Cross Country Finishes on a High Note
Posted on 12. Nov, 2011 by Mark Johnson in Sports, Sports Articles
Saturday, Nov. 12 -
Northern Illinois University served as the hosts of the 2011 NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday, Nov. 12. Schools from nine different states and 10 separate conferences participated in the tournament, which also served as the qualifying round for the NCAA National Championship. The Missouri men’s and women’s cross country teams both placed seventh in the event.
Junior women’s 6k-runner Bailey Belvis continued to impress as she finished 19th to lead the Missouri women’s squad. For Belvis, it was the third straight time she had led the team in individual women’s standings.
Belvis’ male counterpart, redshirt sophomore Hayden Legg, led the men’s squad with a 20th-place finish in the men’s 10k.
Five of Missouri’s seven male runners would finish in the top 60 out of the 171 male competitors. Coming in after Legg, redshirt senior Dan Quigley came in 40th, junior Max Storms came in 42nd, junior Tyler Compton came in 54th and sophomore Merid Seleshi came in 57th. With most of their runners finishing in the top third of the field, the Tigers finished in well in a 25-team field.
The Missouri women’s team also had a very impressive showing, as all seven participants finished in the top 100 of the 189 competing women. The Tigers truly proved to be as strong as their weakest link on Saturday, as their impressive team performance led to a top-10 finish in the 27-team field.
The Oklahoma State men’s team was the winning team on Saturday, finishing with 42 total points – beating second place Oklahoma by just three. Iowa State finished in first place on the women’s side with 42 points – 55 points less than the second place team, Oklahoma State.
Missouri cross country ended the season on a high note and look to compete amongst the top competitors again next year, despite the loss of seniors on both squads.
- Ben Yarrington
23 Sports
Staff Writer