Mizzou cross country began its season with two team victories at the Mizzou XC Opener, held Friday morning at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course. The event featured teams from Arkansas, Saint Louis, Wisconsin, and Oregon.
The women’s team finished first with 19 points, defeating Arkansas, Saint Louis, and Wisconsin. The men’s team also secured a win by scoring 26 points against Saint Louis, Oregon, and Wisconsin.
Junior Suzy Lecoutre won the women’s race in her debut for Missouri after transferring from Swansea University in the UK. She finished with a time of 17:04.2. Freshman Kobi Walker placed third with a time of 17:15.7. Other Missouri runners took the next three positions on the leaderboard.
On the men’s side, senior Drew Rogers led with a winning time of 14:48.1. Sophomore Carter Spradling, running unattached, finished second just one second behind Rogers.
“I think everyone looks super composed,” Missouri cross country coach Kyle Levermore said. “I think they all felt really good. They started to feel a little bit of grind in the last 1k which is what I was hoping. All in all, I thought they executed well and I thought we’re kind of on schedule for where we need to be.”
“No matter what I tell Drew, he’s always going to be a competitor,” Levermore said. “He’s always going to go for the win.”
In this first NCAA 5k run at Gans Creek for men’s competition, Rogers finished ahead of Spradling (14:49.9) and Ryder James (14:55.0), who also ran unattached.
The top five finishers for Missouri women were Lecoutre (17:04.2), Walker (17:15.7), Rahel Broemel (17:15.7), Natalie Barnard (17:19.1), and Charlotte Cullen (17:34.1).
Missouri’s next meet will take place in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Greeno Dirksen Cross Country Invite on September 20.
For more updates on Mizzou Track & Field and Cross Country programs, information is available through MUTigers.com as well as their official social media channels.
