Southern Coaches, Shank Win Regional Awards

USTFCCCA Men's Release

USTFCCCA Women's Release

NEW ORLEANS, La. (MSSU Sports Information) --  Missouri Southern cross country coaches Tom Rutledge and Patty Vavra were named Regional Coaches of the Year, while senior Kimi Shank was named Regional Athlete of the Year as the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced its regional awards.

Rutledge's Lions qualified for their ninth-straight NCAA Division II Cross Country National meet by winning the South Central Regional team title. It was the second regional title for the Lions in the past three years. Rutledge was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year after leading MSSU to the 2009 MIAA title, its eighth in the last ten years.

Vavra's Lions won their third-straight South Central Region title as the Lions scored a South-Central Region-record 18 points. Southern had six of their seven runners earn USTFCCCA South Central All-Region honors. The Lions also won their fourth-straight MIAA Championship scoring an MIAA-record 18 points. The team's finished helped earn Vavra her fifth MIAA Cross Country Women's Coach of the Year honor.

Shank, a senior from St. James, Mo., won her first South Central regional title as she led the Lions to their third-straight regional team title. Shank finished the six-kilometer course in a time of 20:59.05. Shank won her second-straight MIAA Championship as she finished the 6k course in a time of 21:01.07, the fastest 6k time ever run at an MIAA Championship.

Both squads will take place in the 2009 NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship on November 21 in Evansville, Indiana. The Southern women have moved up to No. 2 nationally in the USTFCCCA poll, while the men are ninth.