JOPLIN, Mo. – Minnesota State men's cross country placed 15^th out of 30 teams at the NCAA Division II Central Region Saturday morning at Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, Missouri (Missouri Southern host).
 
The Mavericks improved six positions from the same meet last fall and posted the third best score among NSIC schools behind Augustana (fifth) and MSU-Moorhead (12^th).
 
Freshman Jack Kendall (Virginia, Minn.) was the Mavericks' top individual finisher in 60^th place. Kendall ran the 10K race in 31:32.31. Freshman Biruk Kileen (Lindstrom, Minn.) crossed the line in 87^th with a time of 33:08.05.
 
Northwest Missouri State took the team team title with the top two individual finishers and a total score of 72. Aziz Mohammed completed the meet in a time of 29:53.48 for the Bearcats. Washburn (104), East Central (116), Pittsburg State (118) and Augustana (127) rounded out the top five. Minnesota State's score was 441.
 
Others to finish for Minnesota State included Grant Mayers (92^nd, 33:12.18), Dominic Ripperda (93^rd, 33:16.03), Maquanet Collins (109^th, 33:35.81) and Jacob Bennett (121^st, 33:52.04).

"We're happy to move up six team places from last year," said head coach Ben Held. "We were dealt a tough hand with our top runner, Luis (Pfister) not finishing the race due to an injury. However, that's the way our sport goes sometimes and I couldn't be prouder of the way our first years have raced this season, while being guided and pushed by the strong leadership and presence of our upperclassmen. We've continued to get closer to where we want to be each race this season and we have no doubt that progress will continue into indoor track and field season."