Both Lindenwood cross country teams could not repeat their 2008 success at the Southern Stampede on Saturday during the first varsity competition of 2009. Last season, the two squads had Top Ten showings at one of the largest cross country meets in the country, but Lindenwood's men and women fell short of that goal this year.

The men's team finished 11th out of 35 programs while the women's team was 20th out of 41 teams. Each race had 359 runners and included schools from all collegiate levels.

Individually, Mustapha Habbani was the top performer, coming in 14th in the men's race. Nicholas Yegon also had a Top 50 performance after coming in 45th. Habbani completed the race in 24:21 and Yegon's mark was 25:14. Brian Soule, Benoit Ponton, and Ryan Irvine all broke 27:00 for the Lions to round out the top five on the team.

The women's team was led by Yasmina Elkasmi who broke 20 minutes with a mark of 19:29 and finished 72nd overall. Annabelle Delarue and Jan Bennett were each under 21 minutes and Caitlyn Sandquist and Rachel Hemphill completed the race in less than 22 minutes.

Lindenwood will be in action again on Oct. 3 at the Greater Louisville Classic hosted by NCAA Division I Louisville.