No. 6 Alabama Claims Third Consecutive NCAA South Region Title
11/14/2009 12:00:00 AM
Nov. 14, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - For the fourth time in the past five years, the No. 6 Alabama men's cross country team claimed the NCAA South Region Championship on Saturday. The meet was hosted by Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala. at the Harry Pritchett Running Park.
With the victory, it marks the eighth region title in school history. Cross country coach Joe Walker has led the Crimson Tide to six of those eight titles.
"I'm just really pleased with the way the guys raced," Walker said. :"We talked about running as a group and running smart early. We felt like we kind of flowed and moved as a group really well. I think we came out of this race with about a 90-95% effort so we're setting ourselves up well for next week."
Also for the fourth time in the past five years, the Tide had its top five athletes earn All-South Region honors. Alabama ran without their top runner today and still placed their best five in the top 12.
The Crimson Tide was paced by Andrew Kirwa who turned a finish of sixth and a time of 30:11.19 over the 10,000 meter course. Fred Samoei followed closely in seventh and a time of 30:14.63.
Julius Bor was the third finisher for Alabama as he crossed the line in ninth and a time of 30:24.56. Moses Kiptoo (11th) and Emmanuel Bor (12th) rounded out the top five finishers for the Tide posting times of 30:32.63 and 30:37.24, respectively.
Jeff Palmer (79th) and Nathan Corder (103rd) also competed for Alabama and they finished with times of 33:00.05 and 33:36.89, respectively.
In the team standings, No. 6 Alabama bested second place No. 21 Florida State by a score of 45-80. The Tide and the Seminoles automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Auburn finished third with a point total of 110 and could advance to the NCAA Championships with a wild card berth. Georgia (125) and Florida (143) rounded out the top five teams in fourth and fifth, respectively.
"When I came here to Alabama, one of the things I wanted to do was win championships," head track and field coach Harvey Glance said. "I made a full commitment to Coach Walker to do this the right way. We went and got six good guys and over the last three years, we've won two SEC championships, three region championships and two top ten finishes at NCAAs. I'm very proud of our athletes, Coach Walker and our program."
Felix Kibioywo of Auburn won the individual title with a time of 29:35.85.
"The race went really well," individual champion Kibioywo said. "We've been preparing for this and we wanted to make nationals. We were ready and I feel like everybody had a nice race."
Alabama will look for their first national title as they compete at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.
