The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 6, 1999

Western State sweeps another men's cross country title

Western State used a sweep of the top three places to record its second Division II Men's Cross Country Championships title November 20 at Missouri Southern State.

In addition to the 1-2-3 finish, Western State's fourth and fifth runners also placed in the top 14. The Mountaineers' team score of 27 points gave them a margin of 68 points over runner-up and defending champion Adams State. It was the third-lowest winning score in the 42-year history of the championships.

Western State's impressive performance was accomplished almost completely by underclassmen. Sophomore Michael Aish became the institution's first individual champion, covering the 10,000-meter course in 29 minutes, 19.0 seconds. Aish placed eighth in 1998 when the Mountaineers took second place.

Rees Buck, the lone Western State senior to compete in the championships, trailed his teammate by 27.1 seconds in crossing the finish line in second place. Joseph LeRoux, also a sophomore, was next with a time of 29:58.9.

Jim Shine, a junior, also cracked the top 10 for Western State by placing ninth. Freshman Rubin McRae was the team's final scorer in the 14th position.

The Mountaineers' domination of the championship was further illustrated in that their two nonscorers -- freshman Scott Nagelkerke and sophomore Gustav Berggren -- finished 17th and 22nd, respectively.

Adams State's effort was paced by a pair of juniors. Brandon Leslie came in fifth and Jason Hubbard sixth for the Grizzlies, which had won four of the last seven Division II titles.

Edinboro sophomore Yi Min Wu, the defending individual champion, placed fourth behind the Western State trio.

Western State, which won its first crown in 1995, extended its streak of finishing no worse than fourth to eight championships.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Western St., 27; 2. Adams St., 95; 3. Minn. St.-Mankato, 107; 4. (tie) Abilene Christian and Lewis, 174; 6. Cal. St. Chico, 182; 7. Central Mo. St., 206; 8. Edinboro, 227; 9. Augustana (S.D.), 237; 10. UC Davis, 251.

11. South Dakota, 276; 12. Kennesaw St., 293; 13. Lock Haven, 331; 14. Neb.-Kearney, 337; 15. Southern Conn. St., 339; 16. South Dakota St., 362; 17. N.M. Highlands, 425.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

1. Michael Aish, Western St., 29:19.0; 2. Rees Buck, Western St., 29:46.1; 3. Joseph LeRoux, Western St., 29:58.9; 4. Yi Min Wu, Edinboro, 30:12.5; 5. Brandon Leslie, Adams St., 30:15.7; 6. Jason Hubbard, Adams St., 30:26.4; 7. Alfred Rugema, Abilene Christian, 30:30.8; 8. Colin Jones, Lewis, 30:39.1; 9. Jim Shine, Western St., 30:40.5; 10. Joseph Kogo, Minn. St.-Mankato, 30:42.5.

11. Trent Briney, UC-Colo. Spgs., 30:42.6; 12. James Mullenix, Minn. St.-Mankato, 30:43.3; 13. Jim Carney, Millersville, 30:44.6; 14. Rubin McRae, Western St., 30:46.0; 15. Marty Rosendahl, Minn. St.-Mankato, 30:57.0; 16. Arturo Cabral, Lewis, 30:58.3; 17. Scott Nagelkerke, Western St., 31:06.7; 18. Julio Serratos, Adams St., 31:07.7; 19. Gilbert Tuhabonye, Abilene Christian, 31:08.2; 20. Paul Bennett, Central Mo. St., 31:09.9.

21. Jari Venalainen, Kennesaw St., 31:10.9; 22. Gustav Berggren, Western St., 31:12.3; 23. Jerry Maritim, Harding, 31:14.7; 24. Carl Blackhurst, Adams St., 31:18.2; 25. Daniel Embaye, Cal St. Chico, 31:20.1; 26. Andy Doering, Truman, 31:21.4; 27. Jose Saeaz, Cal St. Chico, 31:21.9; 28. Chris Sutherland, Minn. St.-Mankato, 31:24.0; 29. Tim Miller, Humboldt St., 31:26.2; 30. David Braund, Cal St. Chico, 31:28.3.

31. Dustin Blair, Southern Conn. St., 31:30.0; 32. Jason Probasco, South Dakota, 31:33.1; 33. Mike Cropper, Lewis, 31:35.0; 34. Ryan Knight, Ashland, 31:39.8; 35. Kevin Doe, South Dakota St., 31:41.6; 36. Barnabas Menjo, Abilene Christian, 31:44.2; 37. Nick Cordes, Ashland, 31:45.6; 38. Alhaji Alhassan, St. Augustine's, 31:49.1; 39. Mark Scharnberg, Augustana (S.D.), 31:50.4; 40. Matt Genrich, Augustana (S.D.), 31:55.2.

41. Steve Moyer, Lock Haven, 31:56.6; 42. Jacob Nay, West Ga., 31:59.0; 43. Joe Mack, Central Mo. St., 32:01.3; 44. Craig Binkley, Augustana (S.D.), 32:01.6; 45. Mikko Virta, Kennesaw St., 32:01.7; 46. Omar Munoz, N.M. Highlands, 32:02.0; 47. Jeff Kaiser, UC Davis, 32:02.9; 48. Noah Randles, South Dakota, 32:03.0; 49. Francis Kimeli, Abilene Christian, 32:06.9; 50. Ryan Miller, UC Davis, 32:09.3.

