JOPLIN, Mo. - College of the Ozarks placed 15th in the men's race and 10th in the women's race Saturday during the Missouri Southern Stampede men's-women's doubleheader at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course. Nolyn Corder led the Bobcats in the men's 8,000-meter race, finishing 28th overall in 24.89, while Keena Goze paced the women's team with a 28th-place finish in the 5,000-meter race at 18:44.44.

The College of the Ozarks men scored 456 points among 28 scoring teams. Corder earned 27 team points at the front of the lineup and averaged 5:06.8 per mile. Carson Knight followed in 92nd overall and 70th in the team scoring at 26:47.78, giving the Bobcats their second finisher. Cody Henderson crossed in 27:47.13, placing 145th overall and adding 105 points.

Landon Jones finished fourth for the Bobcats in 28:27.94, and Ethan Howard completed the scoring group with a time of 29:10.32. The five scoring runners posted a 3:45.5 spread. Pack support continued behind Howard, as Trayden Bailey finished in 29:20.16 and Michael Kincaid followed in 29:35.48 as the team's two displacement runners. Nate Van Foeken recorded a 30:05.43 finish, and Brady Rose completed the Bobcats' nine-runner lineup in 33:46.86.

The Lady Cats cross country team totaled 307 points in a field of 24 scoring teams. Behind Goze's 27 team points, Tia Bethards and Emilie Zylstra provided the team's tightest scoring pair. Bethards finished 61st overall in 19:33.76, and Zylstra was six places back in 19:37.78, a separation of just 4.02 seconds. Khloe Clemence added an overall time of 20:08.72 before Ella Howard closed the five-runner scoring group in 20:27.76. The Bobcats' scoring spread was 1:43.4.

Emma Dixon and Acacia Sorenson also worked closely together in the women's pack, finishing consecutively in 22:31.07 and 22:33.64 as the displacement runners. Aryssa Speights finished in 23:18.65, and Gracie Vestal followed in 23:39.60. Missouri Southern won the women's title with 43 points behind individual champion Ruth Chemutai, who ran 17:04.41. Pittsburg State placed second with 50 points, and Tulsa was third with 53.

The Cross-Country Cats now set their sights on the always competitive, Chile Pepper Cross-Country Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas on October 3.