COLUMBIA, Mo. – Led by a top-10 finish by junior Mary Margaret Harris, Missouri State kicked off its 2023 cross country season here Friday morning with a third-place team showing at the Mizzou XC Opener.
 
The five-kilometer race at the Gans Creek Course saw host Missouri (16) dominate the three-team meet with Saint Louis (59) and Missouri State (63) battling tooth-and-nail for runner-up honors.
 
Harris raced to a lifetime-best 18:12.0 to finish ninth, just ahead of teammate and newcomer Mia McLain (18:14.7) who finished 11th.
 
"It's hard to walk away from today being disappointed. Of course we'd rather walk away at least a place higher in the standing, but looking at the overall roster compared to a year ago, we are light years ahead," head coach Jordan Fife said.
 
Other scorers for the Bears were Ella Cronhardt (18:38.3) in 18th place, Emily Nuttall (18:50.7) in 21st and Margo Nea (18:53.1) in 22nd. MoState newcomers Grace Spoonhour (19:01.4) and Britta Foust (19:06.1) were pushers for the Bears in 24th and 25th place, respectively. Of the four returners who competed today averaged 52 seconds faster than a year ago at the same meet.
 
All told, Missouri State started 14 runners in the field of 44 competitors.
 
Missouri's Lydia Roller (17:47.3) was the top individual finisher. The host school had the top four finishers overall and eight of the top 10.
 
"There's no doubt there's still a lot more work to be done, but this is a very hungry group that is excited about the future," Fife said.
 
The Bears will get another crack at SLU in their next meet on Saturday, Sept. 16 at the Billiken Invitational at St. Vincent Park in St. Louis. Fife's Bears will race three times during the month of September.