WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Consider it another mission accomplished for No. 17 Midwestern State.

The strong finishing Mustangs gained 20 points on Missouri Southern over the last 3 kilometers to finish runner-up at the 2010 NCAA Division II South Central Regional ran at the Keith Memorial Golf Course.

"One of our goals was was to make national and we've accomplished everything so far," MSU coach Koby Styles said. "Now, we just need to represent Midwestern in Louisville."

The Mustangs finished 42 points behind ninth-ranked Pittsburg State as the Gorillas amassed 66 points to MSU's 108.

Still, Midwestern will compete in its second national meet set for Dec. 4 at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park as part of the NCAA Divison II Fall Sports Festival in Louisville, Ky. That race will begin at noon.

Midwestern's No. 1 and 1A combo of junior Brissia Montalvo and senior Sydnee Cole finished seventh and eighth respectively to earn all-region honors finishing the 6K course in 22:42.15 and 22:44.57, respectively.

Freshman Ashley Flores narrowly missed all-region accolades finishing 16th with a time of 23:06.99 just five second behind Abilene Christian's Alyse Goldsmith for the final spot.

The Mustangs received a lift at the Nos. 4 and 5 position as Janel Campbell and Lindsey Pate narrowed the gap time to 1:24 over the final 3,000 meters to finish 38th and 39th with times of 24:03.05 and 24:06.02, respectively.

"Lindsey Pate ran the race of her life," Styles said. "She ran lights out and just like she did her freshman year."

Pate has recooped from injuries throughout the season, but landed in the MSU top five for the second time this season. She was the LSC Freshman of the Year and an all-region performer as a freshman in 2008.

The Fort Worth native once again will lead her team to the national meet where the Mustangs finished 15th at Slippery Rock, Pa. in 2008.

Freshman Cara Mack finished 60th with a time of 24:39.38, while Melody Caldwell ran 106th with a time of 26:08.06 to round out MSU finishers.

The Mustangs finished 22 points ahead of the South Central Region's third nationally qualifier in Missouri Southern, which tallied 130 points.

The Lions were trailed by Truman (Mo.), Northwest Missouri, Dallas Baptist, Fort Hays State, Angelo State, Abilene Christian and Nebraska-Omaha to round out the top 10.