October 28, 2008

Cowley men’s cross country repeats as conference/region champion

Getting strong races from each of its seven runners, the Cowley College men’s cross country team captured its third straight Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division title as well as its second straight Region VI championship Monday in Colby.

The Tigers finished 22 points better than Johnson County in the conference, while Cowley and Garden City tied for first in the region.

“It was a heck of a race, we competed well,” Cowley head coach Vince DeGrado said. “Being conference and regional champions was one of our goals at the beginning of the season.”

Tiger sophomore Jonathan Cherono was the individual conference champion and placed third in the region with a time of 24:38.40 in the five-mile race.

“Jonathan is doing what we knew he could do, he has been running amazing,” DeGrado said.

Joining Cherono with all-conference and all-region honors were fellow Tigers’ Dustin Mettler (25:58.80), Johnny Purvis (25:59.00), Justin Cacaro (26:23.42), and Rolando Vasquez (16:32.38).

Mettler and Purvis placed second and third behind Cherono in the conference, while Cacaro and Vasquez finished fifth and sixth. This marks the second straight year that Purvis has been named an all-conference/all-region runner.

Isbek Salinas (27:15.20) and Nate Newland (27:30.72) also ran good races for the Tigers as they finished in the top-12 in the conference and amongst the top-24 runners in the region.

DeGrado is proud of the hard work and commitment shown by this year’s team.

“We have a lot more unity and team chemistry this year,” DeGrado said. “I am having more fun than I have ever had as a coach.”

DeGrado said there will be several teams vying for the top-three spots at the NJCAA National Championships, which will be held Nov. 8 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“We have a chance to win it or place sixth, it’s going to be that close,” DeGrado said.

Men’s Region VI team scores:
(1 tie) Cowley, 45; (1tie) Garden City, 45; (3) Butler County, 72; (4) Johnson County, 82; (5) Colby, 174; (6) Hutchinson, 192; (7) Coffeyville, 197; (8) Cloud County, 224; (9) Neosho County, 243; (10) Highland, 268; (11) Allen County, 315; (12) Pratt, 340.

Men’s Jayhawk East team scores: (1) Cowley, 17; (2) Johnson, 39; (3) Coffeyville, 89; (4) Neosho, 120; (5) Highland, 130; (6) Allen County, 158.