CHARLOTTE, N.C.- The #7 nationally ranked Queens University of Charlotte's men's cross country team easily won the NCAA Southeast Region Cross Country Championships for the third straight year with a low score of 28-points. The Royals defending individual champion, senior Oscar Ogwaro (Los Angeles, Calif., Woodrow Wilson), narrowly defended his title with a lean at the tape to inch out Columbus State's Meshack Koyiaki after a hard fought 10,000-meters. Both harriers clocked times of 31:14.
Columbus State finished runner-up with 70-points while Mars Hill was third with 96-points in the 23-team field. All three teams earned berths to the NCAA National Championships in Evansville, Indiana November 21 thanks to the Royals' 7th-place national finish in 2009, which awarded the Southeast Region an additional berth for the year.
The Royals amassed six All-Region awards by placing six runners in the top 15 of the 159-runner field. Senior Futsum Mebrahtu (Phoenix, Ariz., North) was third posting a mark of 31:34 on the rough hilly course, with sophomore Simon Stuetzel (Meinborn, Germany) finishing sixth in 32:19. Junior Nelson Mwangi (Kenya, Nairobi School), in his 10k debut, finished eighth in 32:33 while freshman Alex Schilling (Dresden, Germany, Sportgymnasium ) was 11th in 33:04 to complete team scoring. Freshman Brian Yates (Newton, N.C., Fred T. Ford) finished 14th in 33:17 while the Royals' seven-man, sophomore Edgar Santoyo, returning to action after a month off, finished with a surprising 29th place in 34:15.
“We've got the individual pieces to be successful nationally,” said coach Scott Simmons, “but we've got to run better as a team. We saw a lot more of that today but really need to work together at NCAAs to compete to our potential.”
NCAA Southeast Regional XC Championship
Wingate, NC - November 7, 2009 - Wingate University
Men's Results
10.00 Kilometers
(Place, Time, Bib, Name, Year, School)
Scoring Teams and Points:
1. Queens (N.C.) 28 (1 3 6 8 10 13 28)
2. Columbus St. 70 (2 4 18 22 24 47 48)
3. Mars Hill 96 (9 12 17 27 31 62 99)
4. Lees-McRae 147 (23 25 30 34 35 78 117)
5. Clayton State 178 (7 20 26 56 69 90 101)
5. UNC-Pembroke 178 (5 32 39 50 52 54 65)
7. Erskine 209 (11 16 38 53 91 123)
8. Wingate 241 (29 33 46 61 72 116 140)
9. Lenoir-Rhyne 259 (36 40 55 60 68 76 113)
10. Mount Olive 268 (21 49 57 58 83 104 111)
11. GC&SU 342 (44 70 73 74 81 87 95)
12. Anderson (S.C.) 357 (15 51 63 97 131)
13. North Georgia 363 (43 45 67 96 112 115 124)
14. Flagler 393 (42 75 84 89 103 106 130)
15. St. Andrews 403 (37 66 88 105 107 122 125)
16. Catawba 443 (19 80 98 102 144 145 149)
17. Pfeiffer 470 (77 82 85 108 118 128 143)
18. Brevard 492 (41 86 110 121 134 139)
19. Carson-Newman 503 (64 93 94 120 132)
20. Lincoln Memorial 525 (59 92 114 119 141)
21. Limestone 537 (14 126 129 133 135 138 146)
22. Francis Marion 586 (71 109 127 137 142)
23. Belmont Abbey 610 (79 100 136 147 148)
