Last Friday, Sept. 2 was the start of the season for the men’s and women’s cross country team. The Southern men’s team took first while the women took second in the Southwest Baptist Invite in Bolivar, Mo.

For the men, the Lions swept through the competition as the first five runners to cross the finish line were all Lions. In first, coming in at a time of (23:08.68), was Vincient Kiprop. Rounding out in second was Cristobal Renteria, coming in with a time of 23:55.24. Third was Tyler Rush with a time of (24:23.52), and the fourth and fifth places went to two freshmen, Mike Shanahan, with a time of (24:24.92) in fourth, and Cody Berry, with a fifth placed finish of (24:29.72). 

The Lions scored the minimum 15 points and had seven runners in the top 15. 

Other runners include Jared Haltom, placing eighth with a time of (24:37:14); Josh Webb was in 15th, Nickson Kiptoo placed 19^th, and Luke Johnson came in 32nd. Ryan Drendel, Luis Suaste, and James Tupper placed 45th, 47th, and 51st rounding it out for the Southern men.

As for the women, the women of Southern also had an impressive event, coming in second by placing five runners in the top 16. Seniors Emily Harris and Cynthia Torres placed third and fourth with times of (18:48.13) and (18:52.54). Sarah Usher came in eighth in a time of (19:21.21), while 

Christian Provence placed 11th in a time of (19:32.91). Sierra Gray came in 16th place and Shelby Werner placed 26th. Gabriel Hill and Meggi Augustosky placed 35th and 48th. Southwest Baptist had 24 team points, followed by the Lions in second with 41.

Southern runners will be back in action on Sept. 17 when the Lions host the Southern Stampede. The event will take place at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.