PITTSBURG — The Pittsburg State University men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Joplin, Mo., Saturday (Sept. 19) to compete in the 37th Annual Missouri Southern State University Stampede. The women's five-kilometer race will start at 8:10 a.m. (CDT) with the men's eight-kilometer race to begin the day at 7:30 a.m.

The Pitt State women enter the meet ranked No. 9 in the most recent United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division II Top 30 poll, while the Pitt State men are ranked No. 19.

This will be the second competition of the season for the Gorillas squads after both teams sent partial units to the Distance After Dark at Tulsa, Okla. on Sept. 3.

Despite holding back several veteran athletes from both squads, the Pitt State men logged a second-place team finish among 14 competing schools, while the Pitt State women finished sixth overall.

Freshmen Brody Deniston, Zach Anderson and Reyes Martinez finished among the top 11 individuals in the men's four-mile race. Deniston crossed the finish line in second place in 20 minutes, 16.6 seconds, while Anderson placed seventh in 20:28.8 and Martinez finished 11^th in 20:41.9.

In the women's five-kilometer race, freshman Brooke Hedger paced the Gorillas with a 22^nd-place time of 18:53.6. Freshman Ava Mierau crossed the line 27^th in 19:07.9 and freshman Lilith Johnson finished 31^st (19:15.3).