Tiger men win OSU Jamboree, women finish sixth

Running on one of the toughest cross country courses in the Midwest and in one of the biggest and most challenging meets of the year, the Cowley College men’s cross country team finished first out of 28 schools running in the College Division.

The Tigers finished an astounding 53 points better than runner-up Butler Community College.

“Bringing home this trophy has been one of our programs mini-goals since I have been here,” Cowley track coach Mark Phillips said. “This meet will take us a long way towards our regional and national goals as it was the first time that many of our runners have run in this size of meet at this distance.”

Cowley sophomore Daniel Maina (24:36) won his third consecutive race, while his teammate Jonathon Cherono placed second (25:16) in the five-mile race. Stanley Mugo placed fourth with a time of 25:41, and freshman Johnny Purvis placed 15th with a time of 26:25. Brett Koehn also ran well as his time of 27:00 was about a minute and a half faster than he ran at the meet as a freshman.

Lady Tiger sophomore Irene Kosgei won her second consecutive race as she finished the 3.1-mile trek with a time of 18:41. Jeniffer Cherono was the next highest Lady Tiger finisher as she placed 16th with a time of 19:36. Coach Phillips also felt Christy Buller ran a solid race as she finished with a time of 21:16.

The Cowley cross country teams will now prepare for its home meet Oct. 12 at Camp Quaker Haven. The women’s race will begin at 4 p.m. and the men’s race will follow at 4:30 p.m.

Cowley women’s results: (1) Irene Kosgei, 18:41; (16) Jeniffer Cherono, 19:36; (31) Jessica McLeod, 19:59; (60) Ashley Cronin, 20:50; (85) Christy Buller, 21:16; (97) Bethany Schmidt, 21:28; (139) Janee’ Gabbard, 23:56; (162) Dawn Zimmerman, 23:34; (168) Hannah Burr, 23:46; (181) Kari Rinehart, 24:11.

Top-10 women’s team scores: (1) Butler, 111; (2) Dallas Baptist, 124; (3) UCO, 129; (4) Tarleton State, 138; (5) The Colorado College,  150; (6) Cowley, 187; (7) West Texas A&M, 209; (8) Oklahoma Baptist, 231; (9) Incarnate Word, 233; (10) Southwestern Oklahoma, 237.

Cowley men’s results: (1) Daniel Maina, 24:36; (2) Jonathon Cherono, 25:16; (4) Stanley Mugo, 25:41; (15) Johnny Purvis, 26:25; (32) Brett Koehn, 27:00; (42) Mauricio Morales, 27:21; (48) Justin Cacaro, 27:36; (91) Harrison Philp, 28:45; (92) Tristen Wall, 28:49; (94) Gilbert Manzanares, 28:52; (114) Dakota Price, 29:16; (115) Rolando  Vasquez, 29:17.

Top-10 men’s team scores: (1) Cowley, 53; (2) Butler, 118; (3) Oklahoma Baptist, 130; (4) The Colorado College, 134; (5) Tarleton State, 188; (6) Wayland Baptist, 215; (7) Southwestern, 218; (8) Southern Nazarene, 234; (9) Dallas Baptist, 260; (10) McMurry College, 275.