UMR men runners 3^rd in GLVC Championships

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The No. 18-ranked UMR men's cross country team posted its highest finish ever at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships Saturday since joining the league by placing third at the meet held at Butler University.

UMR got a 10th-place performance from senior Joffroi Holcombe as he earned all-conference honors for a finish among the top ten. Holcombe posted a time of 25:37 in the eight-kilometer race. He was one of three Miners to end up among the top 20 as he was followed by Chris Murray in 12th place in 25:43 and Kurt Schauwecker in 17th in 26:05.

Brendan Smith ended up 21st overall in 26:12 and Thomas Green rounded out the Miners' top five with a 26:36 mark for a 29th place finish.

The Miners finished behind seventh-ranked Southern Indiana -- who had the winning runner in Paul Jellema – and No. 21 Northern Kentucky with a score of 89.

The Lady Miner cross country team also competed Saturday at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, with Kierra Handley posting the top finish among the UMR contingent.

Handley placed 49th in the six-kilometer race with a time of 24:48, while Dana Narconis was 63rd in 25:46. Rebecca McNally ended up in 68th place overall in 26:06 and Samantha Schussele rounded out the Lady Miner group in 85th in 27:48.

With only four runners in competition, the Lady Miners did not have enough runners to have a team score. A team must have five runners complete the race in order to have a team score and the Lady Miners' fifth runner was unable to compete in the race Saturday.

Wisconsin-Parkside, which had the individual winner in Jessica Lamp, won the GLVC title.

Both Miner squads will compete at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet Nov. 3 in Edwardsville, Ill.

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No. 20 Miner runners fare well

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The 20th-ranked University of Missouri-Rolla men's cross country team continued its strong showing in the 2007 season with a 14th place finish overall -- and third among the NCAA Division II schools -- Saturday at the Greater Louisville Classic.

UMR finished behind only No. 10 Southern Indiana and No. 11 Edinboro, while finishing ahead of No. 24 Wayne State (Mich.) in the final standings.

Joffroi Holcombe had the top finish among the Miners as he came in 33rd place overall with a time of 24:50 over eight kilometers. Chris Murray finished 63rd overall in 25:21 while Kurt Schawecker was 78th in 25:33.

UMR's top five was rounded out by Brendan Smith in 83rd place in a time of 25:39 and Chris Thielker in 156th place in 26:22.

A total of 36 teams, including several from the Division I ranks, and 310 runners took part in the meet that was won by the host school, Louisville.

UMR will return to the course next Saturday when it participates in the Rhodes Twilight meet with the Lady Miners in Memphis, Tenn.

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UMR men’s cross country ranked 20^th nationally

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

The University of Missouri-Rolla cross country team has started the season well and was rewarded today with a spot in the Top 25 for NCAA Division II in the poll released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Miners, fresh off a third place finish out of 36 teams at the Southern Stampede over the weekend at Missouri Southern, are ranked 20th this week. UMR has finished third or higher in each of its meets this season, taking third at Kansas and second in its home meet as well to open the 2007 campaign.

UMR is the second-highest ranked team from the Great Lakes Valley Conference behind No. 10 Southern Indiana.

Defending national champion Abilene Christian heads the rankings this week, followed by Adams State and Western State. Grand Valley State, the top-ranked team in the most recent Great Lakes regional rankings, is fourth on the national list this week.

UMR is idle from competition this week and will return to the course Sept. 29 at the Greater Louisville Classic.

USTFCCCA Division II Men's Cross Country Rankings (Sept. 19, 2007)

1. Abilene Chrisitan

2. Adams State

3. Western State

4. Grand Valley State

5. Chico State

6. Stonehill

7. Colorado School of Mines

8. Slippery Rock

9. Minnesota State

10. Southern Indiana

11. Edinboro

12. Massachusetts-Lowell

13. Western Washington

14. Missouri Southern

15. Saginaw Valley State

16. Lock Haven

17. New Mexico Highlands

18. Augustana

19. Alaska-Anchorage

21. Metropolitan State

22. Ashland

23. Southern Connecticut State

24. Wayne State (Mich.)

25. Hillsdale

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Miner runners third in Joplin

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

JOPLIN -- The University of Missouri-Rolla men's cross country team posted perhaps its highest finish ever at the Southern Stampede meet Saturday, Sept. 15 as it came in third place among the 36 teams entered.

