Southern Cross Country Prepares for MIAA Title Defense

Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's and women's cross country programs will head to Warrensburg this Saturday in preparation for their respective MIAA title defense, competing in the 2008 MIAA Cross Country Championships hosted by the University of Central Missouri.

The Southern women come into the meet ranked ninth nationally and first in the South Central Region, where they have reigned all season long. The Lions have finished either first or second in each of their meets this season, with the exception of an 11th place finish at the Oklahoma State Jamboree where they were the top Division II team in the meet. They have also not been defeated by a single MIAA squad this season.

Junior Kimi Shank has been the Lions top runner in 2008. She finished sixth at the University of Arkansas, fourth at the Southern Stampede, 11th at Oklahoma State and first at the SIUE Border Wars. She has yet to be defeated by a Division II runner all season.

The women will have a tough hill to climb as six of the top ten teams in the region are all in the MIAA including Pittsburg State (3rd), Central Missouri (4th), Southwest Baptist (6th), Fort Hays (7th) and Truman (9th).

The Southern men will look for their fourth title in a row and eighth in the past nine seasons. The Lions have been ranked in the top 20 nationally all season long and have held steady to the No. 2 spot in the South Central Region rankings for most of the season.

Despite not having two All-American runners from a season ago (Dustin Dixon and Isaac Garcia) run at all this season, the Lions have remained competitive in each meet thanks to the arrival of an outstanding freshman class and some returning leadership in Junior Brennan Benkert and redshirt freshman Aki Nummela and Jarkko Jarvenpaa.

The Lions finished second at the 20th annual Southern Stampede this season finishing behind only third ranked Harding University. The men will also have a tough road to travel as the MIAA makes up six of the top ten teams in the region, as well. Southern is second, followed by Pittsburg State (3rd), Southwest Baptist (4th), Central Missouri (6th), Emporia State (8th), and Fort Hays (9th).

The race begins tomorrow morning at 10:30 am with the men's 8k followed by the women's 6k shortly thereafter.