Lions win MIAA Cross Country Championship
MSSU women fifth at league meet

Final Men's Results | Final Women's Results

Southern, winning its fifth MIAA cross country title in the last six years, had three runners bring home All-MIAA honors, led by junior Dustin Miller (Carthage, Mo.), who placed third with a time of 25 minutes, 35.60 seconds over the 8K course. Sophomore Kyle Davis (Potosi, Mo.) was fifth with a time of 25:41.50 and freshman Dustin Dixon (St. Clair, Mo.) completed the course in 25:43.10, good for seventh place.

The top 10 individual finishers are awarded All-MIAA status.

But perhaps most importantly, the Lions had their next two runners with high finishes too. Freshman Bret Musser (St. Joseph, Mo.) finished 16th in 26:26.10. Sophomore Ryan Arthur (Clinton, Mo.) was right behind, finishing in 26:26.70. Musser, as the No. 4 runner, bettered the 20th-place finish by Central Missouri State's No. 4 by four positions. Arthur, as the Lions No. 5, was 14 spots better than the Mules No. 5.

"Doctors are right," said Missouri Southern men's coach Tom Rutledge. "After the body gives out the heart takes over. Those guys did it with heart. Our freshmen and sophomores had to come through for us and they did. Our No. 4 and 5 runners had to pull it out."

Central Missouri, the preseason MIAA favorite, finished second, 17 points back of Missouri Southern's winning total of 48 points. Northwest Missouri State was third with 73 and Truman was a close fourth with 75. Pittsburg State placed fifth with 89 and Southwest Baptist rounded out the field in sixth (152).

"We beat two good teams," said Rutledge. "To go in and beat two teams the caliber of Central Missouri and Truman State in a head-to-head situation ... I couldn't be more proud of our guys. Ryan Arthur had to come from way back. I'd say he had to pass at least nine guys in the last mile to pull up there with Musser. Kyle Davis dove at the finish line to beat a kid from Northwest.

"We scrounged and fought for every point."

Also for MSSU, junior Marcus Walton (Potosi, Mo.) finished 30th overall in 27:06.50, freshman Derek Wright (Ozark, Mo.) was 31st in 27:06.80. Freshman Tyler Chiartano (Neosho, Mo.) was 44th with a time of 27:53.30.

Missouri Southern's men also won outright conference championships in 2000, 2002 and 2003, and shared the title in 2001 with Truman State. Central Missouri State won last year's crown, ending the Lions' reign of four straight years at the top.

Missouri Southern's women turned in a fifth-place showing with a score of 102 at the 2005 conference meet, finishing only two points out of fourth place and 13 behind the third-place team.

Sophomore Kelly O' Toole (Joplin, Mo.) led the Lions with a 13th-place finish in 22:43.10 over the 6K course. Freshman Kara Eckard (Warrensburg, Mo.) placed 16th in 22:46.40 and senior Kelly Fanning (Joplin, Mo.) was 20th in 23:07.30.

Senior Erin Click (West Plains, Mo.) was 26th overall (23:18.10), followed in 27th by freshman Alison Walker (West Plains, Mo.) with a time of 23:26.30. Freshman Kari Fritchie (Lee's Summit, Mo.) finished in 23:48.30 for 35th. Sophomore Abby Adams (Carthage, Mo.) was 40th in 24:05.60, followed by freshman Krista Merrill (Potosi, Mo.) in 43rd (24:14.60) and junior Ashley Hendrix (Washburn, Mo.) in 50th (25:15.80).

"A disappointing day and a disappointing day for Erin Click," said MSSU women's coach Patty Vavra. "A side stitch is not something you can really control or predict, but that's what happened to her. For her being a senior and in her last conference race, it's unfortunate. I definitely had an impact on the team scoring.

Central Missouri State won the women's title with 40 points, 21 ahead of runner-up Pittsburg State. Truman was third with 89 points and Emporia State captured fourth with 100. The Lions scored 102 and led sixth-place Northwest Missouri State (130) and Southwest Baptist (152).