Sioux Falls, SD – The University of Sioux Falls Men's and Women's Cross Country teams will travel to Joplin, Missouri for the 2021 NCAA DII Central Region Cross Country Championship on Saturday. The Women's 6K will begin at 10:00am CST followed by the Men's 10K at 11:15am.

Follow along - click here for region info (results, schedule, scoring) NCAA DII Central Region website or live scoring.
 
Missouri Southern State University will host the event at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, MO on Saturday November 6^th. The Cougars enter the regional competition after placing  3^rd (men) and 6^th (women) at the NSIC Championships two weeks ago in Wayne, Neb.
 
The USF Men's team, which has placed placed in the top five five times advanced to NCAA DII nationals (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019), placed 3^rd at the NSIC Championships on the strength of four top-25 finishes. Aaron Voigt led the charge with a 12^th place finish in 25:36.77. Also placing top-25 in the 8k were David Ecker in 18^th (25:56.93), Jakob Hanna in 20^th (26:12.38), and freshman Chase Lather in 25^th with a career-best 26:30.76.
 
Other men's results included: Micade Shumway, 31^st, 26:42.29; Christian Lietz, 39^th, 26:52.01; Ben Morrison, 42^nd, 27:02.78; Caleb Rivera, 43^rd, 27:03.94; Kade Bullion, 50^th, 27:21.87; Miles Olofson, 57^th, 27:28.60; Zach Matzner, 80^th, 28:11.93; and Justin Steffensmeier, 93^rd, 28:51.85.
 
The USF Women's team, which finished 16th at the NCAA regionals in 2019, claimed 6^th place in the 2021 conference meet with Morgan Gehl and Khot Juac leading the Cougars in the 6k as they had done nearly all year. Gehl finished in 22:58.20 to take 22^nd place while Juac took 33^rd in 23:25.18.
 
Other women's results included: Annika Aho, 53^rd in 24:09.66; sophomore Karlee Simmons, 63^rd in 24:31.79; junior Tianna Voigt, 65^th, in 24:36.25; Jessica Lutmer, 73^rd, 24:59.61; and Zoe Cigard, 80^th, 25:14.09
 
Regular season meet leaders for USF:

Augustana Twilight
Men – Morrison, 21^st, 20:24.06
Women – Gehl, 9^th, 18:42.51
 
SDSU Classic
Men – Morrison, 13^th, 26:02.00
Women – Gehl, 8^th, 18:30.83
 
Roy Griak
Men – Voigt, 29^th, 26:21.50
Women – Gehl, 8^th, 22:47.20
 
Dordt Invite (split squad)
Men – Justin Steffensmeier, 49^th, 27:56.28
Women – Moriah Bullerman, 43^rd, 20:35.76
 
Lewis Crossover (split squad)
Men – Voigt, 10^th, 25:22.00
Women – Gehl, 32^nd, 23:09.04
 
Top finishers from this event will receive invites to the 2021 NCAA DII National Championships in Tampa, Florida. Stay tuned to USFCougars.com for updates after the event!