The men’s 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) race will start at noon (Eastern time) with the women’s 6,000 meters (3.6 miles) event to begin at 1:15 p.m.

The women’s team, coached by Patty Vavra, became the first Missouri Southern cross country team to capture back-to-back regional titles in the South Central meet in San Antonio, Texas. Tom Rutledge’s men placed second among 22 schools in the regional.

“We ran as a team in the regional,” Rutledge said. “I didn’t think we did that in the (MIAA) conference meet. Since we have so many freshmen, it takes time for the chemistry to develop. If we can duplicate our regional performance in the nationals we’ll be OK.”

Southern’s men trailed only Abilene (Tx.) Christian in the regional. Rutledge expects Abilene Christian to be among the national favorites, but believes the winner could also come from Adams (Colo.) State, Western (Colo.) State, Harding (Ark.) University and Chico State of California.

Vavra’s squad, led by South Central Region runner of the year Kimi Shank, is ranked seventh nationally. This team will be Vavra’s third to compete for national honors. Last year’s squad placed 13^th in the national meet.

“We would love to finish in the top eight this time,” Vavra said. “That would give our region one more berth in the national meet next year.”

Adams State, based on its No. 1 ranking, is the favorite. Trailing Adams State in the ratings are Grand Valley (Mich.) State, Augustana (S.D.), Western State, Chico State, Shippensburg (Pa.) and Missouri Southern.

Shank, a junior from St. James, Mo. who was second in the regional, heads a seven-runner squad that includes only two seniors. Kara Eckard, of Warrensburg, Mo., placed seventh in the regional, and Kari Fritchie, Lee’s Summit, Mo., was 29^th.

Missouri Southern’s other national entries are junior Courtney Waltbillig, Rogersville, Mo., sophomore Victoria Kline, Miami, Ok., sophomore Olga Bulgurova, Jefferson City, Mo., exchange student from Russia, and sophomore Silvia Pineda, Monett, Mo.

The determined Shank has developed into one of the conference’s elite  runners. “She was an outstanding high school runner and I could tell that she had talent as a freshman,” Vavra said. “She’s very focused and trains hard over the summer. She has a real passion for the sport and loves to run.”

A pair of redshirt freshmen from Finland, Jarkko Jarvenpaa (Tampere) and Aki Nummela (Helsinki), led the Lions to their runner-up finish in the regional. Jarvenpaa was 10^th overall and Nummela placed 14^th.

Joining the Finns on the national stage from Southern will be junior Brennan Benkert, St. Clair, Mo., and freshmen Chris Bell (Branson, Mo.), Derek Mendell (Carthage, Mo.), Shawn Goebel (Washington, Mo.) and Deric Kimrey (Lebanon, Mo.).

Snow showers and temperatures in the low 20s are forecast for the Slippery Rock area Saturday.  The Southern runners will become acclimated to the weather with practice runs over the course Thursday and Friday.

“This is the third time I’ve taken runners to Slippery Rock for national meets,” said Rutledge who has been taking Missouri Southern athletes to nationals since 1991. In fact, Rutledge has missed taking either teams or individual athletes to national meets only once since that time.

Southern’s best finish in the national meet was sixth place in 2000, Rutledge said. The Lions were seventh two years later.