University of Missouri
Pre-National Invitational
Schweizer’s Fourth-Place Finish Highlights Pre-Nationals for Mizzou Cross Country
10/15/2016 2:28:00 PM | Cross Country
Schweizer leads Mizzou women to 12th-place finish, White leads men to 13th-place finish
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Junior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) continued her terrific junior campaign with a fourth-place finish in the 6000m race at the Pre-National Invitational on Saturday. Schweizer led Mizzou Cross Country to a 12th place team finish for the women, while the men raced to a 13th place finish at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
Mizzou improved drastically from a year ago at the 2015 Pre-National Invitational, where the Tiger men finished 31st and the women 33rd in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 17, 2015.
"Our women competed hard today," said head coach Marc Burns. "We ran a solid team race with Karissa strong up front. We beat some good teams and feel we can run even better heading into postseason competition. Karissa was balling again up front. I think she opened some eyes today and showed herself that she can finish in the top-ten here at the National Meet in five weeks."
After back-to-back wins at the Commodore Classic and Chile Pepper Festival, Schweizer set a 6000m personal-record with the fourth-place finish, crossing the finish line at 20:14.0. The Tiger junior cut nine seconds off her previous 6000m personal-record time (20:23.10), set at the SEC Championships last year. Senior Nicole Mello (Columbia, Mo.) and junior Jamie Kempfer (Festus, Mo.) finished second and third, respectively for the Tigers, while senior Teylar Adelsberger (O'Fallon, Mo.) and redshirt junior Ellyn Atkinson (Springfield, Mo.) rounded out the top-five. Atkinson posted a 6K personal-record in the race, finishing with a time of 21:53.6.
Senior Drew White (Crystal City, Mo.) led the way for the men in the 8000m race, finishing 35th overall finish with a time of 24:37.5. White has finished first for Mizzou in all three of the races he has participated in this season. Following behind White was senior Ollie Lockley (Colby, Isle of Man) and redshirt senior Jordan Cook (Columbia, Mo.) who finished 70th and 80th overall, posting times of 25:03.7 and 25:08.5, respectively. Redshirt junior Marc Dubrick (DeKalb, Ill.) and senior Luca Russo (Kent, England) rounded out the top-five finishers for Mizzou.
"This was the best team effort by our men all year," said Burns. "Drew was tough up in the front pack and it was great to see Ollie and Jordan step up today. Luca and Marc had a real nice kick and surpassed a bunch of guys over the last 400m, which is exactly what we stress to our student-athletes daily."
Saturday's meet marked the conclusion of the regular season for Mizzou. The Tigers will next compete at the SEC Championships, on Friday, Oct. 28 in Fayetteville, Ark.
For all the latest on Mizzou Cross Country and Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).
Women's Results (6000m)
Team – 12th (479 pts)
4. Karissa Schweizer, 20:14.0 // 92. Nicole Mello, 21:21.0 // 96. Jamie Kempfer, 21:23.8 // 127. Teylar Adelsberger, 21:41.4 // 160. Ellyn Atkinson, 21:53.6 // 202. Kaitlyn Fischer, 22:13.3 // 273. Valeska Halamicek, 23:37.2
Men's Results (8000m)
Team – 13th (427 pts)
35. Drew White, 24:37.5 // 70. Ollie Lockley, 25:03.7 // 80. Jordan Cook, 25:08.5 // 117. Marc Dubrick, 25:23.9 // 131. Luca Russo, 25:28.4 // 161. Sheldon Keence, 25:42.6
Players Mentioned
