September 21, 2009

Men’s cross country team impresses at Missouri Southern

Going up against several NCAA Division I and Division II schools, the NJCAA’s second-ranked Cowley College men’s cross country team placed ninth out of 35 teams at the Missouri Southern Stampede held Saturday in Joplin, MO.

The Tigers had been looking forward to competing at the Stampede for some time now.

“We circled the date of the meet on the calendar and designated it as a pre-national meet,” Cowley head coach Vince DeGrado said. “This was our first meet with our entire team and was exactly what we needed at this point in the season.”

Sophomore Dustin Mettler was the top Cowley finisher as he placed 32nd out of 359 runners. Mettler’s time of 24:59.87 in the five-mile race was the fourth fastest time in the program’s history, and the fastest time ever run by an American born runner at Cowley.

DeGrado was not surprised by Mettler’s performance.

“I knew it was going to happen at some time because he worked really hard this summer,” DeGrado said.

Freshman Josh Gracia also impressed with his performance as he placed 51st. His time of 25:21.76 makes him the fastest American born freshman in the program’s history.

“Josh is going to be something special in this program,” DeGrado said.

Brice Irving (25:44.05), Isbek Salinas (25:52.01), and Phillip Banowetz (25:54.98) also ran well and placed among the top-87 runners at the meet. While, T.J. Mapp’s time of 27:15.65 was a personal best.

“It was a great race with the perfect temperatures to run fast,” DeGrado said.

The University of Arkansas finished first at the meet, while Pittsburg State University placed second.

The Cowley runners will now prepare to defend its title at the Oklahoma State University Jamboree held Oct. 3 in Stillwater, OK. The Tigers have won the Small College portion of the meet each of the past two seasons.

“I like our chances at OSU as we look to win our third straight championship in the small college race,” DeGrado said.

Cowley results:
(32) Dustin Mettler, 24:59.87; (51) Josh Gracia, 25:21.76; (71) Brice Irving, 25:44.05; (82) Isbek Salinas, 25:52.01; (87) Phillip Banowetz, 25:54.98; (132) Cianin Kutil, 26:26.97; (151) Tyson Christensen, 26:40.15; (187) Thomas Kjerengtroeh, 27:09.48; (193) T.J. Mapp, 27:15.65); (261) Colin Jokisch, 28:32.82; (292) Peter Onelio, 29:28.33; (300) Zach Reynolds, 29:56.49.