The NCAA News - News Features

No. 5 is the charm for Adams State, South Dakota State

Grizzlies' women's team records fifth straight title in Division II

Placing five runners among the top 16 individual finishers, Adams State kept its perfect Division II Women's Cross Country Championships record intact by coasting to its fifth consecutive title November 23 at Humboldt State.

Adams State, which has won every year since it became an NCAA member in 1992, registered 35 points to easily outdistance runner-up Western State (94 points). The Grizzlies' team score is the lowest since 1989, when Cal Poly San Luis Obispo won with 34 points.

Western State's runner-up showing is the fifth consecutive top-three finish for the Mountaineers, whose men's team won fourth place nationally in competition the same day.

Adams State and Western State have finished Nos. 1 and 2 at three of the last five championships.

Denise Summers of Adams State gave the Grizzlies a sweep of the championships by winning the individual championship. Summers outdistanced runner-up Kasia Arient of Lewis, a freshman, by nearly 14 seconds.

Lewis, competing at the championships for the first time as a team, finished third. North Dakota and South Dakota State rounded out the top five. South Dakota State and Lewis finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the men's championships.

Summers, who placed 12th individually at the 1995 championships, became Adams State's first individual champion. Only a junior, Summers covered the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes, 46.8 seconds.

Kimberly Bugg, Nikole Sterling, Nara Hawker and Ruby Failing joined Summers in clinching the Grizzlies' victory.

Bugg, a sophomore, finished seventh individually -- an improvement of nine places from her 1995 performance. She finished the 5,000-meter race in 18:26.5.

Sterling, a senior, finished 12th with a time of 18:34.0. The showing marked the third consecutive time that Sterling finished among the top 12 individually.

Hawker, a junior, and Failing, a freshman, occupied the 14th and 16th positions, respectively, recording times of 18:42.2 and 18:46.9. Hawker's finish was an improvement of nine places from her 1995 performance.

Western State and Lewis each placed two runners among the top-five individual finishers. Maria Lopez and Nicole Jefferson placed third and fourth, respectively, for the Mountaineers.

Arient and Magdalena Paszta finished second and fifth, respectively, for Lewis.

Jackrabbits run away with men's crown

South Dakota State men's cross country team, known as the Jackrabbits, showed the strong legs in winning the Division II Men's Cross Country Championships November 23 at Humboldt State.

Displaying team balance and strength, South Dakota State placed five runners among the top 41 individuals in team competition and the top 51 runners overall to win a record fifth team championship. The Jackrabbits have appeared in all 39 championships since 1958.

The Jackrabbits totaled 119 points, 23 fewer than runner-up Lewis (142 points). South Dakota State's points total is the highest for a titlist in championships history.

Alexandr Alexin of Central Missouri State, who placed fifth individually as a freshman in 1995, won the individual championship. Alexin, the first Mules runner to win the individual crown, covered the 10,000-meter course in 31 minutes, 23.6 seconds, nearly three seconds faster than runner-up Elly Rono of Southern Indiana.

Second-place Lewis, whose women's team finished third in competition the same day, earned its highest cross country finish ever. Lewis' previous best showing was a fourth-place finish in 1992.

Cal Poly Pomona placed third, its highest finish since winning the team title in 1983. The Broncos amassed 145 points.

Western State, the 1995 champion, finished fourth with 164 points, while Mankato State accumulated 188 points to round out the top five.

Mark McKeown, a sophomore, led the charge for South Dakota State. After placing 34th overall in 1995, McKeown finished sixth this year with a time of 31:49.3. McKeown was one of four sophomores who finished in the top 10. Alexin, Rono and Musa Gwanzura of Abilene Christian, who placed ninth, were the others.

Seniors Alan Gross, Jason Massmann and James DeMarco and freshman Nicholas Burrow teamed with McKeown to give the Jackrabbits their first championship since 1989.

Gross and Massmann each earned top-30 finishes, placing 24th and 29th overall, respectively, with DeMarco and Burrow finishing 40th and 51st. The trio of Gross, Massmann and DeMarco finished within 21 seconds of each other.