Sept. 20, 2009

Results: Women's | Men's

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Saint Louis junior Brian Holdmeyer and sophomore Hilary Orf led the men's and women's cross country squads this weekend at the Missouri State Invitational in Springfield, Mo.

Holdmeyer paced the Billikens for the third straight meet, turning in an 8K time of 25:56.3. That mark was a season best for Holdmeyer and placed sixth overall in the field of 48. On the women's side, Orf turned in a personal-best 5K time of 18:38.3, which was good for 15th overall in the 79 participant field.

"The men's team, led by Brian Holdmeyer, ran a smart and tactical race so I am pleased with their performance," Billikens head coach Jon Bell said. "There are still some execution issues we need to deal with on the women's side, but it was good to see Hilary Orf get a PR."

Senior Neal Rodrigues (26:31.8) and Jack Hostettler (26:47.3) also turned in top 20 finishes on the men's side. Juniors Jordan Jennings and Stanley Donahoo rounded out the scoring for the Billikens, who accumulated 86 points to out-distance UMKC and Central Arkansas for fourth place. Kansas State won the men's team title.

For the women, junior Laura Peabody who finished 28th overall with a time of 19:25.7. Freshman Amanda Labuz was 36th overall with a time of 19:41.9. As a team, the Billikens placed fifth out of eight squads. Kansas State won the team title.

Following a week off, SLU will head to South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday, Oct. 2.