51. Aaron Rowe, Edinboro, 32:09.7; 52. Jay Hill, Central Mo. St., 32:11.3; 53. Matt Lucas, Central Mo. St., 32:12.1; 54. Joe Cooper, Neb.-Kearney, 32:13.5; 55. John Kuehn, UC Davis, 32:14.0; 56. Austin Vigil, Adams St., 32:17.2; 57. Tim Cron, Edinboro, 32:18.2; 58. Joe Alexander, Minn. St.-Mankato, 32:18.9; 59. Todd Trapp, Augustana (S.D.), 32:20.0; 60. Tom Baginski, Lewis, 32:22.4.

61. Jason Chaput, Minn. St.-Mankato, 32:25.4; 62. Eric Loeffler, North Dakota St., 32:27.5; 63. Job Tuwei, Minn. St.-Mankato, 32:28.5; 64. Chris Gabriel, Adams St., 32:29.3; 65. Kevin White, Cal St. Chico, 32:29.7; 66. Gary Woerner, Kennesaw St., 32:29.9; 67. Brent Edson, Cal St. Chico, 32:32.9; 68. Heath Stukenholtz, Neb.-Kearney, 32:34.9; 69. Jacob Christensen, South Dakota, 32:35.9; 70. Solomon Richards, South Dakota, 32:40.0.

71. Jason Kruger, North Dakota, 32:42.5; 72. Andrew Blau, South Dakota St., 32:42.6; 73. Adrian DeWald, UC Davis, 32:43.5; 74. Daryl Myer, Edinboro, 32:46.3; 75. Paul Wellman, UC Davis, 32:50.5; 76. Jerome Schumacher, Southern Conn. St., 32:55.3; 77. Rob Mortensen, Lock Haven, 32:56.6; 78. Brayce Forsha, Central Mo. St., 32:56.9; 79. Ryan Comstock, Lock Haven, 32:57.2; 80. Louie White, Humboldt St., 32:57.5.

81. Rafael Lopez, Cal St. Chico, 32:57.7; 82. Ryan Kelly, Edinboro, 32:57.9; 83. Scott Schneider, Neb.-Kearney, 33:03.5; 84. Nick Brown, Southern Conn St., 33:03.6; 85. Curtis Clark, Lewis, 33:04.2; 86. Michael Wojciechowski, UC Davis, 33:04.6; 87. Salvador Cruz, South Dakota St., 33:05.1; 88. Adam Metcalf, N.M. Highlands, 33:05.5; 89. Nat Wibberly, Edinboro, 33:10.6; 90. Chris Stager, Lock Haven, 33:13.5.

91. Shannon Stenger, Neb.-Kearney, 33:16.2; 92. Dustin Hawes, Abilene Christian, 33:18.9; 93. Mike Flynn, Southern Conn. St., 33:19.4; 94. Jarl Tuominen, Kennesaw St., 33:19.9; 95. Tyler Graff, Cal St. Chico, 33:20.2; 96. Blake Johnson, Neb.-Kearney, 33:20.8; 97. Tom Hammas, Lewis, 33:23.7; 98. Mike Gomes, Lock Haven, 33:27.6; 99. Chris Hollmann, Adams St., 33:29.7; 100. Joe Conley, Central Mo. St., 33:32.1.

101. Bradley Hartmann, Augustana (S.D.), 33:34.7; 102. Greg Winter, Central Mo. St., 33:34.9; 103. David Farnsworth, South Dakota, 33:37.3; 104. John Gorman, Neb.-Kearney, 33:40.8; 105. Martin Wennblom, South Dakota St., 33:44.3; 106. Jason Smolinsky, Lock Haven, 33:48.1; 107. Marco Lopes, Southern Conn. St., 33:56.4; 108. Adam Lindahl, South Dakota, 34:07.1; 109. Bryan Lenzo, Edinboro, 34:09.3; 110. Steven Laurie, UC Davis, 34:12.2.

111. Rudy Martinez, N.M. Highlands, 34:15.7; 112. Edwin Bii, Kennesaw St., 34:17.6; 113. Ryan Mertz, Augustana (S.D.), 34:18.9; 114. Albert Chapyator, Kennesaw St., 34:21.7; 115. Jeremy LaBuff, Abilene Christian, 34:24.8; 116. Chris Kopp, South Dakota St., 34:27.9; 117. James Eagler, Lock Haven, 34:39.4; 118. Waylon Wade, N.M. Highlands, 34:41.4; 119. Randy Billey, N.M. Highlands, 34:42.4; 120. Jeran Honeyman, South Dakota St., 34:43.1.

121. Andrew Nelson, South Dakota, 34:45.5; 122. Marvin Olnes, South Dakota St., 34:48.4; 123. Ronald Valdez, N.M. Highlands, 34:49.4; 124. Adam Boshell, Southern Conn. St., 34:52.4; 125. Darren Hancock, Lewis, 34:53.3; 126. Jesse LaBuff, Abilene Christian, 34:59.4; 127. Jones Kirui, Kennesaw St., 35:11.2; 128. Aaron Strand, Augustana (S.D.), 35:13.6; 129. Allen Hall, Southern Conn. St., 35:27.7; 130. Juan Venegas, N.M. Highlands, 35:38.5. Gary Mello, Bentley, did not finish.