Meet Information
Event: Southern Stampede (5k), hosted by Missouri Southern
Date & Time: Saturday, Sept. 21, 8:30 a.m.
Location: Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course, Joplin, Mo.
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SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's cross country travels to Joplin, Mo. for the running of the 30th annual Southern Stampede hosted by Missouri Southern on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 8:30 a.m.  The five-kilometer race will be held at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course and features three Division I teams with Arkansas and Oral Roberts joining the Bears for the interdivisional meet.
 
"This is a great meet for our runners to transition to sort of the regular season portion of the schedule", said sixth-year head coach Jordan Fife.  "The first two races were a good way to shake off some of the rust and work on team-oriented tactics.  Now, it's time for them to trust their preparations and gain some confidence going forward."   
 
The Bears have 15 runners entered for the five-kilometer race, including a trio of top-25 finishers from last year's meet.  Grace Breiten (4th, 17:38.2) and Jordyn Capra (16th, 18:05.0) each posted personal best times and Paityn Stagner finished 22nd with a time of 18:14.9 in the 2018 race.
 
MSU will also have its top-5 scorers from the J.K. Gold Classic meet on Sept. 7 with Erica Wollmering, Breiten, Edna Dar, Adyson Delaney, and Shelby Palmer all scheduled to race for the Bears.  Natalie Watkins and Taylor Holtz will be racing in their debut meet of the season for Missouri State.
 
"We have a strong team that has quite a few runners who are familiar with this course", added Fife.  "Our team is probably as fresh and well-rested as they've been all season and if they can trust their hard work and training, then we should be able to see successful results on Saturday."
 
Missouri State heads to Fayetteville, Ark. for the Chile Pepper Festival on Saturday, Oct. 5 with the five-kilometer race beginning at 10:20 a.m.
 
For more information on the Missouri State cross country team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or visit the team Twitter @MSUBearsTrackXC and Facebook.