MSSU men's cross country ranked number one, women ranked fifth in regional poll

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern men's and women's cross country teams are among the region's best according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association who released its preseason regional polls this week.

The Southern men, the reigning Cenral Region Champs, are ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll. The Southern women are ranked fifth in the preseason poll.

The men won last year's regional title, snapping a stretch of six-straight for Augustana. After finishing second in the previous two regional meets, the Lions return every scorer off of last year's championship team, including the returning champion Gidieon Kimutai. Kimutai, now a sophomore, joins transfer Ryan Riddle (Tulsa) as well as an experienced returning corps of runners that should prove to be among the best teams in Division II this year. Cody Berry and Josh Webb were both All-Region picks along with Kimutai last year and return to bolster the lineup.

The Lions are the top team in the preseason poll, followed by last year's runner-up Sioux Falls. Augustana is third, followed by Minnesota State Moorhead, Southwest Baptist, Fort Hays State, Nebraska-Kearney, Pittsburg State, East Central and Washburn to round out the poll.

On the women's side, the Lions finished sixth at last years Central Region Meet, while junior Ashlee Kuykendall placed fifth individually to earn All-Region status. The team lost just one runner from last year's squad.

Defending Regional Champion, the University of Mary, was the preseason No. 1 team in the poll. Augustana was second, followed by Pittsburg State, Oklahoma Baptist, the Lions, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Kearney, Fort Hays state, Minnesota State and East Central to round out the poll.

The Lions open up the regular season on September 7 when both squads participate at the Southwest Baptist Invite.

MSSU soccer picked 11th in MIAA preseason poll

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern women's soccer team is slotted alongside the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats for the No. 11 spot in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Coaches Preseason Poll announced Tuesday afternoon.

The Lions return three seniors in goalkeeper Luz Galindo, defender Brianna Smith, and forward Jessica Edwards. They also bring back six juniors and four sophomores for 13 players total which includes All-MIAA selection and last year's leader in points sophomore forward Bailey Belcher. Belcher scored a team-high six goals and added an assist to end her freshman season.

Joining them are nine newcomers on top of new head coach Aaron Tilsen and assistant coach Patrick Ritter. The coaches bring a combined 25-plus years of coaching experience at numerous levels and are set to kick off a new era of MSSU women's soccer after the team finished 7-8-3 last season.

Tilsen spent the last two years assisting Minnesota State - Mankato as coach of the goalkeepers where the Mavericks finished third nationally in shutouts, fourth in goals against average, and eighth in save percentage to close out the 2017 season. The momentum continued into 2018 toward an overall record of 19-3-1 for the second most wins in program history.

Ritter coached the defense of the Southern University Jaguars to school records in goals allowed and goals allowed average in addition to holding opponents below 2.0 goals per game for the only time in program history.

Defending MIAA regular season and conference tournament champions Central Oklahoma sits atop of the rankings just two points ahead of last year's runner up Central Missouri; both programs securing all first place votes with UCO taking seven and UCM getting five. Fort Hayes State (3), Emporia State (4), and Missouri Western (5) round out the top five as newcomers Rogers State and Newman University landed in sixth and eighth respectively.

The season officially opens on Friday, September 6 as they start their non-conference slate on the road against Southern Nazarene University before concluding the first weekend of the 2019 campaign versus Tilsen's former team in MSU-Mankato on September 8 at 1:00 pm in Kansas City as part of the team's only neutral site game of the regular season.

Below is the list of the entire poll (1-12).

2019 Preseason MIAA Women's Soccer Coaches Poll
1. Central Oklahoma (7) - 117 points
2. Central Missouri (5) - 115 points
3. Fort Hays State - 93 points
4. Emporia State - 89 points
5. Missouri Western - 84 points
6. Rogers State - 63 points
7. Northeastern State - 61 points
8. Newman - 56 points
9. Washburn - 46 points
10. Nebraska Kearney - 28 points
T11. Missouri Southern - 20 points
T11. Northwest Missouri - 20 points

Fifty-eight MSSU athletes earn academic recognition

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

Fifty-Eight Missouri Southern Student-Athletes have earned academic recognition as the Division II Athletic Director's Association released its Academic Achievement Awards list.

The Academic Achievement Awards, in its 12th year, is a program that recognizes the academic accomplishments of student-athletes at the Division II level.

In total, there were 11,660 student-athletes from 185 institutions being recognized for the 2018-19 Academic Achievement Awards. This set the record for the most participation from institutions and the largest number of student-athletes being nominated. This year, the association has the most student-athletes being honored from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), with 975, closely followed by the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) with 974 and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) with 791. The MIAA had 700 total recipients.

In order for a student-athlete to receive an Academic Achievement Award, the athletics director of the Division II institution MUST BE a CURRENT dues-paying member of the D2 ADA.

Also, the student-athlete must:
have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale
have attended a minimum of two years (four semesters) of college level work
have been an active member of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year

Women's Track and Field led the way with 15 total recipients, while Volleyball had ten. You can see the complete list here (Complete List)