Stowe, Bussing Pace KU Cross Country at Wisconsin adidas Invite

Oct. 14, 2011

Men’s Results | Women’s Results

Wisconsin adidas Invitational Zimmer Cross Country Course Madison, Wisc.

Men’s Top-Five Teams (39 Total) Team Points Avg/Time 1. Wisconsin 66 23:47 2. BYU 120 24:01 3. Stanford 125 24:02 4. Princeton 227 24:20 5. Indiana 271 24:29 23. Kansas 582 24:56 Kansas Men’s Scorers Name Year Time 79. Austin Bussing SR 24:42 94. Zach Zarda SR 24:47 132. Josh Baden JR 25:01 138. James Wilson SO 25:03 139. Josh Munsch SO 25:03 Women’s Top-Five Teams (44 Total) Team Points Avg/Time 1. Washington 199 20:48 2. Vanderbilt 211 20:53 3. Arizona 230 20:52 4. Villanova 232 20:45 5. Stanford 256 20:54 34. Kansas 773 21:40 Kansas Women’s Scorers Name Year Time 37. Rebeka Stowe SR 20:51 100. Kara Windisch SR 21:18 184. Cori Christensen SR 21:51 219. Kyra Kilwein JR 22:04 233. Tessa Turcotte JR 22:15

MADISON, Wis.- Kansas cross country seniors Rebeka Stowe and Austin Bussing were the top KU finishers Friday afternoon, Oct. 14, at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, helping the women capture 34^th overall and the men place 23^rd.

“I thought they ran really tough today,” said Assistant Coach Michael Whittlesey. “We beat three nationally-ranked teams and a couple other teams that are receiving votes. I would have been happy to be in the top 20 but I had no problem with their effort or execution in the race.”

Stowe had a great showing in her third meet of the season, clocking a 6K time of 20:51 and placing 34^th overall in a field of 305 runners and 44 teams.

“I was not up to par today overall but we had some really good individual races from people,” said Stowe. “We went out so fast it was just kind of a shock to everyone. We need to keep the confidence up though. The season isn’t over; there’s still a lot of opportunities to get to nationals.”

Fellow senior Kara Windisch once again finished as KU’s No. 2 runner, placing 100^th overall and clocking a 6K time of 21:18. Seconds apart from each other at the No. 3, 4 and 5 spots were senior Cori Christensen and juniors Kyra Kilwein and Tessa Turcotte. Christensen crossed the finish line with a time of 21:51, a personal best. Rounding out the Jayhawks’ top five were Kilwein and Turcotte placing 219^th and 233^rd overall with 6K times of 22:04 and 22:15, respectively.

Freshman Ragan Allen and junior Kathleen Thompson also donned Jayhawk singlets at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, placing 283^rd and 286^th respectively.

On the men’s side, Bussing led the KU pack for the first time this season with a career-best 8K time of 24:42, crossing the finish line 79th in a field of 270 runners.

“I thought the men executed exactly like we talked about,” explained Whittlesey. “We had all seven guys together for the first two miles and we stayed within 21 seconds of each other from one to five. I thought everyone looked pretty strong.”

Junior Zach Zarda also had a strong performance, finishing as KU’s No. 2 runner with a time of 24:47. Junior Josh Baden and freshman James Wilson were the Jayhawks’ No. 3 and 4 finishers. Baden ran a career best 8K time of 25:01 to finish in 132^nd place, while Wilson right on his heals at 25:03 to finish 138^th. Sophomore Josh Munsch was just behind Wilson as KU’s No. 5 finisher, crossing the finish line at 139^th with his time of 25:03.

Freshman Reid Buchanan finished the 8K race with a time of 25:43 while redshirt freshman Emilio Trujillo rounded out the men’s team with a time of 25:49.

“Today’s race, more than anything, was an affirmation about how good they are,” concluded Whittlesey. “They knew they could run together and they proved that today. We just need to keep following through with that in our future races and hopefully it will pay off.”

The Jayhawk cross country teams will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 29, in College Station, Texas, for the Big 12 Championships.