Missouri Southern men’s cross country Coach Tom Rutledge and the team have three goals every season.

“We want to win conference, place high in regionals, and make it to the top eight in the nation,” Rutledge said.

In order to meet those goals, the team needs to get through Fort Hays State University tomorrow.

“I am excited about the meet at Fort Hays,” said junior Dustin Dixon. “It should give us a chance to really flex our muscles.”

“Hopefully at Fort Hays we will have a better race,” Rutledge said. “It will show us where we need to go and what we need to work on.”

Missouri Southern placed 10th last week at the Oklahoma State Jamboree behind schools such as Oklahoma State, the University of Arkansas, Tulsa and Southwest Baptist.

“The team was humbled,” Rutledge said. “But a little humility never hurt anyone.”

Dixon was the first runner across the finish line last week for Southern with a 39th place finish. With a time of 26:04, he was followed by sophomore Isaac Garcia. Seniors Kyle Davis, Ryan Arthur, Dustin Miller, and sophomore Brennan Benkert rounded out the pack for the Lions.

“We are down, but we are not dead, Rutledge said. “When we win we don’t brag and when we lose we don’t cry”

The team is ranked 14th in the nation and at the peak of their mileage running up to 110 miles a week.

Sophomore Nick Heberle is out for at least another week due to an Achilles injury.

“We are taking it day by day with him,” Rutledge said.

Even though they didn’t get the outcome they wanted at the Jamboree, the team is still looking at the future in a positive way.

“When we were at OSU we were beat by teams that shouldn’t have beat us, Dixon said. “We overheard many of teams saying things like ‘Southern is history’, but we are still here and we will not go down that easily.”