Missouri Southern Sweeps Regional XC Titles

Full Men's Results | Full Women's Results

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Missouri Southern swept the team titles at the 2009 NCAA Division II Cross Country South Central Regional at Abilene Christian University to advance to the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. It was the third regional title for the Southern women and the second title in the last three years for the MSSU men.
 
MIAA women's individual champion Kimi Shank won her first regional title after placing second the last two years, finishing the 6K course in a time of 20:59.05, two seconds better than her time at the MIAA meet. Ashley Siler and Ashley Bunch finished second and third, respectively, while Courtney Waltbillig (5th), Marlee Tegenkamp (7th) and Silvia Pineda (10th) all placed in the top ten for the Lions to earn All-Region honors.
 
The Truman women finished in third place, just missing out on a trip to the NCAA Championships. The Bulldogs' Dani Dell'Orco, Anne Ratermann and Karen Grauel earned All-Region honors with their sixth, eighth and ninth-place finishes, respectively. Dell'Orco and Ratermann also qualified for nationals as individuals.
 
Pittsburg State's Jennifer Butler and Angela Adams of Northwest Missouri finished 11th and 14th, respectively, to make the All-Region team.
 
On the men's side, Missouri Southern, Southwest Baptist and Pittsburg State finished 1-2-3 to all earn a trip to the NCAA Championships. Joining the three teams at the national meet from the MIAA will be third-place finisher Laban Sialo from Central Missouri.
 
Southwest Baptist's Michael Pierce (second place), Sialo (third), Pittsburg State's Tim Testa (sixth), Missouri Southern's Josh Mathis (seventh), Pittsburg State's Mujahid Hassaballa (eighth), Missouri Southern's Dustin Dixon (ninth), Missouri Southern's Aki Nummela (11th), Southwest Baptist's Jeremy Glassmaker (13th), Missouri Southern's Jarkko Jarvenpaa (14th) and Missouri Southern's Brennan Benkert (15th) were MIAA athletes earning All-Region honors.
 
The 2009 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, hosted by the University of Southern Indiana, are set to take place Saturday, Nov. 21 at the USI Cross Country Course.