By Jim Fryar

jfryar@joplinglobe.com

The stampede has turned thunderous.

Nearly 2,000 runners are entered in Missouri Southern’s annual cross country meet today. A total of 40 college teams and 67 high school teams are registered for the Southern Stampede.

Competition begins at 9 a.m. with the college women’s race. The college men take the course for an eight-kilometer race at 9:45.

The first of four high school races begins at 10:45 a.m.

“We had to add two extra high school races,” said Tom Rutledge, Southern men’s cross country coach. “We had over 700 (high school) boys entered and we just can’t handle that. We went up about 150 in the girls race.”

The prep races will be held with large- and small-school divisions.

“We’re getting a lot more Oklahoma schools and we’ve picked up some from Kansas, too,” Rutledge said. “A lot of good high school runners will be here.”

Both of Southern’s nationally ranked teams will race at near full strength. But each has one key absentee.

The Southern men, ranked No. 14 in NCAA Division II, will still be missing senior Dustin Dixon.

“He’s training, but he broke his leg pretty bad (in D-2 nationals last fall),” Rutledge said. “He wants to run.”

Brennon Benkert, a junior, is the Lions’ lone veteran off the team which has won six of the last seven MIAA titles. Redshirt freshmen Jarkko Jarvenpaa and Aki Nummela are running for the first time with the Lions’ cross country team.

Harding (Ark.) University enters the meet ranked No. 3 in D2 cross country and Drury University is ranked no. 18.

Southern’s women are ranked ninth in the nation and first in the South Central Region. But junior Courtney Waltbillig will miss today’s race while recovering from an injury.