COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri State women's cross country team placed two runners in the top-15 at the Mizzou Opener here on Friday (Aug. 30), led by junior Grace Breiten who turned in a 12th-place finish.
 
The 4-kilometer race was held at LA Nickell Golf Course in Columbia, Mo. and included 50 runners spread across three teams.
 
"Today's meet was quite an experience with the wet conditions," said head coach Jordan Fife.  "Although I feel we didn't run to our potential, today was a great day to shake off the rust and get the first race jitters out of the way."   
 
Breiten set the pace for the Bears, finishing with a personal best 4k time of 14:20.20. Senior Erica Wollmering rounded out the top-15 in the meet as she knocked 10 seconds off of her career best with a time of 14:39.95.
 
Erica Wollmering rounded out the top-15 in the meet as she knocked 10 seconds off of her career best with a time of 14:39.95.
 
Adyson Delaney (15:14.83) and Shelby Palmer (15:18.03) finished back-to-back with 22nd and 23rd place finishes, respectively, to also score for MSU.
"We have shown great progress in our practices and workouts," adds Fife.  "We just need to translate those to race day.  We will certainly learn from today and be better next week."
 
In the team standings, host Missouri scored 16 points to win the meet, while Saint Louis (60) edged the Bears (64) for second place in the three-team in-state meet.
 
The Bears will travel to Wichita, Kan. next weekend to compete in the J.K. Gold Classic on Sept. 7, in the second of five regular-season races.

Missouri State Individual Finishers
12. Grace Breiten (14:20.20)
15. Erica Wollmering (14:39.95)
22. Adyson Delaney (15:14.83)
23. Shelby Palmer (15:18.03)
27. Jasmine Crawford (15.37.48)
28. Lindsey Biesemeyer (15:38.90)
31. Ashley Rolewicz (15:47.42)
38. Natalie Clayton (16:17.70)
41. Emily Yaeger (16:35.62)
43. Riley Lourens (16:44.15)
44. Melissa Wolk (16:51.01)
 
Team Scores
1. Missouri- 16
2. Saint Louis- 60
3. Missouri State- 64 

Follow the Bears
For more information on the Missouri State cross country team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or visit the team Twitter @MSUBearsTrackXC and Facebook.