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Women’s cross country earns runner-up finish

WINFIELD, Kan. (Oct. 24, 2009) – The women’s and men’s cross country teams ran to second and fourth place finishes, respectively, at the Mid-States Classic cross country meet on Saturday morning in Winfield, Kan.

The OC women’s team ran to a runner-up team finish behind several personal bests and a great overall team effort. Nicole Lair led the Lady Eagles’ pack with a ninth place finish in the 171 runner field. Lair finished the five-kilometer distance in 19:13.

To follow up Lair, Melyssa Cardenas finished with a 19:29 to earn a 16th place overall. Not far behind Cardenas, Irene Masai kicked in a 19:40 finish just a few places behind in 23rd. To finish out the top five for the Lady Eagles, Kaili Tucker (20:03) and Rachel Snider (20:06) finished one after the other with respective 37th and 39th place finishes.

Lena Baskin rolled in an 84th place finish with a time of 21:34. To finish out the Lady Eagles’ squad, Cady Block (21:58) came in 103rd followed by Kaci Shough (26:04) who placed 159th overall. “The Lady Eagles took their running to a whole new level today. We talked about a very specific race plan, and they all executed it perfectly. During the last mile, if I told them they needed to catch the runner in front of them, or two runners, or four, they responded and got the job done,” said head coach Mark Thompson. “It was a great day for the team, and Coach Clark and I are so proud.”

In the men’s race, Silas Kisorio paced the field crossing the line first with a 24:50 over twenty seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Freshman David McWilliams raced to a 16th place finish, coming in second for the Eagles, with a 26:06. Steps behind McWilliams was Geoffrey Njonjo who placed 18th in 26:11.

Next for the Eagles was Brayden Barrientez who placed 35th with a 26:37 effort. The Eagles’ number five runner was Joseph Zarazua who covered the eight kilometers in 27:21 placing 60th.

To round out the Eagles’ top seven runners, Andy Schmidt (27:37) and Evan Fike (27:40) ran to 71st and 75th place finishes. The men’s team took fourth only four points behind the meet champion, Colorado College. “The Men’s race must be one of the closest in cross-country history, and it sets the stage for a thrilling three-way battle at the SAC conference meet in two weeks,” said Thompson. “We have our work cut out for us over the next two weeks of training, and it will take our very best effort top to bottom at the conference meet. Our men battled hard today but fell short. We need a few guys to step up their game.”

The Oklahoma Christian cross country teams turn their focus on to the conference meet held in Lubbock, Texas on Friday, Nov. 6. The conference champions earn an automatic bid to the NAIA national championships held in Vancouver, Wash. on Nov. 21.

-OC-