Men's Cross Country Finishes 12th At NCAA Championships
Nov. 21, 2005
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. –
The University of Kansas men’s cross country team finished 12th overall at the NCAA Championships on Monday afternoon in Terre Haute, Ind., its best finish since 1989 when the team finished 10th. The meet was hosted by Indiana State University. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
The Jayhawks, currently ranked No. 19 in the nation, finished with 412 points, just six points behind Ohio State. KU finished ahead of nine teams that are ranked ahead of them.
“I’m really excited about the whole team’s effort,” head coach Stanley Redwine said after the race. “Everyone ran extremely well today. I’m very happy with Coach (Doug) Clark and his efforts to make the team better. Individually I think everyone did a great job. It was a total team effort the whole way through.”
Kansas was paced by junior Benson Chesang, who finished 39th overall in the 10k race in a time of 30:22. He was closely followed by sophomores Colby Wissel (87th, 30:53) and Paul Hefferon (88th, 30:54). Juniors Erik Sloan (155th, 31:28) and Tyler Kelly (161st, 31:30) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, for the Jayhawks. Seniors Joshy Madathil (166th, 31:32) and Cameron Schwehr (213th, 32:05) rounded out the team’s performance.
Individually, Wisconsin’s Simon Bairu defended his crown as NCAA champion. The Badgers won the team title as well with a total of 37 points.
The Jayhawks will return a very talented team next year for the 2006 season. Of the seven runners that traveled to Terre Haute, all of the top five finishers will be back for next season.
“The future is bright,” Coach Redwine added. “However, we want to make sure that the guys enjoy what they achieved today.”
The Big 12 Conference also had a great showing at the NCAA Championships. It placed four teams in the top 12, two more than any other conference.
The NCAA Championships concluded a very successful season for the men’s cross country team. The 2005 campaign included five all-region performers, three all-conference performers as well as seven runners on the Big 12 academic teams. The team will now focus its attention on the indoor track and field season, which commences with the Kansas State All Comers meet on Dec. 10.
