The meet is being ran at Nelson Park in Abilene and the women's 6k race begins at 9:30 am, with the men's 10k to follow at 10:30 am.

The Southern women come into the event as the third ranked team in Division II and have held the top spot in the South Central Region rankings all season. Southern recently won its fourth-straight MIAA cross country title as this year's seniors have won the conference crown in each of their four seasons and head coach Patty Vavra won her fourth-straight MIAA Cross Country Coach of the Year award

The Lions have yet to lose to a Division II squad this season, falling only to Arkansas in the season opening dual and at the Southern Stampede, then finishing fifth behind four Division I schools at the Oklahoma State Jamboree. The Lions recently finished 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 at the conference meet and broke MIAA records for lowest team score and senior Kimi Shank set a record for the fastest time in an MIAA Championship.

The women will look to win their third-straight regional cross country title in a row and Shank is looking to step up to the top step at the podium after finishing second the past two years to Abilene Christian's Winrose Karunde. Karunde has since transferred to Texas Tech. This meet will involve three other nationally ranked teams as Truman is 14th, Dallas Baptist is 17th and Pittsburg State is 21st.

The Southern men come into the meet ranked 11th in Division II and are the top ranked team in the South Central Regional rankings. The Lions just recently won their eighth MIAA cross country title in the last ten years and head coach Tom Rutledge was named MIAA Cross Country Coach of the Year by his peers.

The Lions have won all but two MIAA cross country titles in this decade (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009) with only 2004 and last season being the exceptions. The Lions finished fourth at the Southern Stampede this season and 10th at the OSU Jamboree, with both times, just two Division II teams placing in front of them. Southern also took home the title at the GLVC/MIAA Challenge at Missouri S&T.

The men won the 2007 regional title and this year's meet will feature four other ranked opponents as Abilene Christian is 15th, Pittsburg State is 16th, Southwest Baptist is 19th and Central Missouri is 20th.

Following this race, both teams will head to the NCAA Division II regional race on November 7 at host Abilene Christian.