The Missouri State cross country team finished third overall in the 2010 State Farm MVC cross country championship. Freshman Leah Nichols continued her Cinderella season and finished third (17:40.74) as an individual in the field of 76. Junior Terry Phillips, the 2009 individual champion, finished eighth (17:49.29). Both Nichols and Phillips were awarded all-MVC honors for their efforts.
"Leah had an outstanding race," head cross country coach Greg Hipp said. "When the race broke open, she went for the win. It was an amazing race for a freshman. Phillips also had a good performance. She fought back from injury to finish eighth in the conference. "
The overall team champion was host school Wichita State, who won for the sixth consecutive year. The individual champion was the Shockers Tonya Nero with a time of 17:25.34.
The Missouri State squad improved upon their fifth-place finish a year ago. Although Phillips was the individual champion, the Bears did not have another runner inside the top 20. This year, the Bears placed three runners inside the top 20. Sophomore Emily Beaver finished 16th (18:16.04), redshirt freshman Nicole Thate finished 27th (18:48.36) and freshman Lisa Imgrund wrapped up the scoring team with a 28th-place finish (18:49.31). Other Missouri State runners across the line were freshman Monica Smith (19:18.16, 45th), sophomore Maggie Sutor (19:27.55, 49th) and freshman Erin Edwards (19:29.86, 51st).
Before the meet began, the coaches of the conference voted the Bears to finish third behind Wichita State and Illinois State. On the conference best list, Nichols owned the second-fastest time in the Valley. A total of three Bears appeared on the conference top ten list.
"Solid run from the team," Hipp said, "We had higher expectations than third, but still a strong race. Looking forward to returning most of our team and making a run next year."
Next up for the Bears is the 2010 NCAA Midwest Regional for cross country on Nov. 13 at 11:00 a.m. This year's race will be hosted by MVC member school Bradley University. This will be the first race in the 6K distance this season. At last year's regional, hosted by Missouri State, Phillips finished 18th in the race, earning all-Midwest Region honors.
