Tulsa, Okla. – The Missouri Southern men were first and women second as the men's and women's cross country teams opened up the 2022 campaign at the RSU XC Invitational today at the Mohawk Sports Complex.
Riley Simpson for the men and
Lilah Genel for the women took home the individual titles. The ninth-ranked Southern men placed six runners amongst the top nine finishers to earn the team title with 19 points. The women placed second in the team competition behind the host RSU.
Simpson crossed the 6k finish line in a time of 18:44.29, a little over a second in front of teammate
Clayton Whitehead who finished second in a time of 18:45.73.
Jaden Deaton (18:50.66) and
Kaden Cole (18:55.95) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Kelton Sorrell (19:08.64) and
Geordan Patrylak (19:14.98) were eighth and ninth, while
Zaben Barnes finished 23
rd and
Joseph Loth was 26
th.
Santiago Granados (33
rd),
Evan Matlock (35
th) and Evan Northcut (46
th) round out the men's scores.
Genel crossed the 4k finish line in a time of 14:18.93. The freshman was ten seconds in front of her nearest competition.
Jenari Lopez (14:54.90),
Kelie Henderson (14:57.62) and
Riley Hawkins (15:03.05) placed 8
th, 9
th, and 10
th respectively.
Kayanna Gaines (15:19.50) and
Shelby Kihega (15:25.92) were 12
th and 13
th, while Alana Bundy (18
th),
Grace Scott (21
st) and
Zoe Nelson (22
nd) round out the women's scores.
The women had 40 points with four runners placing in the top-ten.
The Lions are back in action in two weeks as the program plays host to the Southern Stampede on September 17 at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.
