JOPLIN, Mo. – Runnin' Rob Kraus led Southern Arkansas for the second-straight meet, true freshman Wesley Maxwell logged a consecutive solid showing in his rookie campaign and the Mulerider Men placed 18^th among a regionally tough field at the nationally-renown Southern Stampede from the Tom Rutledge XC Course on the campus of Missouri Southern State University.
 
Kraus posted a time of 26:20.84 to place 62^nd overall among the 141-runner field. Maxwell snuck inside the field's top 100 with a 98^th place finish in 27:09.20. Classmate Michael Marler was 14 seconds back of Maxwell in 27:23.29 which earned him a 105^th place result.
 
Senior Hector Hernandez posted a time of 27:32.25 to place 111^th, while sophomore Jorge Sanchez rounded out point-scoring performances for Southern Arkansas with a 114^th place finish in 27:40.34.
 
Two more true freshmen, Pedro Robles and Joseph Garay, placed sixth and seventh in the Muleriders' order. Robles finished in 28:12.40 to place 124^th. Garay's time of 29:10.98 landed him in 133^rd.
 
The Muleriders' top five averaged 27:13.18 in its 8K efforts. Southern Arkansas topped Arkansas-Fort Smith, Rockhurst and Northwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Southern Arkansas prepares for another nationally-renown race as the Chile Pepper Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas awaits on Friday, September 30 in Fayetteville.