Nov. 16, 2002

Complete Results

The University of Missouri men's and women's cross country teams had an outstanding day at the NCAA Midwest Cross Country Regionals today in Normal, Illinois. The women's team, currently ranked 13th in the country, won the team 6K race beating 22 other teams which gave them an automatic bid to next weeks NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. Today, the Tigers were paced by their two freshmen stars Amanda Bales and Valerie Lauver. Bales finished third and Lauver took eighth. The Tigers dominated the field, defeating second place Northwestern by 76 points. Missouri cross country head coach Jared Wilmes said, "It was a great group effort and everybody ran together, it was a great team effort today. Anytime you win at regionals you know where you're at. We are really excited to be headed to nationals." Five Mizzou harriers were named All-Region. In addition to Bales and Lauver, senior Amy Chipman finished 14th, Katherine Bonugli was 17th, and Ashley McLeod finished 21st.

The Mizzou men ran well and finished eighth amongst 24 teams. The Tigers were led by Ryan Hampton who finished 18th individually and was named All-region. Hampton was coming off an impressive 11th place finish at the Big 12 Championships. Coach Wilmes said, "We're excited about this finish. The guys did a great job running as a pack."

The women qualify for their first NCAA Championships in two years. The Tigers will run next at the championships November 25th in Terre Haute, Indiana.