Tiger cross country teams led by experienced group

Coming off a pair of top-five finishes at last year’s NJCAA Division I National Cross Country Championships, the Cowley College men and women’s cross country teams expect to repeat last year’s success.

Both squads will open its season at the Allen County Invitational Friday in Iola. The women’s race will begin at 6:45 p.m. with the men’s race to follow at 7:15 p.m.

The Tiger men’s cross country team, which is the defending Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division champion, will be led by returning sophomores Daniel Maina and Stanley Mugo. Maina was the conference champion as a freshman, while Mugo finished second at the conference meet. Maina garnered All-American honors by finishing as the national runner-up and Mugo earned NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American honors by placing 12th nationally.

“With Daniel and Stanley up front and you throw Jonathan Cherono into the mix, we have the strength of our team coming back,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said. “It’s been a true pleasure to work with those kids, they are good people, good students, and wonderful runners.”

Mauricio Morales, who earned All-Conference honors as a freshman, also returns to the squad. “He had a wonderful freshman year and did a real nice job in track,” Phillips said. “He had a great summer training and we look for him to step up and fill in where Dustin (Garcia) was last year.”

Sophomore Brett Koehn is coming off a small stress fracture suffered during the track season, but appears healthy heading into the season. “We think he will come back and have a heck of a sophomore year because he was just getting better and better all last year,” Phillips said.

Gilbert Manzanares will also be expected to contribute to the team after gaining valuable experience as a freshman.

Along with the returning runners, Phillips is extremely optimistic about the potential of the freshmen.

“This incoming group of guys is the absolute best that has walked through these doors from top to bottom,” Phillips said.

Johnny Purvis, a three-time state-champion from Arkansas that was recruited from some major NCAA Division I schools, highlights the freshman class. “If Johnny stays healthy he could possibly be one of the top finishing U.S. citizens at the national meet,” Phillips said.

Rolondo Vasquez from Altus, Okla. also has a chance to be one of the Tigers’ top-seven runners. “He’s very talented, ran faster than Dustin and Mauricio did out of high school,” Phillips said.

Tristan Wall, who had a stellar high school career at Winfield, will also be a valuable addition to the squad. Justin Cacaro from Cordova, Tenn. also had good credentials coming out of high school.

“These guys did some pretty decent things in high school and we think can come in and really contribute and make a competitive atmosphere for the 4-through-7 spots,” Phillips said. “That’s where you win championships.”

With talented runners throughout its roster, Phillips has high hopes for the men’s cross country team.

“After the track season we had and what this team is on paper, anything less than a conference championship would be a disappointment,” Phillips said. “We should match our success from last year if not step above it.”

The women’s team also expects big things as they return three runners that earned All-American honors as freshmen. Irene Kosgei, the Jayhawk East champion as a freshman, and Jeniffer Cherono each earned First-Team NJCAA All-American honors. Ashley Cronin also had a stellar freshman campaign as she earned Honorable Mention NJCAA All-American honors.

“Those three young ladies are the meat of what we do,” Phillips said. “If those three are fit and healthy, they will make noise.”

Cowley will also add Jessica McLeod from Jamaica, who has run times between where Kosgei and Cherono are.

Sophomore Christy Buller, who was hampered during last year’s cross country season due to a stress fracture she suffered in high school, continued to get better and better during the track season. Phillips believes she will step up and take one of the spots on the cross country team. “I think we will see some big improvements from Christy,” Phillips said.

Dawn Zimmerman and Bethany Schmidt also return to the squad. “We are hoping Dawn and Bethany can step up,” Phillips said.

Highly touted Janee’ Gabbard from Stroud, Okla., is a more accomplished runner coming out of high school than Cronin was, while Jamie Sherwood from Mannford, Okla. had an accomplished high school career. Kari Rinehardt from South Haven rounds out the group of incoming freshmen.

“I am excited about the incoming group,” Phillips said.

Cowley has just 11 runners on its squad, but they expect to once again challenge for the conference title and a spot among the top teams at the national championships.
“We are not as deep as we would like to be, but we have some very talented young ladies,” Phillips said. “If we can stay healthy, I will be optimistic about our possibilities.”