Jones Leads Team at MSSU

September 20, 2008

JOPLIN, Mo. – Southwestern Oklahoma State University got a strong effort by star cross country runner Stefanie Jones and ended up in 22nd in the Missouri Southern University Stampede ran Saturday in Joplin, Mo.

Jones finished 30th in a field of 222 runners that included many NCAA Division I schools, including the University of Oklahoma and Tulsa University. Jones tore up the 5,000 kilometer course that was run on the school’s campus in a time of 18:48 seconds.

Tulsa was the runaway winner in the team title with 32 points. The Golden Hurricane had three of the top five finishers, including the winner Alex Becker who breezed to the win in a time of 16:45, 39 seconds better than second-place finisher Kelly Waters of Oklahoma.

Other Lone Star Conference schools that competed in the event and their finish are as follows: Midwestern State was fifth, Central Oklahoma was 15th and Southeastern Oklahoma State University was 33rd.

Only two LSC runners finished ahead of Jones in the race, MSU’s Kayla Hendrix was 18th while UCO’s Alina Istrate was 21st.

Other SWOSU runners and their finish are as follows: Malissa Banks was 134th with a time of 20:48, Patty Murphy was 151st with a time of 21:04, Emily Haskins was 152nd with a time of 21:05, Kate Holenshead in 171st with a time of 21:35 and Micah Mathis was 206th with a time of 22:43.