Nov. 12, 2009

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Thursday, November 12, 2009) - The Redhawks men’s and women’s cross team will travel to Springfield, Mo. this Saturday, November 14 to participate in the NCAA Midwest Regional. The men’s 10K will start at noon followed by women’s 6K at 1:15 p.m. at the Missouri State Cross Country Course.

The Midwest Region includes schools from 10 conferences, including the Atlantic 10, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Conference-USA, Horizon League, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, and Summit League, as well as one Independent.

Both Redhawks teams are coming off a strong showings at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships two Saturdays ago. Junior standout Jason Lumpkin garnered Second Team All-OVC honors as he led the Redhawks with an eight place finish in the 8K with a time of 26:44.40. That finish was Lumpkin’s fourth top-ten finish this season in five meets.

Freshman Tyler Mullen just missed out on All-OVC honors as he placed 17th with a time of 27:23.27. Junior Chris Loseman (27:40.86) and Cody Martin (27:44.31) rounded out the Redhawks top-25 finishers, finishing 22nd and 23rd respectively.

Junior Monica Noble and senior Szandra Pal led the women’s side for the Redhawks. Noble finished ninth for her second-straight Second Team All-OVC honor. Pal finished with a time of 20:33.56 landing her a 12th place finish and joining Noble on the All-OVC Second Team.

Senior Linnea Woldtvedt placed 26th with a time of 21:30.88. Kasey Owens (21:32.71) finished not far behind with a 28th place finish.

Last season the men's team placed 12th and the women's team 24th at the NCAA Midwest Regionals at Oklahoma State.

The Regional field includes many of the top teams in the country. On the men’s side two nationally ranked teams in 2nd ranked Oklahoma State and 18th ranked Oklahoma State are considered the favorites with Minnesota looking to challenge for a top-two finish. The women’s side features 13th ranked Illinois, 17th ranked Minnesota and 18th ranked Iowa State.

In addition to the Midwest Region Championship determining the top regional teams, the event also serves as the first round of the NCAA Championships, as the top two teams and top four individuals not on a qualifying team automatically advance to the national championship. Additional teams and individuals are chosen through an at-large process following the regional competition.

For complete coverage of the regional log onto www.missouristatebears.com for schedules, results and more.