Hundreds of runners and several Division-I and Division-II college teams were on the campus of Oklahoma State University on Saturday, Oct. 1, for the Oklahoma State Jamboree. 

Southern was one of three MIAA teams in action with over half of the field being Division-I teams. The Lions finished two places back from Pittsburg State University as they came in 13th place out of 20 collegiate teams. 

For the Lions, junior Marlee Tegenkamp had the team’s highest finish, as she would place 29th overall, which was the eighth best finish among the Division-II runners. Tegenkamp ran the 5k course in a time of 18:12.81. Freshman Olivia Francka, who has been battling issues with her low iron count, has been on the sidelines most of the season. She got her chance to run at the jamboree. Francka turned in the team’s third-best finish, a time of 19:32.29.

“I was pleased with the performance from some of my runners. Marlee [Tegenkamp], Rachel [Schrader], and Oliva [Francka] all ran very well, but we still need to close the gap from our No. 2 runner to our fourth, fifth and sixth runners,” Head Coach Patty Vavra said. “My young runners are improving each week, along with gaining confidence from each meet, they just don’t quite have the confidence to run a fast-paced big meet yet.”

The Lions will be back in action tomorrow, traveling to Rolla to race in the Missouri S&T Jackling Jocks invitation.