CHARLOTTE, N.C.- Despite spells of bad luck including losing national track champion Michael Crouch to a hernia and having a top-man go down in the final mile, Queens University of Charlotte’s men’s cross country team pulled out a seventh place finish at the NCAA DII National Cross Country Championship in Evansville, Indiana. The finish matched both the Royals’ final season ranking and their finish from the 2008 championships.
The Royals finished seventh behind the seventh-place All-American performance of senior Oscar Ogwaro (Los Angeles, Calif., Woodrow Wilson), who managed the hilly 10,000-meter course with a time of 31:18.0. Teammates Ogwaro and senior Futsum Mebrahtu (Phoenix, Ariz., North) patiently moved up into the top 15 over the first 8,000-meters, only to have Mebrahtu fall out of the race less than a mile from the finish with an injury.
“Futsum’s loss is probably the hardest thing for our team to take. Our entire team knows how much this meant to him,” said coach Scott Simmons. “When you live and breathe and bleed together, your teammate’s goals become your goals.”
The Royals, however, stepped up to fill the gap with freshman Alex Schilling (Dresden, Germany, Sportgymnasium ) taking 59th in 32:57, junior Nelson Mwangi (Kenya, Nairobi School) 76th at 33:15.0, Simon Stuetzel (Meinborn, Germany) 80th at 33:20.7 and senior Matthew Rowell (Show Low, Ariz. , Blue Ridge ) 96th at 33:40.8.
“All things considered, we gave it everything we had today,” said coach Scott Simmons. “It is never easy to miss your goals, but the effort and commitment that these guys put in all season make them successful in my book. It’s that effort that kept us in the game and kept us top 10 in the nation. I am extremely proud of them all for that.”