Men?s Cross Country Finishes Sixth at NCAA Championships
11/19/2007 12:00:00 AM
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ?? The University of Alabama men's cross country team finished in sixth place at today's NCAA National Championship race, the best finish in school history.
"I am extremely proud of this team and Coach Walker," head coach Harvey Glance said. "Today is what it is all about, this guys ran a great race and it showed. We are defiantly in position with everyone returning on this young team to win the Southeastern Conference and make a run at the NCAA title next season."
The Tide's sixth place finish at today's NCAA Championships is the top finish at a cross country championship in school history; the previous best was seventh in 1989. Alabama was in the hunt for a team national championship throughout the race. At about the 9k mark the team was around a third place finish. Over 250 athletes and 31 teams competed in today's championship race.
Alabama also finished 190 points ahead of Arkansas, the only other SEC school at today's championships, who finished in 23rd place.
Individually Alabama placed four runners near the top 50 spots of the race. Junior Augustus Maiyo was the Tide's top finisher on the day in 18th place with a time of 30:12.8 over the 10k course. With his finish today, Maiyo earns his second All-American honor of his career, also earning All-American in the 2006 outdoor track season.
Freshman Andrew Kirwa just missed All-American honors in the 36th spot with his time of 30:35.3. He was the second freshman to come across the line in today's championship race. Sophomore Emmanuel Bor was the Tide's third finisher with a time of 30:37.8, he was in the lead pack until the 9k mark reaching as high as sixth place with less than a kilometer to go, but faded a little at the end and finished 44th.
In fourth for the Tide was junior Abraham Kutingala who ran 30:42.6 over the 10k course and finished 54th. Rounding out the Tide scorers was Titus Koeh with a time of 32:00.8.
"I am extremely pleased with today's performance, we are walking away with our heads held very high," cross country coach Joe Walker said. "Our top four guys ran almost to perfection today, we slipped a little bit at the end but I am extremely proud of the team right now."
Though this was the last race for the cross country season in 2007 the outlook is bright for the 2008 team, returning all five runners who scored points today with another season of experience under their belt.
