ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Griffon men's and women's cross country heads to Joplin Saturday to compete in the NCAA Central Region Championships at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.
The women's 6K race starts at 10 a.m. with the men's 10K to follow at 11:15 a.m.
Five Griffons will compete in the women's race –
Abby Kinney,
Meagan Smith,
Bailey Cutler,
Hailey McKinney and
Brianna DeBord.
Meanwhile, seven men will represent MoWest –
Pau Valderrama,
Wimach Gilo,
Mason Orscheln,
Logan Soedt,
Sam Shipp,
Ryan Ringgenberg and
Angelo Baez-Mahr.
There are 36 women's teams competing and 32 men's. The teams that finish inside the top three automatically qualify for the NCAA championships, which are set for Saturday, November 22 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, the top seven individuals in each race are automatic qualifiers for nationals, with two at-large bids awarded to the highest-placing individuals at a regional who were not automatic qualifiers.
There will also be 10 teams selected for nationals through at large bids as well.
MoWest makes their return to Joplin, where
Pau Valderrama scored the first ever win for a men's cross country runner in program history, setting a school record with his time of 23:39.21 on Sept. 20 in an 8K race.
