Missouri cross-country is officially off to the races. The Tigers hosted a lineup of in-state competition during an early meet Friday on their home course at Gans Creek. Saint Louis University made the trip to compete in the men’s 6K as well as the women’s 5K. The Missouri State University women joined the other two teams for the latter race.

The men kicked things off running the 6K. The pace was set early, as through the first three kilometers of the race, SLU sophomore Spencer Werner came through at 9:07.4 and held a 16-second lead over the second-place runners, Carson Helmer and Blake Morris. Throughout the closing half of the race, Missouri held a strong chase pack, gradually closing the gap. 

MU’s returning SEC all-freshman team member Drew Rogers took the overall lead in the final kilometer and finished out strong. Rogers led the way for the Tigers in first place with a time of 18:14.8. He was just barely able to hold off teammate and second place finisher Blake Morris, who clocked in at 18:14.9. The Tigers followed up with sophomore Ryder James (18:18.6) in fourth; sophomore Tyler Freiner (18:20.6) in fifth; and junior Carson Helmer (18:30.7) closing out MU’s scoring times in seventh place. Overall, Missouri finished in first place with 19 total points to SLU’s 41.

After the meet, Rogers stressed the importance of the team-first mentality when asked about the Tiger’s pack running. 

“It’s not really about me,” Rogers said. “It’s about the team this year. We have 10 guys that can do what I can do.”

Fittingly, the team acted almost as a pack of Tigers, slowly reeling in their prey on the way to victory. If they can maintain this cerebral strategy for the duration of the season, keep an eye out for the Tigers to make some noise. 

The women took to the starting line next for the 5K. Through the first 2K loop, Missouri controlled the lead with a strong pack, taking up the top six positions. Through this first 2 kilometer split, the pack came through in 7:04. Over the final 3K, the number of runners at the front thinned out. Among the leaders for the Tigers was sophomore Lydia Roller, who finished in first place with a time of 17:47.3. She was followed by senior Jenna Schwartz in second place in 17:49.0. The next Tiger through the line was senior Mikayla Reed (17:49.1) in third; who was followed by junior McKenna Revord (17:49.7) in fourth;  and senior Reilly Revord (17:59.2) rounding out the scorers in sixth place. The women finished the meet in first place as a team with a near perfect 16 points. St. Louis finished in second with 59 points, holding off Missouri State, who took third with 63 points.

This was a stellar opening meet for the Tigers. The men’s and women’s teams finished last season in eighth and eleventh place in the SEC respectively and will look to improve off the heels of a very promising opener. 

The Tigers will compete later this month at home for the annual Gans Creek Classic on Friday Sep. 29.