The men’s cross country season has come to a close for Missouri Southern. Coming into the regional meet, the Lions finished third at the conference championships, and were hungry to go out and make a statement at the regional meet. The results may not have been what Head Coach Tom Rutledge would have liked, but he says that the team ran well, and each runner showed toughness and heart. The Lions placed fourth out of 19 teams at regionals, and the MIAA showed its depth as seven of the top 10 teams were from the conference. 

The Lions fell just behind third-place conference opponent Central Missouri, while also beating Northwest Missouri State University and Pittsburg State University. 

“I never had a team so young do so well. Our freshmen stepped up and the leadership of our sophomores helped the team run as a unit, granted we did not win, but it was a successful meet in my eyes,” Rutledge said 

Leading the pack for the Lions was freshman Andrew Webster, who ran the 10k course in a time of 32:24.20 placed 20th overall, while teammates Eric Schott and Jake Benton placed 22 and 24 overall. Schott finished in 32:30.20 in 32:32.10. All three Lions earned All-Region honors. 

Eastern New Mexico claimed this year’s title, but Rutledge believes this team was a success and can be a true building block for the program’s future. 

“I saw each runner improve in every meet. These group of guys were fun to coach. Even though we didn’t achieve our goals of conference or regional titles, I thought it was a successful year,” Rutledge said. “We always want to win titles, but it just was not in the cards for us this year.”

For the Lions, this marks the end to a cross country season that began with skepticism due to the team’s youth, but in the end turned out to be a very successful season according to Rutledge.

“The leadership and character on this team is unmatched, I am extremely pleased with this team and will look forward to next season,”  Rutledge said.