Miners take sixth in 31-team Southern Stampede

Kurt Schauwecker

JOPLIN, Mo. -- In a 297-runner race, the UMR's men's cross country team got its top five runners among the top 60 scoring spots to finish in sixth place at the Southern Stampede held Saturday at Missouri Southern.

UMR was one of only two teams that finished in the top 10 that did not have a single runner among the top 20 scoring positions, but its group ran well as a pack and finished with 209 points to edge Fort Hays State and Truman State from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association to get the sixth place finish as a squad.

The Miners' top finisher Saturday was Kurt Schauwecker, who finished in 33rd place with a time of 26:39 in the eight-kilometer race. Joffroi Holcombe, UMR's top runner in its first two races of the season, finished 37th in 26:41 and Chris Murray came in 41st in 26:48.

UMR's last two runners among its top five were Chris Thielker in 57th place with a time of 27:08 and Gary Black, who finished 65th overall and 59th in the scoring spots with a time of 27:15.

NCAA Division I power Arkansas won the meet with 24 points as its top five runners all finished among the top seven. Southwest Baptist, Harding, Missouri Southern and East Central were the other teams ahead of UMR.

The Miners will compete at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational Sept. 30 in Chicago.

MEN'S RESULTS FROM MISSOURI SOUTHERN

TEAM SCORES: Arkansas 24, Southwest Baptist 132, Harding 146, Missouri Southern 151, East Central 193, Missouri-Rolla 209, Fort Hays State 211, Truman State 234, Oklahoma Baptist 295, Rhodes 296, Oklahoma Christian 331, Tulsa 331, Mid-America Nazarene 356, Oral Roberts 390, Drury 391, Johnson County CC 392, Park 430, Pittsburg State 454, UMKC 476, Southwestern (Kan.) 523, Missouri Valley 563, Northwood 639, Southern Nazarene 678, Graceland 711, Allen County CC 720, Texas A&M-Commerce 791, William Penn 847, Neosho County CC 862, Evangel 870, Pratt CC 889, Fontbonne 924.

UMR INDIVIDUALS (8K):
33. Kurt Schauwecker, 26:39
37. Joffroi Holcombe, 26:41
41. Chris Murray, 26:48
57. Chris Thielker, 27:08
65. Gary Black, 27:15
73. Nathan Young, 27:24
77. Jens Rodman, 27:35
78. Andrew Ropp, 27:35
89. Brett Agee, 27:43
116. Michael Knickerbocker, 28:01
144. Thomas Green, 28:38
153. Josh Hurford, 28:51
200. Joe Karas, 30:08
219. Piotr Baidas, 30:38
243. Andrew Conrad, 31:24

Race Winner: Julius Kosgei (Harding), 24:15

Complete men's results