October 26, 2009

Men’s cross country team captures fourth straight conference title

With its top-four runners earning all-conference and all-region honors, the No. 4-ranked Cowley College men’s cross country team captured its fourth straight Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division title and finished a close second in the region to Garden City Community College Saturday in Overland Park.

Cowley finished 27 points better than second place Johnson County in the conference, and only five points behind Garden City in the region.

Although the Tigers had its string of back-to-back region titles come to an end, Cowley head coach Vince DeGrado was proud of his team’s performance.

“I am actually happier getting second this year than I was at tying for the region championship last year because I felt everybody really competed well,” DeGrado said.

Sophomore Dustin Mettler, who placed second in the conference as a freshman, finished as the Jayhawk East champion on Saturday as he finished the five-mile race with a time of 26:12.7. Mettler finished fifth in the region to garner all-region honors.

“Dustin ran a great race and stepped up like usual,” DeGrado said.

Butler Community College’s Jackson Toroitich took home the individual region championship by completing the course in a time of 25:21.4.

Cowley sophomore Phillips Banowetz (26:24.2) placed second behind Mettler in the conference and finished eighth in the region. Joining Mettler and Banowetz as all-conference and all-region runners for the Tigers were Brice Irving (26:31.5) and freshman Josh Gracia (26:43.6), who ran an inspired race considering he was competing despite having Achilles tendonitis.

Sophomore Isbek Salinas (27:17.1) also earned all-conference honors and finished only two spots (17th) outside of garnering all-region honors. Fellow Tiger runners Cianin Kutil (27:20.4) and Tyson Christensen (27:27.5) each placed in the top-10 amongst conference runners and in the top-34 spots in the region.

DeGrado thinks his team could surprise some people when they compete at the NJCAA Championships Nov. 14 in Peoria, IL.

“We have a chip on our shoulders, I think we are going to turn some heads at nationals,” DeGrado said. “By placing second in the region we have got some good motivation going into nationals.

Conference team scores: (1) Cowley, 17; (2) Johnson County, 44; (3) Coffeyville, 91; (4) Highland, 120.
Region team scores: (1) Garden City, 44; (2) Cowley, 49; (3) Butler, 59; (4) Johnson County, 94; (5) Colby, 145; (6) Cloud County, 193; (7) Hutchinson, 207; (8) Coffeyville, 209; (9) Highland, 261; (10) Neosho County, 273.