Cross Country Hosts Big 12 Championships Saturday
Oct. 26, 2009
• Big 12 Cross Country Championship Webpage
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- For the second time in history, AL Gustin Golf Course and the University of Missouri Athletic Department will play host to the Big 12 Cross Country Championships this Saturday. The Championships will begin with the running of the men's 6K race at 10 a.m. (CT). The event will then run right into the women's 8K Championship at 11 a.m. (CT). This season marks the first time since 2002 that Mizzou has played host to this event. Admission is free to the public. The Texas Tech women and Oklahoma State men were crowned the 2008 Big 12 Cross Country Champions - the first for both programs - in Ames, Iowa last season. OSU ended the 12-year win streak held by Colorado, becoming the second men's team to win a Big 12 Cross Country team title. Meanwhile, TTU was the third women's squad to win the event. The Big 12 features four men's teams in the USTFCCCA Top 30 - Oklahoma State (No. 3), Colorado (No. 4), Oklahoma (No. 20) and Iowa State (No. 23). Texas sits just outside of the top 30 after receiving one vote in last week's poll. Four women's teams - Colorado (No. 3), Texas Tech (No. 14), Iowa State (No. 19) and Baylor (No. 26) - rank in the top 30 while Nebraska sits just outside the top 30 after receiving three votes last week. Mizzou is coming off of what was perhaps its strongest effort of the season at the Chile Pepper Festival two weeks ago. The women - who rank seventh in the Midwest Region - took fourth place out of 34 teams with 165 points at the event, topping three of the four other Big 12 schools in the race. The only team to top Mizzou in the race was defending Big 12 Champion Texas Tech. The women will also receive a boost as senior Ellen Ries (Ryan, Iowa) returns to a young corps of runners that includes freshmen Kaitie Vanatta (Littleton, Colo.) and Bailey Belvis (Prosper, Texas). Belvis and Vanatta were the Tigers' top two finishers in each of the regular season races on the women's side. The men enter Saturday's contest ranked 11th in the Midwest Region but also are riding a wave of momentum after their performance at the Chile Pepper Festival. The men - led by Dan Quigley (St. Louis, Mo.) - took seventh at the event out of 29 teams. Both Quigley and Phillip King (Columbia, Mo.) have been the men's top two runners all season long. For more on the Big 12 Cross Country Championships, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com and www.Big12Sports.com. For all the latest on Mizzou cross country, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com.
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