Sept. 4, 2009

Women's Results

Men's Results

WACO, Texas - The Baylor cross country teams kicked off the 2009 season with a spectacular effort in their only home meet of the regular season, winning both the men's and women's team titles at the annual Bear Twilight Invitational. Senior Nichole Jones won the individual title for the third year in a row for the women, while Robbie Knorr took the individual title on the men's side.

The Baylor women finished just one point from perfection with 16 total team points, while taking five of the top six spots. Texas A&M came in second with 53 team points, while Dallas Baptist was third with 62 points. For the men, it was nearly the same story, as the Bears totaled just 19 team points, taking four of the top five spots. The Bears finished 18 points ahead of second-place Texas A&M, while Dallas Baptist was this at 78 points.

In the women's four-kilometer race, Jones and freshman Stephanie Morgan finished just two seconds apart at 14 minutes, 7.3 seconds and 14:09.4, respectively, but were more than 11 seconds ahead of third-place teammate Leigh Ann Ganzar, who clocked a time of 14:20.9. Senior Danielle Bradley was fourth at 14:22.0, while Cate Westenhover was just nipped at the line and finished sixth at 14:27.3.

"We had a very solid effort on both sides," head coach Todd Harbour said. " The ladies ran in a controlled pack the first three kilometers which was our plan going in. There were many nice efforts but at the end, I handed out a most improved over last season to Leigh Ann Ganzar. Nichole ran a very nice opener, and Stephanie Morgan had a very nice debut.

Katie Shaw, Kristen Hanselka, Allison Woerner, and Lauren Simpson each ran well in the season opener, all finishing in the top 20. Shaw was 11th with a time of 14:45.5, while Hanselka was 14th at 14:55.5. Woerner was two spots back in 16th at 14:58.5 and Simpson crossed in 20th place at 15:21.9.

For the men, Knorr and teammate Jeff Sadler put a big gap between them and the rest of the field, before Knorr took over and won the men's race with a time of 18:48.2 Sadler was second at 18:56.2. Sophomores Zac Flowers and Brandon Reed each turned in solid performances in fourth and fifth place with times of 19:19.0 and 19:23.9.

"Robbie and Jeff stepped up and were in control throughout the race," assistant coach Jon Capron said. "Zac and Brandon moved really well in the middle for us today, and the young ones definitely showed some promise."

Track All-American Chris Gowell was also in the top 10, finishing with a time of 19:49.4 after moving up nearly 10 spots in the last half-mile. Grant Bugner was the only other Bear to run for the men's team, turning in a respectable 13th-place finish with a time of 20:03.1.

"We appreciate everybody that came and made it a good meet," Capron said. "It was an all-around good way to start the year. "

The Bears will be back in action on Sept. 12, at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas.