Missouri
Notre Dame Invitational
Cross Country Set to Face Nationally-Ranked Field at Notre Dame
9/30/2015 11:07:00 PM | Cross Country
Columbia, Mo. – Mizzou Cross Country is making a quick turnaround this week after Saturday's (September 26) Texas A&M Invitational, hitting the road once again for the 60th annual Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Friday (October 2). Marking the midway point for the Tigers' regular season, the Notre Dame Invitational is set to host some of the top-ranked teams in the country, including No. 1-ranked New Mexico on the women's side.
THE MEET
Events at Burke Golf Course in South Bend, Ind., will begin at 2 pm ET with the women's 5000m, followed by the men's 8000m at 2:45 pm ET.
Ranked Field, Women
New Mexico (No. 1) // NC State (No. 14) // Notre Dame (No. 20) // Vanderbilt (No. 22) // Purdue (Received Votes) // SMU (Received Votes)
Ranked Field, Men
New Mexico (No. 17) // Arizona State (No. 18) // Southern Utah (No. 23) // Colorado State (No. 26) // NC State (No. 27) // Eastern Kentucky (No. 28) // Eastern Michigan (Received Votes) // UTEP (Received Votes)
SEC Competition
Florida // Texas A&M // Vanderbilt (women only)
Midwest Region Competition
Bradley // Illinois State // Iowa // Northwestern (women only)
TIGER WOMEN
The Mizzou women's team returns to competition after an exciting showing at the Texas A&M Invitational last weekend (September 26), where they placed second behind current No. 26-ranked Texas. Back in uniform this week will be sophomore Karissa Schweizer, who has led the women for the past two meets, winning her season-opener at the Forest Park XC Festival before going on to place sixth at the Texas A&M Invitational.
In fact, all five of the scorers from last week's meet in College Station will return to the line on Friday, including sophomore Jamie Kempfer who opened her season last week with a 13th-place finish.
The freshman duo of Kate Smith and Kelli Jackson will also lace up in South Bend, returning after their first-ever 6k competition at Texas A&M. Smith, who led the women during her Tiger debut at the Illini Challenge, was third across the line for the black and gold, 20th overall last week. Jackson was not far behind, scoring for the third consecutive meet with her 23rd place crossing.
Junior Teylar Adelsberger will also don the black and gold this weekend, continuing her break-out season after placing 30th in the field last week. Adelsberger has been a consistent presence in the top five this season, already dropping over a minute from her previous top 6k time.
Rounding out the women's roster for Friday will be sophomore Ellyn Atkinson, freshman Elly DeTurris, junior Kayla Friesen, senior Sam Garrett, freshman Emmie Hahn, sophomore Bailey Hession, sophomore Bianca Mello, junior Nicole Mello, and freshmen Hannah Thomas and Carolyn White.
TIGER MEN
The men's team also returns all five scorers from last weekend's Texas A&M Invitational, starting with junior Jordan Cook and sophomore Marc Dubrick, who have led the charge for both of their meets thus far this season.
It's already been an impressive fall for Cook and Dubrick, with both dropping PR's to lead the men's team to a first-place finish at the Forest Park XC Festival, third-place at the Texas A&M Invitational. Cook's 14th-place finish at Texas A&M (24:11.0), and Dubrick's 15th-place crossing (24:11.20), put them at No. 2 and No. 3 in the SEC thus far this season for the 8000m run.
Rounding out the top five from the first two meets of the season is sophomore Evan Schulte, sophomore Sheldon Keence, and junior Ian McGinn, all of whom hit new PR's during the Texas A&M Invitational.
Joining them on the line for Friday's competition will be freshman Zach Cook, junior Will Crocker, junior Chandler Dye, freshman Thomas George, sophomore Brian Hernan, junior Tim Johnson, freshman Patrick Kearns, junior Dan Roe, and juniors Luca Russo and Drew White.
HEAR FROM COACH BURNS…
"This will be the deepest race we have been in so far this season. We will see a couple more SEC teams, along with many others from all over the country. This is a great opportunity for us to see where we stand against quite a few nationally-ranked teams. Of course, anytime you race back-to-back weekends like this, recovery is very important. We had a good effort yesterday during practice, so now we need to focus on getting rested, hydrated, and be ready to roll by Friday. At meets like this, it is critical to have a couple of low sticks up front to see team success. This will be a great test for both teams to get a few people in that top 20 of the field. If we can do that, and have our pack come in just behind, that gives us a chance to beat some really good teams."
For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
Players Mentioned
