The Southern women came into the meet ranked third nationally and first in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and defeated 13th ranked Southern Indiana and 17th ranked Pittsburg State today.

Senior Kimi Shank placed second with a time of 17:42.1, while freshman Ashley Siler was third with a time of 17:46.6. Seniors Ashley Bunch and Courtney Waltbillig were fifth and sixth, while freshman Marlee Tegenkamp and senior Silvia Pineda were seventh and eighth as the Lions put all five scoring times in the top eight for a total point score of 23. Freshman Kat Oberle was 17th with a time of 19:09.5 as it was a dominant performance for the Lions.

Southern Indiana (13th ranked) was second, while Truman, Pittsburg State, Northern Kentucky, Missouri S&T, Southwest Baptist and Drury round out the eight-team field.

The Lions' men were just as dominant today in a win that saw Southern, who came into the meet ranked 19th, defeat tenth ranked Southern Indiana, 14th ranked Southwest Baptist, 20th ranked Drury and 23rd ranked Pittsburg State.

Senior Brennan Benkert paced the Lions with a fourth place finish in a time of 24:38.9. Freshman Nick Niggeman was sixth followed by senior Dustin Dixon at seventh. Junior Josh Mathis was 11th and sophomore Aki Nummela was 25th. Freshman Sam Pogue was 40th and sophomore Jake Crocker was 55th.

Pittsburg State was second in the team competition, followed by Drury, Southern Indiana, Truman, Southwest Baptist, Northern Kentucky and Missouri S&T.

Both Southern teams gain a huge bit of confidence as the teams have a week off of before the teams prepare for the MIAA Championships that will be on Oct. 24 at Emporia State.