KU Cross Country Teams Move Up in Respective Regional Rankings
Sept. 26, 2011
Men’s Rankings 
|Women’s Rankings
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Both the Kansas men’s and women’s cross country teams moved up in this week’s Midwest Regional Rankings as announced Monday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
The KU women’s team, previously ranked seventh, rose to No. 6, while the men, who stood at the No. 8 spot, jumped Iowa to move to No. 7. Big 12 opponents Iowa State and Oklahoma State, as well as Minnesota, are listed as the top three teams on the women’s side. On the men’s side, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Minnesota held their positions for the second-straight week.
The Jayhawks have already competed in three events in 2011, posting solid performances in each of the meets. Both the KU men and women have notched team victories and have featured individual winners. At the Bob Timmons Classic at Rim Rock Farm on Sept. 3, the men took the team victory behind junior Zach Zarda’s first-place finish while the women finished second. The Jayhawks followed up that performance with two team victories the next weekend (Sept. 10) at the Missouri Cross Country Challenge with senior Rebeka Stowe taking home the women’s individual title.
Both Stowe and Zarda again led the men’s and women’s teams this past weekend at the most competitive meet so far this season, the Roy Griak Invitational. Stowe, who finished 11th out of nearly 300 runners, led the women to a 14th-place finish, while Zarda notched a 38th-place overall finish in leading the men to 15th in the team standings.
Last year, the KU women finished sixth out of 27 teams at the Midwest Regional Championship. This season, the Jayhawks return six of the seven runners who competed at that meet in 2010, including Stowe, who finished in 18th place overall.
The Kansas men placed 11th at the 2010 Midwest Regional Championship in a field of 23 teams. The Jayhawks also return five of the six athletes who ran the 10K race last season. Josh Baden and Austin Bussing, who are both back for the 2011 campaign, finished among the top half of the field at last year’s meet.
The Jayhawks will have the next weekend off before returning to action at the Haskell Invitational in Lawrence, Kan., on Oct. 8. The day is slated to kick-off at 9 a.m. at Haskell’s campus course. For results and a full recap of the races, log on to kuathletics.com.
