Central Missouri State has dominated the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association men’s cross country scene in recent years, winning the last four league championships. With his top eight runners from last season returning, and only one senior in that group, Head Coach Kirk Pedersen has good reason to feel confident about his team’s chances to make it five straight conference titles in 1999. Not only have the Mules won four straight MIAA crowns, but they have also made four straight trips as a team to the NCAA Division II Championships, finishing second twice and sixth once.

Matt Lucas is the only senior on the Mules’ 1999 squad and he was the team’s most consistent runner last season, placing third at the MIAA meet. Junior Vladimir Golias placed fifth at last year’s conference meet and is a two-time track and field national champion in the steeplechase.

In addition to the top-five MIAA finishes by Lucas and Golias last year, the Mules had a fourth-place league showing from Greg Winter, now a sophomore, that was a major factor in the Mules’ championship, as he passed three runners from runner-up Northwest Missouri in the final 300 meters to give the Mules an 38-47 victory.

To go with their three top-five finishers, the Mules had Joe Conley (11^th), Brayce Forsha (15^th) and Mike Knutson (19^th) place in the top 20. Conley and Forsha are juniors, while Knutson is a sophomore. Junior Jon Lucas, Matt’s younger brother, and sophomore Joe Mack round out the Mules’ top eight runners from a year ago.

The Jennies are only slightly less of a veteran squad than the Mules, with six of last year’s top runners returning, which Pedersen hopes will result in an improvement over last year’s sixth place conference finish. Rachel Harvey had an outstanding freshman season last year, placing third at the MIAA meet and fourth at the NCAA regional.

Like the Mules, just one senior is on the 1999 Jennies’ squad, Riann Crouse. Crouse, juniors Amber Neal and Robin Fincher, and sophomore Melissa Short were in the Jennies’ top seven runners in every meet last season. Erica Foltz was in the Jennies’ top five finishers as a freshman last year until an injury sidelined her for the latter part of the campaign.