ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's cross country team got its 2012 season off to a solid start Saturday with a third place finish at the Early Bird Classic at Washington University, while the Lady Miners placed ninth among the 17 teams entered in the women's event.

The Miners had three finishers among the top 20 overall in the 162-runner race held at Forest Park, led by Kyle Stocker (Solon, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Prairie)'s 10^th-place finish in a time of 19:56 over six kilometers on a rain-soaked course.  Aaron Viets (Excelsior Springs, Mo./Lutheran HS) finished one second behind Stocker in 12^th place at 19:57, followed by Jacob Tayloe (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) in 19^th place in 20:09.

Danny Deposki (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) finished in 23^rd place with a time of 20:18, while Wynn McClellan (Jackson, Mo./Notre Dame) was the final scorer for S&T with a 28^th-place showing in 20:24.  Freshman Justin Brown (Independence, Mo./Truman) finished 36^th in 20:37 and Chris Marchman (Sheridan, Ark./Sheridan) was 37^th in 20:41.

Southeast Missouri State, who had four of the top 10 finishers in the race, won the team title with a score of 41 points and host Washington University finished second with 64 to the Miners' final total of 92.  The race was won by William Woods' Ryan Meyer in a time of 19:06.

For the Lady Miners, Alyson Smith (Scott Air Force Base, Ill./Mascoutah) was the top runner in Saturday's five-kilometer race with a 16^th-place finish in time of 15:55.  Mindy Lake (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa) came in 37^th in 16:26, while freshman Allie Wood (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) was 48^th in 16:41.  Rachel Feist (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) came in 58^th place in 16:58 and Diane Strong (Jackson, Mo./Jackson) was 60^th in 17:03 to round out the scoring positions for S&T.

The next two runners for the Lady Miners were Codee Pederson, who ran a time of 17:17 to finish 62^nd and Montana Long (Weston, Mo./Platte County), who had a time of 17:30 to end up 69^th.

Southeast Missouri State also won the women's competition with 55 points, as it had three of the top nine finishers in the race.  The individual winner was Washington University's Lucy Cheadle with a time of 14:22.

Missouri S&T's next competition is scheduled to take place Sept. 15 at the Richard Clark Invitational at Missouri State University.

Men's Results/Women's Results