September 22, 2008

Tiger men shine at large cross country meet

Running against a field loaded with four-year universities, the No. 4-ranked Cowley College men’s cross country team placed fourth out of 25 teams at the Missouri Southern Stampede Saturday in Joplin, Mo.
NCAA Division II schools Harding University and Missouri Southern placed first and second, respectively. NAIA school Drury University placed third, just 12 points ahead of the Tigers.

Cowley placed fourth despite running without two of its top-five runners in Rolando Vasquez and Isbek Salinas.

“We made a statement at the meet,” Cowley head coach Vince DeGrado said. “It’s going to be really exciting when we get our entire team together.”

Sophomore Jonathan Cherono ran an outstanding race as he placed second behind only Harding University’s Daniel Kirwa. Cherono finished the five-mile race in a time of 24 minutes and 17 seconds.

“Jonathan is extremely talented and showed he will be one of the nations best runners,” DeGrado said.

Cowley sophomore Johnny Purvis was the first American runner to finish the race as he placed eighth with a time of 25:13.3.

“Johnny really made a statement with that race,” DeGrado said.

Freshman Dustin Mettler placed 18th with a time of 25:47.9 and became the first American born freshman to break 26 minutes in the five-mile run in the program’s history.

“Dustin is everything I thought he would be,” DeGrado said.

Nate Newland also ran well in his first five-mile race at the collegiate level, as he placed 46th with a time of 26:38.1.

The Tiger men will look to build off of the solid performance when they return to action Oct. 4 at the Oklahoma State University Jamboree.

Cowley results:
(2) Jonathan Cherono, 24:27; (8) Johnny Purvis, 25:23.3; (18) Dustin Mettler, 25:57.9; (46) Nate Newland, 26:48.1; (81) Justin Cacaro, 27:36.6; (100) Cianan Kutil, 28:11.1; (142) Phillip Banowetz, 29:06.4.

Top-10 team scores: Harding University, 38; (2) Missouri Southern State University, 103; (3) Drury University, 115; (4) Cowley, 136; (5) Southwest Baptist University, 148; (6) Lindenwood, 157; (7) Pittsburg State, 180; (8) Missouri S&T, 181; (9) Southern Nazarene, 295; (10) Southwestern, 308.