Missouri State Cross Country will host the Missouri State Classic, sponsored by the Springfield Sports Commission, on Saturday, September 19, at 9 a.m.  This will be the first race run on the Missouri State Cross Country Facility this season.  The Bears will also be hosting the NCAA Midwest Regional on the same course in November.

"The MSU Classic will give our fans a small taste of what they'll see at the NCAA Regional here on November 14th," said Missouri State cross country head coach Greg Hipp.

The Classic will have both men and women competing.  As of September 15, the teams taking part in the race are: Bradley (Men & Women), Central Arkansas (Men & Women), Kansas State (Men & Women), Lincoln University (Mo.) (Men & Women), Missouri State (Women Only), St. Louis (Men & Women), Tulsa (Men & Women), UMKC (Men & Women) and Westminster (Men & Women). 

In the preseason USTFCCCA Midwest-Regional rankings, Kansas State was ranked seventh as a team; Tulsa, 11th; and Missouri State was 13th on the women’s side.  For the men, Tulsa was ranked second in the Midwest region, behind powerhouse Oklahoma State.

"It speaks a lot to the reputation of our program and our facility to be able to attract such a competitive field of teams to this year’s MSU Classic,” said Hipp.

In the women’s race, two of the top 20 finishers from last year’s Midwest regional will be competing.  Kansas State’s Beverly Ramas and Missouri State’s sophomore Terry Phillips (Kansas City, Mo.), finished 10th and 20th, respectively, in last year’s regional.  In the team scoring, Kansas State finished sixth and Missouri State eighth overall. 

Terry Phillips is also the top returning runner from last year’s Classic, where she finished third.