Oct. 27, 2006

LAWRENCE, Kan. - The Baylor women's cross country team placed three in the top 20 and finished fifth, one point out of fourth, while the men finished eighth at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships Friday at Rim Rock Farm.

"Overall we were pleased considering all we've been through this season," head coach Todd Harbour said. "It was a tough day, we were a little disappointed in our finish, but we were a little off today. You have to look at the positives - Nichole, Lyndsy and Monique were outstanding and we put three freshmen in our top six."

Freshman Nichole Jones (Spring, Texas) led the women by finishing 10th overall with a time of 21:30.71 in the 6,000-meter race. Jones also earned All-Big 12 honors, which is awarded to the top 15 runners.

Junior Lyndsy Bedell (Plano, Texas) placed 16th in 21:47.50, while senior Monique Ortega (El Paso, Texas) finished 19th with a time of 21:59.22. Rounding out the scoring for the Bears, freshman Renae VanWhye (Collierville, Tenn.) finished 36th in 22:35.24, while junior Lauren Hagans (Little Rock, Ark.) finished 40th in 22:38.90.

Also for the women, freshman Danielle Bradley (West Palm Beach, Fla.) was just on Hagans' heels, finishing 41st in 22:39.53. Senior Ruth Waller (Manchester, England) was 53rd in 23:04.82, and senior Brittany McGuire (Humble, Texas) was 75th in 23:48.66.

"We battled through some stuff this year," Harbour said. "But we're looking forward to hosting the NCAA Regional and bouncing back there and making it to nationals. We were without our No. 1 and No. 2 this year, so hopefully we'll bring them back and make another run at (the Big 12 Championship) next year."

Senior Bo Price (Atlanta, Texas) led the men by finishing 18th overall in 25:16.00 over the 8,000-meter course. Senior Rob Morrow (Grapevine, Texas) finished 38th in 25:45.70.

Junior Jacob Jones (Willis, Texas) finished 60th in 26:16.60, while sophomore Jordan Hiller (Yoakum, Texas) finished 65th in 26:33.70 and sophomore Rey Hinojosa (Cedar Park, Texas) finished 71st in 26:44.10 to round out the men's scoring.

Freshman Ben Haby (Corpus Christi, Texas) finished 81st in 27:08.20, while senior Cody Wells (Crawford, Texas) finished 85th in 27:27.70, sophomore Mark Smith (Corpus Christi, Texas) finished 98th in 28:22.90 and sophomore John Wenhold (Corpus Christi, Texas) finished 100th in 29:02.10.

"We were ecstatic for the guys," Harbour said. "That's about where we thought we would be. Bo was great overcoming his injury, then Rob, Jacob and Jordan ran a great race. Jordan really stepped up."

Colorado claimed the women's title for the eighth straight year, finishing with 45 points, followed by Texas Tech with 64. Texas Tech sophomore Sally Kipyego ran away with the individual title with a time of 20:00.82, nearly 45 seconds ahead of Colorado's Jennifer Barringer, the second-place finisher.

Colorado also won the men's crown, placing their five scorers in the top 11. Kansas junior Colby Wissel won the individual title with a time of 24:23.40, just ahead of Texas' Joe Thorne.

Baylor returns to action when it hosts the 2006 NCAA South Central Regional for the fourth consecutive year Saturday, Nov. 11, at Cottonwood Creek Golf Course in Waco, Texas.

TEAM SCORING
WOMEN
1. Colorado 45, 2. Texas Tech 64, 3. Nebraska 110, 4. Oklahoma State 120, 5. Baylor 121, 6. Texas A&M 147, 7. Missouri 169, 8. Oklahoma 172, 9. Iowa State 247, 10. Texas 280, 11. Kansas 287, 12. Kansas State 290

MEN
1. Colorado 36, 2. Texas 80, 3. Kansas 82, 4. Oklahoma State 108, 5. Iowa State 114, 6. Missouri 156, 7. Texas A&M 196, 8. Baylor 234, 9. Oklahoma, 10. Texas Tech 254, 11. Nebraska 320, 12. Kansas State 331.