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Team
ranks 13th nationally Staff Writer
The
men s cross country team traveled to the OSU Jamboree on Oct. 5 and
finished sixth out of 21 other teams. The
team surpassed 10 other Division I schools and trailed the University of
Kansas fifth place. The team is ranked 13th nationally in NCAA
Division II, while still upholding their No.1 spot in the MIAA
conference. The team also competed against conference competition
Central Missouri State University at the Jamboree, helping the team to
know how much it is advancing for the season. The
men competed in the standard 8-kilometer race, with an average overall
time of 23:48, improving on the team s combined time for the season.
Brian Lyons once again led the pack of five Lions, with a 36th place
finish. Other significant finishes include Larry Boswell, Magnus
Holmstrom, Petri Kykyri and Paul Koehler, helping the team to finish
strong. The
team proved to each other and the coach it has the heart and dedication
to want to continue to advance this season. In the first half of the
race, the runners struggled with staying together, but managed to finish
strong despite obstacles. The team closed the gap throughout the second
half of the race. The
men showed great character because the No. 1 and No. 5 runners had a
huge gap in the middle of the race, but they regrouped well, said Tom
Rutledge, head coach The
No. 6 and 7 runners are also crucial to the team s scoring although
they do not receive a ranking themselves. The No. 6 and 7 runners
for the team, Lucas Plocher and Craig Rhoads, assisted the team by
creating a pack time of 42 seconds between the No. 1 runner for the
team, senior Lyons, and the No. 7 runner for the team, freshman Plocher. This
race was also the first time the team has entered all of its runners.
Compacting the team and having all participate can only increase results
for a team like Missouri Southern s men s cross country team. We
are doing extremely well, and everyone wants to do better than last
year, Kykyri said. Each meet we are advancing and improving. The
team continues to advance and focuses each week on how to improve its
results. It continues to practice about 90 miles each week in hopes of
performing well for every Saturday competition. We
have a good chance of winning the Classic on Saturday and it s always
good to see how well we match up with teams throughout the country,
Rutledge said. Eight
runners will travel Saturday to the Disney World Classic in Orlando,
Fla. Six of the other runners will travel on Saturday to the ORU
Invitational in Tulsa. |