By Jim Fryar

jfryar@joplinglobe.com

Call it an all-for-one, one-for-all approach. Or just call it family.

Cross country runners at Missouri Southern are a close-knit group.

Ashley Bunch is thrilled to be a contributing member ... and maybe still a little surprised.

Bunch and the Lions will compete in the NCAA Division II national championship race today. The Lions haven’t lost to a D-2 school this year they intend to maintain that streak.

“Our goal is to go out there and win it,” Bunch said Thursday after first touring the course at Evansville, Ind.

The Lions have been persistent in reaching their goals all season. They won their fourth straight conference title, then added their third straight regional championship two weeks later. Both goals were met with record-breaking low point totals.

“We’re a very different team from in the past,” Bunch said. “We bring our best race every time we run. We’ve set high goals, but the key is to just run like we’ve run all year.

“Ideally, we want to bring home the national championship. ... There are some great teams which have qualified for nationals. We’re all going to have to run our very best, but I think we’re capable.”

It’s a statement neither Bunch nor coach Patty Vavra could have envisioned four years ago. When Bunch was finishing her high school career at Linn, Mo., she was a lightly recruited runner with a pair of ninth-place finishes in the Class 1 state meet on her resume.

“I think we felt like she would develop into a competitive runner,” Vavra said. “But going from 20 minutes (in a five-kilometer race) to under 18 was not an expectation in the recruiting process.

“But the intangibles are there. Ashley runs with so much heart. Running has always been a passion of hers. She puts in the work it takes to be successful and she has grown more and more mentally tough.”

Bunch, who grew up running on a hilly farm southeast of Jefferson City, said she may have broken the 20-minute barrier a couple of times in high school.

“It’s been kind of a slow, steady improvement,” Bunch said. “I’ve had a few injuries which held me back a little, but my senior year has definitely been my best ever. I’ve seen results every year. It proves the work you put in here will come back and help you.”

Bunch had a breakout sophomore season with the Lions, finishing fifth in the MIAA Championships and eighth in the South Central Regional. An injury kept her sidelines most of her junior season, but she returned this fall on a mission.

She was fourth in the conference meet, then third as the Lions won their third straight regional title and qualified for nationals.

The demands of college running have been worthwhile because of the friendships involved, Bunch said.

“I have a lot of teammates who are wonderful runners,” she said. “We push each other. ...We’re a great group of friends.

“We’re not the kind of teammates who just show up and see each other in practice. We hang out together away from practice and the meets. We’ve built a bond away from running.

“When we run and when we practice, you can tell we’re close. We’re not just thinking about what place we’re going to get individually. We’re thinking, ‘if I pick off this person in front of me,’ how it will help the team.”

Said Vavra: “I really think these girls run better because of the team concept than if they were running just as individuals. Everything is about the team.

“They’ve brought out the best in each other. ... Sometimes you (as a coach) get fortunate and the right personalities come together. They have pushed each other and it became part of their college lifestyle. They have succeeded in some regards just because of being part of that group.

“The other thing about Ashley Bunch is that she has excelled at such a level while she has been in the shadow of an outstanding runner (fellow senior Kimi Shank is the two-time MIAA champion and an All-American). Sometimes you take for granted the improvements (Ashley) has made and the intensity she brings to practice and the competition, and the value she is to our team.”

It’s been an amazing effort, and improvement, for Bunch, who carries a double major in education and nursing. And especially since Missouri Southern was not high on her list of schools to attend.

“Before I went on my recruiting visit (Southern was the last school on the list), I was pretty much sold I was going to go somewhere else,” Bunch said. “I’m close to my family (parents Joe and Margie and two younger sisters live in Loose Creek, Mo.) and I thought Joplin was just too far.

“But within hours of being there and meeting the girls and the coaches, I was sold. I knew it was the place I would call home for the next four years.”

“I just feel extremely fortunate that we coerced Ashley to come to Missouri Southern,” Vavra said, laughing at her own exaggeration.

“Ashley has certainly put her mark on our program.”