MEMPHIS, TENN. - The Drake men's and women's cross country teams captured respective team titles in their biggest meet of the early season at the Brooks Memphis Twilight Classic Saturday night.
Drake scored 79 points to win the men's team title in a field which featured 46 teams and 341 runners.
The Bulldogs also claimed the women's team championship scoring 97 points in a field that had 44 squads and 329 runners.
"This was a good test for our teams," said Drake cross country coach Dan Hostager. "It was a great environment . Our kids had never run in a nighttime meet and they responded by running personal bests. I was happy with our results."
Junior Jeffrey Grassmeyer (Fremont, Neb.) led the Drake men finishing 17th in the 8,000-meter race in 25 minutes 10.7 seconds. Junior Leyden Tolhurst (Auckland, New Zealand) was 20th in 25:17.87, while senior Barry Hill (Caddo Mills, Texas) was 22nd in 25:23.88 and junior Andrew Shortslef (Janesville, Wis.) 25th in 25:59.53.
Junior Nicole Braunsdorf (St. Francis, Wis.) placed second in the women's division, covering the 5,000-meter race in 17 minutes 24.93 seconds. Drake freshman Casey McDermott (Newton, Iowa) was 12th in 18:23.19 and freshman Milly Clark (Jakarta, Indonesia) 22nd in 18:54.20.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Brooks Memphis Twilight Classic
At Memphis, Tenn.
Men's Team Scoring
1. Drake 79; 2. Jacksonville State 110; 3. Arkansas-Little Rock 126; 4. Eastern Illinois 191; 5. Saint Louis 225; 6. Missouri-Rolla 226; 7. Stephen F. Austin 240; 8. North Texas 249; 9. Harding 326; 10. Lipscomb 359; 11. Centre 364; 12. Texas A&M-Commerce 370; 13. Alahama-Huntsville 392; 14. Birmingham-Southern 405; 15. Shorter 458; 16. Northwest Missouri State 462; 17. Austin Peay State 470; 18. Christian Brothers 517; 19. Memphis 524; 20. Southern Arkansas 555;
21. Cumberlands 604; 22. Columbus State 617; 23. South Alabama 636; 24. Campbellsville 674; 25. Clayton State 696; 26. Alcorn State 724;
27. Central Arkansas 750; 28. West Alabama 766; 29. Lyon 807; 30. Arkansas State 833; 31. Mississippi Valley State 843; 32. North Alabama 861;
33. Millsaps 895; 34. Nicholls State 898; 35. Tennessee-Martin 928; 36. Xavier (New Orleans) 946; 37. Jackson State 958; 38. Hendrix 960;
39. Mississippi College 1014; 40. Bethel 1125; 41. Lambuth 1204; 42. Arkansas-Monticello 1302.
Individual winner - 8,000 meters
1. Daniel Kirwa, unattached, 23:30.35
Drake Results ? 17. Jeff Grassmeyer, 25:10.07; 20. Leyden Tolhurst, 25:17.87; 22. Barry Hill, 25:23.88; 25. Andrew Shortslef, 25:29.53; 31. Evan Jurkovich, 25:37.06; 80. Mike Bumgarner, 26:31.89; 101. Evan Wood, 26:44.29.
Women's Team Scoring
1. Drake 97; 2. Saint Louis 99; 3. Harding 119; 4. Arkansas-Little Rock 129; 5. Stephen F. Austin 134; 6. Alabama-Huntsville 240; 7. Lipscomb 267; 8. Northwest Missouri State 277; 9. Eastern Illinois 284; 10. Central Arkansas 316; 11. Jacksonville State 346; 12. Memphis 387; 13. Birmingham-Southern 433; 14. Columbus State 442; 15. North Texas 480; 16. Cumberlands 511; 17. Arkansas Tech 519; 18. Arkansas State 531; 19. Tennessee-Martin 536; 20. North Alabama 537;
21. Shorter 579; 22. Nicholls State 584; 23. Southern Arkansas 615; 24. Quachita Baptist 624; 25. Union 630; 26. Centre 646; 27. Hendrix 673; 28. Mississippi College 765; 29. Beville State 778; 30. South Alabama 800; 31. Xavier (New Orleans) 809; 32. Missouri-Rolla 885; 33. Clayton State 1012; 34. Crichton 1021;
35. Texas A&M-Commerce 1023; 36. Christian Brothers 1031; 37. West Alabama 1056; 38. Alcorn State 1072; 39. Arkansas-Monticello 1105; 40. Beth 1106;
41. Lyon 1131.
Individual winner -- 5,000 meters
- 1. Whitney Kerth, Arkansas-Little Rock, 17:22.19.
Drake Results - 2. Nicole Braunsdorf, 17:24.93; 12. Casey McDermott, 18:23.19; 22. Milly Clark, 18:54.20; 32. Courtney Heinz, 19:09.78; 36. Meredith Bell, 19:16.72; 46. Katrine Owren, 19:23.66; 51. Laura Zoulek, 19:27.11.
