Sept. 18, 2004

Women's Cross Country Is The Top Division II Team At The Southern Stampede; Bulldog Men Finish Ninth In the College Division At Nebraska

Women's Results | Men's Results

Both of Truman's cross country squads were in action on Saturday with the women's team competing at the Southern Stampede in Joplin, Mo. and the men's team running at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational.

The women's team finished fourth overall at the Southern Stampede and was first among Division II schools. The team finished behind only the NCAA Division I programs of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Southwest Missouri. Among the teams the Bulldogs finished ahead of were conference rivals Pittsburg State, the preseason favorite in the MIAA, Missouri Southern, Southwest Baptist and Missouri-Rolla.

Lauren White (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit) led the team for the second-straight week, coming in 17th overall and finishing first among all of the MIAA runners at the meet. She finished the 5,000m race in a time of 18:04.37. Dani Rawlings (Fargo, N.D./Fargo South) finished 31st with a time of 18:45.57.

Jacquie Faust (St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu Academy) and Sarah Armstrong (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) finished nearly together with Faust in 37th place with a time of 18:52.70 and Armstrong coming in 38th with a time of 18:53.39. Abbie Smith (Urbandale, Iowa/Dowling) was the final Bulldog to score as she came in 46th with a mark of 19:12.92.

The Truman men finished tied for ninth in the college division at the 8,000m course in Lincoln, Neb. Other MIAA results from the meet were Central Missouri in eight-place, Emporia State tying with the Bulldogs in ninth and Northwest Missouri coming in at 12th-place.

Eli Klimek (Platte City, Mo./Platte County) came in 14th in the college division with a time of 26:53. He had the same time as the MIAA's top finisher, Central Missouri's Leif Kennedy, but finished just a fraction of a second behind. Jason Simpson (Liberty, Mo./Liberty) came in 30th overall with a time of 27:19.

Rounding out the Bulldogs' top five were Aaron Wells (Runnells, Iowa/Southeast Polk), Laban Kipkurui (Nairobi, Kenya/Poiywek) and Steve Porath (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield). Wells was 46th overall with a mark of 27:47. Kipkurui, in his first collegiate race, was 88th with a time of 28:44. Porath came in 98th overall, finishing in a time of 28:51.

Cross Country Notes: The men's team is currently ranked 15th in the nation and second in the region ... the women's team moved into the top 25 last week in the national poll at No. 24 and they are ranked fourth in the region ... next Saturday, the women will run at the Miner Invitational while the men's team will have the week off.

Women's Cross Country | Men's Cross Country | Truman Athletics