Bolivar, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's and women's cross country programs opened up the 2019 season with a sweep today as they won both the team and individual titles at the Southwest Baptist Invite in Bolivar.
The men's race consisted of a 7k distance, while the women ran a 5k loop.
The 6th-ranked Southern men dominated as the Lions had four of the top seven runners, six in the top 12 and seven in the top 23. Southern scored 25 points as a team, 42 points in front of second-place Central Missouri. Southwest Baptist was third, followed by Missouri S&T, Columbia College, William Woods, Evangel, Drury and William Jewell to round out the team scores.
Gidieon Kimutai won the individual title in a time of 20:04.43, eight seconds in front of teammate
Ryan Riddle.
Cody Berry was fourth in a time of 20:45.13, while
Nickson Kiptoo finished seventh in a time of 20:48.86. Jared Ozee and
Kevin Koester finished 11th and 12th, while
Michael Shanahan was 23rd.
On the women's side,
Julianna Determan won the individual title in a time of 18:03.80. The Lions had four runners in the top 13 and five in the top 20. Southern won the team title over Southwest Baptist by three points with a score of 45. Central Missouri was third, followed by Columbia College, Missouri S&T, Drury and William Woods.
Determan won by a margin of five seconds with a time of 18:03.80.
Ashlee Kuykendall was sixth in a time of 18:29.47, while
Kelie Henderson placed ninth in a time of 18:40.01.
Alice Evans was 13th, while
Mady Gepford was 19th. Gabrille Hill (24th),
Raye Moran (27th) and
Abbi Rogers (33rd) round out the individual scores.
Both teams will be back in action on September 21 as the Lions play host to the 30th-annual Missouri Southern Stampede at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.
