TERRE HAUTE — The Oklahoma State men’s cross country team has been running in tight packs all season long.
Monday’s NCAA Championship race was no different, at least for the first four runners. Senior Ryan Vail took home seventh place in 29 minutes, 41 seconds, and Colby Lowe and John Kosgei were right behind in eighth and 11th to lead the Cowboys to the program’s second title.
Coach Dave Smith’s team also had Girma Mecheso in 24th place and German Fernandez in 77th, but the front-running group is what made the title come to fruition.
“We talked before the race about letting Ryan Vail lead the way,” Smith said. “He is experienced and poised and he won’t make any mistakes. We said if you let him lead you, you’ll be OK.”
Fernandez, a high school phenom from California, has battled injuries all season, Smith said. It’s been Vail that has been the lead Cowboy.
“This has been the goal since we all got to Stillwater,” Vail said. “First, we won the Big 12, which nobody other than Colorado had done. Then, nobody thought we could beat Stanford or Oregon at NCAAs, but here we are.”
OSU was eighth last year after arriving in Terre Haute as the second-ranked team. This year, it was top-ranked Stanford that took struggled under high expectations. The Cardinal took 10th place, although sophomore Chris Derrick finished in third place.
“I told the guys before the race that the advantage that we had over Stanford and the other teams was that we went through this last year,” Smith said. “We had all the pressure and all the expectations last season and it was our first time around. We didn’t handle it well. This time, we were ready for the experience, and we were able to maintain our poise and composure and keep the right frame of mind.”
Sam Chelanga took the drama out of the individual race, shattering the 10,000-meter course record set when Galen Rupp of Oregon outkicked Chelanga to the line in 2008. Chelanga ran a time of 28:41.30 to break Rupp’s mark of 29:03.2
Chelanga, a Kenyan native and senior for Liberty University, pulled away from the pack after leading it to a 4:54 opening mile on the first of two 5,000-meter laps of the LaVern Gibson Championship Course. Chelanga has sprinted out to opening miles under 4:30 before in Terre Haute, so this was his conservative race plan.
“I was hoping to run my last mile faster than my first mile,” Chelanga said afterward.
Indiana State senior Eric Schulz got off to a slow start. Close to 400 runners head down the wide straightaway at the start of the race before filtering into a right-hand turn.
Schulz placed 151st in a time of 31:23.7.
“I moved throughout the race so I’m happy. I left it all on the course,” Schulz said.
Another Missouri Valley Conference runner, Jeff Schirmer of Southern Illinois ran a time of 30:00.2 for 19th place and All-American status. The top 40 runners are All-American.
2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships
Monday
At LaVern Gibson Championship Course
Men
Team scores — Oklahoma State 127, Oregon 143, Alabama 173, Northern Arizona 190, William & Mary 226, Colorado 315, Wisconsin 321, New Mexico 350, Iona 350, Stanford 354, Villanova 359,
Oklahoma 386, Portland 394, Syracuse 405, Virginia 408, Iowa State 430, BYU 468, Washington 470, Arizona State 472, Providence 482, Ohio State 483,
Georgetown 485, Louisville 490, Minnesota 493, Auburn 504, Arkansas 535, North Carolina State 539, Texas 605, Duke 605, Florida State 612, Michigan State 654.
Top 40 (All-Americans) — Sam Chelanga (Liberty) 28:41.3, David McNeill (Northern Arizona) 29:06.5, Chris Derrick (Stanford) 29:14.8, Barnabas Kirui (Mississippi) 29:24.1, Jordan Chipangama (NAU) 29:33.1, Dorian Ulrey (Arkansas) 29:37.9, Brandon Bethke (ASU) 29:38.3, Andrew Bumbalough (Georgetown) 29:39.1, Ryan Vail (Okl.State) 29:40.7, Colby Lowe (Okl.State) 29:42.4,
Jacob Kirwa (New Mexico) 29:46.1, Ryan Sheridan (Iona) 29:47.4, John Kosgei (Okl.State) 29:48.3, Alfred Kipchumba (Portland) 29:50.1, Felix Kiboiywo (Auburn) 29:50.3, Hassan Mead (Minnesota) 29:50.7, Jon Grey (William & Mary) 29:51.4, Ben Cheruiyot (Auburn) 29:55.7, Jeff Schirmer (SIU) 30:00.2, Evans Kigen (Liberty) 20:01.0,
Luke Puskedra (Oregon) 20:01.9, Tyson David (Alabama) 30:03.7, Ryan Hill (N.C. State) 30:04.6, Cory Thorne (Louisville) 30:05.3, Emmanuel Bor (Alabama) 30:05.8, Moses Kiptoo (Alabama) 30:08.6, Matthew Centrowitz (Oregon) 30:09.5, Girma Mecheso (Okl.State) 30:13.6, Kenny Klotz (Oregon) 30:13.9,
Mohammed Ahmed (Wisconsin) 30:14.4, Danny Mercado (Oregon) 30:15.4, Jeff See (Ohio State) 30:16.6, Michael Krisch (Georgetown) 30:18.3, Patterson Wilhelm (William & Mary) 30:18.9, Alexander Soderberg (Iona) 30:19.3, Mathew Mildenhall (Villanova) 30:19.4, Elliott Heath (Stanford
Local Interest
Liberty senior Sam Chelanga takes drama out of men's individual race with course record 28:41.30
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