate debut at the Illini Challenge. She dropped a few seconds off of that time on Friday, navigating the 5000m course in 18:29 for third in the DI field.
Rounding out the women's top five was Adelsberger and Garrett, who crossed in seventh and 11th, respectively.
This meet was a unique one for the men's team, who bumped down from their usual 8000m to a 5000m course. They had no problem handling the transition, though, putting their top five all within the top ten of the field. Leading the way was junior Jordan Cook and sophomore Marc Dubrick, who finished side-by-side in second and third overall in 15:41.
"I thought the men followed the game plan really well," Burns said. "They established the pack up front early, which is what we wanted to do. We are definitely ready for the 8k coming in two weeks. I think the guys are looking forward to the longer grind where they can really go to work and use the strength that we've built up over the summer and early-season training."
Sophomore Evan Schulte was next across the line in 15:43 (fourth), followed closely by Sheldon Keence in 15:48 (seventh). Junior Ian McGinn closed out the scorers for the Tigers in eighth overall (15:55).
The Tigers will take the next two weeks to focus on training before hitting the road once again, traveling to College Station, Tx., for the September 26th Texas A&M Invitational. For the latest on Mizzou Cross Country, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
WOMEN'S RESULTS
Team - 1st // 17 points
1. Karissa Schweizer, 18:17 // 2. Kaitlyn Fischer, 18:17 // 3. Kelli Jackson, 18:29 // 7. Teylar Adelsberger, 18:37 // 11. Sam Garrett, 19:06 // 12. Nicole Mello, 19:10 // 14. Ellyn Atkinson, 19:17 // 18. Elly DeTurris, 19:29 // 20. Hannah Thomas, 19:36 // 21. Emmie Hahn, 19:40 // 25. Valeska Halamicek, 19:49 // 27. Carolyn White, 19:52 // 31. Kayla Friesen, 20:05 // 36. Bailey Hession, 20:20 // 42. Bianca Mello, 20:43
MEN'S RESULTS
Team - 1st // 17 points
2. Jordan Cook, 15:41 // 3. Marc Dubrick, 15:41 // 4. Evan Schulte, 15:43 // 7. Sheldon Keence, 15:48 // 8. Ian McGinn, 15:55 // 18. Chandler Dye, 16:11 // 19. Ben Goodman, 16:16 // 20. Luca Russo, 16:16 // 22. Brian Hernan, 16:21 // 25. Cain Winebrenner, 16:28 // 27. Pat Kearns, 16:32 // 28. Billy Leighton, 16:43 // 29. Tim Johnson, 16:52 // 30. Mark Sheridan, 16:56
Players Mentioned