The Miners finished behind only the University of Arkansas, which had four of the top five finishers in the meet and host Missouri Southern.

UMR had two of the top 20 finishers overall and ended up with 193 points to finish a solid third in the team standings; Northern Kentucky was fourth with 230 points.

Joffroi Holcombe led the UMR contingent with a 17th-place finish in a time of 25:03 over eight kilometers, while Chris Murray was two spots behind Holcombe in 25:05.

Kurt Schauwecker finished 51st overall in 25:51, while freshmen Brandon Etzold and Brandon Smith rounded out the Miners' top five. Etzold was 52nd in 25:51 and Smith was 54th in 25:52.

Chris Thielker was sixth among the UMR runners in 26:19 and Brett Agee rounded out the Miners' top seven in 26:28. A total of 313 runners finished the race Saturday at the site of this year's NCAA Division II Championships.

UMR will be idle before heading to Louisville on Sept. 29 to take part in the Greater Louisville Classic.

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UMR’s Holcombe again wins Miner Invitational

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

ROLLA -- Joffroi Holcombe of the host University of Missouri-Rolla men’s cross country team won the Miner Invitational last September, then went out Saturday morning and repeated that title with a better time on a wet UMR Golf Course.

Holcombe, who had a winning time of 15:34 in the meet last year, covered the five-kilometer course in a time of 15:19 to take his second straight title in the Miners' home meet. He won the race by nine seconds over Drury's Jaime Villa Zapatero, but the Panthers had four runners among the top six overall to edge UMR in the team competition by five points.

The Miners' next-highest finisher was Kurt Schauwecker in fourth place with a time of 15:37, then UMR had Brendan Smith come in ninth in 15:48, Chris Murray in 11th in 15:56 and Brandon Etzold in 12th in 15:58.

Drury's fifth runner, Chris Yates, crossed the finish line in 16th place just ahead of UMR's Brett Agee and Grant Brown.

In the women's race, Kierra Handley finished first among the Lady Miner runners in 19th place with a time of 21:31. Freshman Rebecca McNally came in 23rd in 22:03 and fellow freshman Samantha Schussel was 35th in the 64-runner race with a time of 22:56.

The Miners and Lady Miners will compete next Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Southern Stampede at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.

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Miner runners open campaign

By John Kean
UMR Sports Information

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- The University of Missouri-Rolla men’s cross country team got its 2007 season off to a strong start by placing third Saturday, Sept. 1 in the Bob Timmons Invitational at the University of Kansas.

Joffroi Holcombe, who was the Miners' top runner for much of last year, finished in fifth place in the first meet of the year as he covered the eight-kilometer course in 26:08. His time was just 19 seconds behind that of race winner Colby Wissel of Kansas.

UMR also got a 16th place finish from Chris Murray in 27:18 and had the 24th and 25th place finishers in the race in Kurt Schauwecker (27:34) and freshman Brendan Smith (27:36). The scoring spots were wrapped up by Brett Agee's 37th-place finish in 28:03.

Michael Knickerbocker came in 46th place with a time of 28:15, followed by Brandon Etzold in 47th in 28:16 and Grant Brown in 48th in 28:17.

UMR finished with a team score of 107, trailing only Kansas and Hillsdale in the team standings.

The UMR women's cross country team also got its season at the Timmons Invitational.

Junior Dana Narconis was the top finisher among the Lady Miners at the meet, posting a time of 27:35 over six kilometers to finish in 74th place. Kierra Handley finished three spots behind her in a time of 27:48, while Rebecca McNally was right behind Handley with a time of 27:52. Samantha Schussel was 94th in 29:43.

UMR will host the Miner Invitational Saturday, Sept. 8 at the UMR Golf Course.

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