October 24, 2006                    

Cross country men win conference title

Led by Daniel Maina being named the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division and Region VI champion, the Cowley College men's cross country team won the conference title Monday in Overland Park.

This marks the sixth straight year that a Tiger men's runner has been named the conference champion as Maina finished the 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:14. The Cowley men finished second in the region to Butler.

Stanley Mugo (second in conference, fourth in region) and Dustin Garcia (fourth in conference, 11th in region) earned all-conference and all-region honors, while Mauricio Morales (sixth in conference) also garnered all-conference honors.

The Cowley men finished eight points better than second place Johnson County, while third place Allen County finished 60 points behind the Tigers in the conference.

“Our Eastern Conference right now is a duel between Cowley and Johnson County,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said. “The guys followed coach (Ryan) Turner’s race strategy and did exactly what he asked them to do.”

Cowley’s Phillips and Turner were named Region VI Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year for the 2006 cross country season.

The Lady Tigers, which finished second in the conference to Johnson County by three points, also had the individual conference champion as Irene Kosgei won the women's race with a time of 18:46. Kosgei also earned all-region honors by placing third in the region. Freshmen Jeniffer Cherono (second in conference, fourth in region) and Ashley Cronin (fifth in conference, eighth in region) also took home all-conference and all-region honors for the Lady Tigers. The Cowley women finished third in the region behind Johnson County and region champion Butler.

“Irene and Jeniffer ran great as did Ashley,” Phillips said. “All of the ladies gave wonderful efforts, we are just young and came up just a little bit short.”

The Cowley College cross country teams will now prepare to compete Nov. 4 at the NJCAA National Championships in El Paso, Texas.

“We are very proud of our men and women and are anxious for nationals,” Phillips said.

Cowley men’s conference results: (1) Daniel Maina, 25:14, Conference Champion; (2) Stanley Mugo, 25:48, All-Conference; (4) Dustin Garcia, 26:26, All-Conference; (6) Mauricio Morales, 26:55, All-Conference; (11) Brett Koehn, 27:39; (12) Ferrien Harris, 27:42; (14) Gilbert Manzanares, 27:55.

Cowley women’s conference results: (1) Irene Kosgei, 18:47, Conference Champion; (2) Jeniffer Cherono, 18:56, All-Conference; (5) Ashley Cronin, 19:37, All-Conference; (11) Christy Buller, 20:51; (12) Patricia Dailey, 20:59; (13) Brenna Martinez, 21:03; (14) Bethany Schmidt, 21:31.

Men’s Jayhawk East team scores: (1) Cowley, 24; (2) Johnson County, 32; (3) Allen County, 84; (4) Neosho County, 122; (5) Highland, 138; Coffeyville and Fort Scott did not figure into the team scores.

Women’s Jayhawk East team scores: (1) Johnson County, 28; (2) Cowley, 31; (3) Allen County 77; Highland and Fort Scott did not figure into the team scores.

Cowley men’s Region VI results: (1) Maina, 25:14, Region VI Champion; (4) Mugo, 25:48, All-Region VI; (11) Garcia, 26:26, All-Region VI; (17) Morales, 26:55; (26) Koehn, 27:39; (29) Harris, 27:42; (32) Manzanares, 27:55.

Cowley women’s Region VI results: (3) Kosgei, 18:47, All-Region; (4) Cherono, 18:56, All-Region; (8) Cronin, 19:37, All-Region; (23) Buller, 20:51; (24) Dailey, 20:59; (26) Martinez, 21:03; (27) Schmidt, 21:31.

Men’s Region VI team scores: (1) Butler, 49; (20 Cowley, 59; (3) Johnson County, 84; (4) Garden City, 89; (5) Cloud, 143; (6) Colby, 169; (7) Allen County, 188; (8) Hutchinson, 201; (9) Pratt, 252; (10) Neosho, 274; (11) Highland, 304; Coffeyville did not figure into the team scores.

Women’s Region VI team scores: (1) Butler, 47; (2) Johnson County, 57; (3) Cowley, 62; (4) Garden City, 99; (5tie) Colby, 149; (5tie) Cloud, 149; (7) Hutchinson, 180; (8) Allen County, 202; Highland and Fort Scott did not figure into the team scores.