COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Cross Country will compete for the second time in 2017 as the team travels east to Nashville, Tenn., for the Commodore Classic Saturday. Running at Percy Warner Park, the men will begin the day for the Tigers in an 8000m race at 9 a.m. CT, followed by a women's 5000m race at 10 a.m. CT.
Mizzou will get a chance to run with ranked teams in Nashville, as Middle Tennessee State enters the race ranked No. 19 on the men's side, while Eastern Michigan is ranked No. 21 on the women's side. Mizzou's women's team enters the meet ranked No. 14, moving up one spot from its previous ranking after recording four top-10 finishes at the JK Gold Classic on Sept. 2. The Tigers plan to send 22 runners to the start line Saturday, 12 on the men's side and 20 on the women's side.
On the men's side, each of Mizzou's top-10 finishers from the JK Gold Classic will toe the start line once again in Nashville. Redshirt senior Marc Dubrick (DeKalb, Ill.), redshirt sophomore Thomas George (Gloucester, England), redshirt sophomore Michael Widmann (Naperville, Ill.) and redshirt freshman Justin Loquercio (Mt. Prospect, Ill.), who finished sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, will lead the way.
Making her season debut at the meet will be 2016 National Champion senior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa). Last season, Schweizer won the Commodore Classic, beginning of prolific stretch where Schweizer captured the SEC, NCAA Midwest Regional and NCAA Championship individual titles. Schweizer's winning time of 16:46.7 at last year's meet was the second-fastest time ever recorded at Percy Warner Park, trailing only Erin Finn's (Michigan) 2015 time of 16:43.4.
All four of Mizzou's top-10 finishers at the JK Gold Classic will also run on Saturday, as redshirt sophomore Jordyn Kleve (Urbandale, Iowa), redshirt senior Kaitlyn Fischer (Pevely, Mo.), redshirt senior Megan Cunningham (Eureka, Mo.) and freshman Jenna Lutzow (Poplar Grove, Ill.) will all be in competition. The quartet finished fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively, as Lutzow earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for her performance.
Saturday's race will be the second of five meets for Mizzou before entering postseason competition. The Tigers will head south to Athens, Ga., for the SEC Championships on Oct. 27, north to Ames, Iowa, for the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 10, and east to Louisville, Ky., for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 18.
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).
Mizzou Starting Line – Men
Chris Conrad (Fr.) // Zach Cook (R-Jr.) // Marc Dubrick (R-Sr.) // Thomas George (R-So.) // Thomas George (R-So.) // Patrick Kearns (R-Jr.) // Sheldon Keence (R-Sr.) // Justin Loquercio (R-Fr.) // Stephen Mugeche (R-So.) // Jacob Schweiss (R-Fr.) // Eric Scott (Fr.) // Michael Widmann (R-So.)
Mizzou Starting Line – Women
Kaelyn Balch (R-Sr.) // Megan Cunningham (R-Sr.) // Kiley Deain (So.) // Elly DeTurris (R-So.) // Samantha Farmer (R-So.) // Kaitlyn Fischer (R-Sr.) // Susan Forbis (R-Fr.) // Kayla Funkenbusch (R-So.) // Kayla Glowacki (Fr.) // Emmie Hahn (Jr.) // Michaela Hackbarth (R-Fr.) // Valeska Halamicek (R-Sr.) // Vivien Jepkemoi (Fr.) // Jordyn Kleve (R-So.) // Jenna Lutzow (Fr.) // Lexi Maddox (Fr.) // Melissa Menghini (So.) // Karissa Schweizer (Sr.) // Faramola Shonekan (So.) // Hannah Thomas (Jr.)
