From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Missouri Southern runners picked up a team trophy and five All-American medals on Saturday in the NCAA Division II cross country championships.
A 3-4 finish by junior Ashley Siler and senior Kimi Shank led the Southern women to third place in the team standings, behind Adams (Colo.) State and No. 1-ranked Grand Valley State (Mich.)
Southern placed 11th in the men’s national championship race.
“Bringing home a trophy from the national championship for the first time in Missouri Southern history ... I couldn’t be prouder of this group of young ladies,” said Patty Vavra, Southern women’s coach. “What an amazing feat. This team set some benchmarks for the future that will be very difficult to duplicate.”
MSSU seniors Courtney Waltbillig and Ashley Bunch joined Siler and Shank in earning All-American recognition from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Senior Brennan Benkert led the Southern men and joined the school’s growing list of All-Americans.
Adams State edged Grand Valley 73-81 for the women’s title and Southern had 104 points.
“We gave them too much of an open door between a couple of our runners and you can’t do that at a national championship,” Vavra said. “In the national championship, you have to have everybody having their best race and we almost did today. We got beat by two very good teams.
“I hate to see this season end and hate to see those three seniors go. What a career they’ve had, all three All-Americans. It’s so seldom you get to end your season, and your career, on a such a high note.”
Siler and Shank ran side-by-side for much of the race and picked off one more runner — Mary Ballinger of host Southern Indiana — during the sprint to the finish. Waltbillig finished 28th, Bunch was 35th and freshman Marlee Tegenkamp was 68th.
The Southern men were left with a bittersweet feeling after their race, said coach Tom Rutledge.
“It’s not bad, but it’s not great,” he said. “We didn’t reach our goal (to finish among the top eight schools), but I’m not disappointed. We weren’t supposed to win the conference and we weren’t supposed to win the region. We achieved two of our three goals. They’re good guys, they worked hard this year and we got further than some people thought we might.
“Brennan had the race of his life today.”
Benkert finished in 32nd place, covering 10 kilometers in 32 minutes, 25.3 seconds.
Junior Josh Mathis was 57th, senior Dustin Dixon was 85th, sophomore Jarkko Jarvenpaa 86th and sophomore Aki Nummela 131th.
Colorado schools finished 1-2-3 in the men’s race. Adams State dominated, with five runners among the top eight, and scored 23 points. Western State was second (86 points) and Colorado Mines was third (153).
Southern scored 319 points, missing its goal of eighth place by 35 points. Southwest Baptist placed 15th and Pittsburg State was 18th.
“There are 263 schools in Division II who have cross country,” Rutledge said. “We were No. 11, so that isn’t too bad.”
M.J. Hassaballa led Pittsburg State with a 75th-place finish and Cliff Miles was 99th.
