Emporia, Kan. -- The Missouri Southern men's cross country team won its 11th MIAA Title in the past 19 years and Gidieon Kimutai became the fourth MSSU individual winner in the last five years when the Lions competed today at the 2018 MIAA Cross Country Championships hosted by Emporia State at Jones Park.
Southern dominated the field, placing all five scorers in the top 11 and seven runners in the top 20.
Kimutai finished five seconds in front of his nearest competition as the freshman traversed the 8k course in a time of 25:17.7 to pace the Lions. Cody Berry was fifth in a time of 25:53.0, while Nickson Kiptoo placed sixth in a time of 25:53.5, a half second behind Berry. Josh Webb was eighth with a time of 25:55.5.
Michael Shanahan was 11th in a time of 26:16.0, while Jared Ozee was 15th in a time of 26:27.5. Kevin Koester was 20th in a time of 26:39.6. All of the above seven runners earned All-MIAA status.
Nathan Painter placed 35th in a time of 27:01.5, while Tadd Capron was 56th in a time of 27:42.1.
Southern easily won the team title with 31 points, 70 points in front of second-place Nebraska-Kearney. Fort Hays State was third, followed by Southwest Baptist, Lindenwood, Pittsburg State, Washburn, Central Missouri, Emporia State, Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western to round out the team scores.
The 31 points for the Lions is the second-lowest team score for any MIAA men's team in the last 23 years, second only to the Lions' 22 points scored in 2014. Kimutai is the fourth men's runner to win the individual title in the last five years, joining Vincent Kiprop who won in 2015 and 2016, as well as Eric Schott who won in 2014. He is the seventh individual champion for the Lions in program history.
Southern will be back in action on November 17 when the Lions play host to the NCAA Division II Central Region Meet ran at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course.
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