November 10, 2008

Men’s cross country team places fourth at nationals

Completing a stellar season, the Cowley College men’s cross country team placed fourth out of 33 teams at the NJCAA Cross Country National Championships held Saturday in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

After capturing conference and regional titles, placing fourth at the national championships capped a terrific season for the Tigers.

“This year has been so much fun for me, I was happy we finished better (at nationals) than last year,” said first year head coach Vince DeGrado.

Paradise Valley Community College won the national championship, while South Plains Community College and Garden City Community College finished second and third, respectively.

The Tigers were led by sophomore Jonathan Cherono’s fifth place finish in the five-mile race. Cherono finished with a time of 24:34 and earned NJCAA All-American honors.

Johnny Purvis (25:31), Dustin Mettler (26:20), and Justin Cacaro (26:36) earned NJCAA Coaches Association All-American honors for finishing amongst the top-25 American runners. Purvis placed 20th in the men’s race, while Mettler and Cacaro finished 41st and 45th, respectively.

“We wanted to prove we can run fast with our Americans and we did that,” DeGrado said.

Cherono and Purvis completed their impressive cross country careers with a bang. Cherono leaves Cowley as the second fastest runner in the program’s history, while Purvis ranks as the fifth fastest runner and top-American runner the Tigers have ever had.

“They ran great, I am going to miss coaching them and watching them run,” DeGrado said.

Along with losing Cherono and Purvis to graduation, Cowley will also say goodbye to fellow sophomores Nate Newland, Rolando Vasquez and Cacaro.

“Those guys set the standard for the freshmen,” DeGrado said.

Newland placed 59th at the meet with a time of 26:57, while Isbek Salinas (27:12, 71st place) and Rolando Vasquez (28:56, 171st place) rounded out the Tiger runners at the meet.

Cherono, Cacaro, Purvis and Newland will compete at the NJCAA Half Marathon Classic Nov. 22 in Overland Park.

Top-10 team scores: (1) Paradise Valley, 97; (2) South Plains, 109; (3) Garden City, 147; (40 Cowley, 157; (5) Rend Lake, 157; (6) Iowa Central, 172; (7) Butler, 222; (8) Central Arizona, 225; (9) El Paso, 231; (10) Lansing, 241.