Sept. 5, 2009

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Results: Men | Women | Men's Team Results | Women's Team Results

Audio: Coach Bell on Performance of SLU's Newcomers

ST. LOUIS - In a steady rain at Forest Park, the Saint Louis University cross country squads opened the 2009 season at the WU Big River Running Early Bird meet Saturday morning.

Junior Brian Holdmeyer crossed first for the men's squad in a 12th-place time of 20:13 (6K), while Hilary Orf turned in a fourth-place finish (15:24 - 4K) to lead the women's team.

A persistent rain began overnight in St. Louis and continued through the 9 a.m. start time Saturday morning, rendering the course extremely soft and muddy resulting in slower times than expected.

"Today's conditions obviously weren't conducive to running fast, so I wanted to see how we competed and far the most part we competed well," Billikens head coach Jon Bell said. "It is good to get the first meet over and done with. I think our execution can be a little better on the women's side, and the men need to get a little tougher in the back-half of the race."

Sophomore Laura Peabody (11th, 15:52), freshman Amanda Labuz (20th, 16:25) also finished in the top 20 for the Billikens.

As a team, the women's squad finished third overall with 53 points, trailing Xavier (40) and Washington U. (31).

On the men's side, freshman Greg Orf (52nd, 21:28) also scored for the Billikens.

The SLU men finished fifth among college teams at the event with 151 points. Atlantic 10 Conference foe Xavier (38) won the men's crown, while Washington U. (60) and McKendree (78) rounded out the top three.

The Billiken return to action Saturday, Sept. 12, when they travel to Columbia, Mo., for the 17th annual Missouri Cross Country Challenge. Action at A.L. Gustin Golf Course gets underway at 10 a.m. with the men's 8K, while the women's 5K will commence at approximately 10:45 a.m.