Cross country teams run at University of Central Missouri "Mule Run"

The Fontbonne University men's and women's cross country team faced some tough competition over the weekend at the "Mule Run," hosted by the University of Central Missouri. The men finished fourth out of nine teams while the women's team finished fifth out of a nine team field.

On the men's side, senior Mike Horn was the top runner for the Griffins as he ran the 6400 meter course in a time of 22:31 which placed him 19th overall in a field of 100 competitors. Fellow senior Ian Lindquist finished the race with a time of 23:13 which was good for a 35th place finish. Freshman Justin Hornerker was 39th with a time of 23:20; junior Dillion Klaffer was 66th in 24:27. Junior Shea Naes posted a time of 24:51 to finish in 71st place and senior Bill Boxdorfer recorded a time of 25:42 to finish 77th overall.

Head coach Jeff Barker had this to say about his team's performance, "With the season being very earlier and still focusing more on training then racing. I felt we gained some valuable experience at Central Missouri.  We tried some different racing strategies that seem to help some of our runners perform better.  Most importantly we are healthy and get two weeks to prepare for our next meet."

On the women's side it was sophomore Alyssa Tonner who paced the Griffins with a time of 16:50 placing her 26th overall in a field of 94 competitors. Fellow sophomore Marielle Counts ran the 4000 meter course in a time 17:09 finishing 34th overall. Sophomore Jessica Brock posted a time of 18:15 placing 52nd while senior Anne Marx finished 64th in 18:58. Sophomore Marcy Meyer recorded a time of 19:21 placing her 71st overall. Junior Erica Garcia finished the race in 81st place with a time of 20:12 and junior Allie Coleman was 91st in 22:56.

Coach Barker was pleased with the team's preparation heading into the event, "After a strong week of training I felt the women performed better than out last meet. Alyssa Tonner ran a great race improving her time by 26 seconds. We still need to continue to improve on runners three through seven if we are going to accomplish some of our goals late in the season. With that being said it was a great effort and we are looking forward to our next meet in two weeks at Augustana."

The men's and women's cross country teams return to action in two weeks as they both travel to Rock Island, Illinois to compete in the Brissman Lundan Invitational hosted by Augustana College on Friday, September 23rd.