The 2007 edition of the Missouri Southern Stampede was all; the pre-race hype said it would be. After last years blast furnace like conditions, this year was race perfect with a slight breeze and temperatures in the upper 50’s. The 6000 plus spectators and athletes were treated to a fantastic day of running and blazing fast times at one of the top venues in the country. Today’s races were a worthy tune up for later in the season when Missouri Southern will be hosting the NCAA Div II South Central Regional and National Meet on the same course.
The first race of the day was the college women. University of Tulsa cruised to an easy win on the wings of overall winner Alex Becker who finished the 5k race in 16.33. Rolla, Missouri native Kimi Shank finished third to lead the Missouri Southern girl’s squad to a second place team finish with 122 points. San Diego rounded out the top 3 with 150 points.
Next up was the college men. Last years winner Arkansas, repeats as champions again this year scoring 22 points by putting 4 in the top 5. Last year’s runner-up Scott MacPherson was the overall winner cutting through the 8k course in 23.46. Missouri Southern and University of Missouri-Rolla took second and third scoring 143 and 193 points respectively.
In the high school girls Division I race, Emporia senior Michaela Reynolds set a scorching pace early, and never let up to finish in 17:55 over the 5k course for the win. Perennial Missouri powerhouse West Plains, won the division I girls race outpacing Manhattan Kansas high school 94 to 150. West Plains put 4 in the top 20 with last years Missouri class 3 State Champ Brittany Johnson finishing 32nd. This was Johnson’s first race back after knee surgery in early July to repair torn cartilage. Last years team champions, Olathe East finished third with 173 points after losing half of last years varsity squad to graduation.
Junior Emily Beaver lead the Missouri class 1 powerhouse College Heights to a nail biter over second place East Newton, 34 to 36 with her first place finish in the girls Division II race. Metro Christian Academy rounded out the top 3 with 96 points.
In the boys Division I race Potosi Junior Jacob Swearingen continued his winning ways, leading teammate Nick Niggeman for the 1-2 punch to a second place team finish behind Arkansas’ Rogers high school. While Swearingen and Niggeman treated us to some blazing fast times by finishing in 15:00 and 15:10, Rogers HS showed us the art of the “pack attack” by putting their top five runners in the top 20 for a 53 to 138 win. Emporia Kansas rounded out the top three with 149 points.
The College Heights Boys took the team win in the Division II boy’s race following freshman Caleb Hoover’s 15:49 win and putting 3 in the top 5. Senior Matt Bandy led the East Newton Patriot's to a second place team finish, while senior Jason Barry led his School of the Osage teammates to a third place finish scoring 81 points to East Newton’s 55.
The two divisions were run together in the boys and girls high schools races with the races being scored separately. The girl’s race had over 450 runners, with 570 running in the boy’s race.