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COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Cross Country began the 2021 regular season on Friday, competing in and hosting the Mizzou XC Opener in Columbia, Mo. With Mizzou against Arkansas, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, the team finished in second place with 50 points. Junior Marquette Wilhite (Warrensburg, Mo.) led the men finishing fifth in the 6k, with redshirt sophomore Mitchell Small (Christchurch, New Zealand) finishing just behind at seventh as the fastest Tigers today.
NOTABLE TIGERS
Junior Marquette Wilhite led the Mizzou men’s team in the Men’s 6k race by finishing fifth overall and logging a time of 17:49.0, beating his 2019 Mizzou XC Opener time of 19:20.93. This is his 2nd consecutive top 10 finish in this race, and a strong start to the 2021-22 season
On the women’s side, Junior Mikayla Reed (Washington, Mo.) finished first out of the Mizzou women and 10th out of 46 participants after an injury kept her from participating in her indoor track season last spring. She set a new personal best in the 5k by twelve seconds at 17:28.8 beating her previous record from the 2018 Loyola Lakefront Invitational, 17:40.37.
QUOTES
Mizzou Head Coach Marc Burns… “This was a nice opener for us today on both sides. Our women really did a good job of racing in a pack up front and finishing strong over the last loop. It is so great to see Mikayla Reed and Reilly Revord race so well after dealing with some injuries over the last couple of years. Allison Newman showed that she can help this team as our top newcomer. Our men ran as a pack and looked strong through the first loop. I am a little surprised by our lack of execution on loop two but it is early in the season and the guys are running a lot of miles. We will stay with our plan for the season and believe that they will be ready to battle Kentucky and Arkansas in October. Marquette and Mitchell had great summers and looked strong out there. Jacob Nicholson, Royce Fisher and Owen Bishop showed us that they will be factors for us moving forward. We are thrilled to get the season rolling and this was a great first test that gives us much to learn from and will make us better for later in the season.”
UP NEXT
Following the Mizzou XC Opener, Mizzou will visit Vanderbilt to compete in the Commodore Classic on Friday, Sep. 17 for the second meet of the season.
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouTFXC).
MEN’S 8K RESULTS –
5. Marquette Wilhite, 17:49.0 7. Mitchell Small, 17:56.9 9. William Sinclair, 18:04.4 14. Jacob Nicholson 18:15.3 17. Royce Fisher 18:24.0 22. Owen Bishop, 18:34.6 25 Luke Winkler, 18:36.6 28. Jonathan Schmidt, 18:47.3 31. Jack Warner, 18:48.9 33 Quentin Worley, 18:54.1 38. Angus Beer, 19:15.0 43. Ryan Mata, 19:34.3 45. Michael Moriarty, 20:35.6
WOMEN’S 6K RESULTS –
10. Mikayla Reed, 17:28.8 12. Isabelle Christiansen, 17:31.4 15. Reily Revord, 17:38.9 16. Jenna Schwartz, 17:41.2 20. Allison Newman, 17:45.6 32. McKenna Revord, 18:23.1 33. Ginger Murnieks, 18:27.9 42. Abby Hake, 19:24.6 44. McKenna Butler 19:44.0 45. Andi Bowman, 19:52.6 46. Anna Sullentrup 20:47.5
