Saturday, December 1, 2018

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Sophomore Wesley Kirui notched a top-10 finish in his first season with Alaska Anchorage Saturday, lead the Seawolves and GNAC competitors at the NCAA Division II Men’s Country Championships, held at the Bob O’Conner Golf Course at Schenley Park.

Kirui placed ninth out of the field of 261 runners, covering the 10,000-meter course in a time of 32:35.1. He led the GNAC champion Seawolves to an eighth-place team finish in the meet with a score of 279 points.

The sophomore transfer from Radford University was one of two GNAC athletes to receive All-American honors with a top-40 finish in the meet. He was joined by Simon Fraser senior Sean Miller, who placed 23rd in a time of 33:03.3. Miller paced the Clan to a 14th place team finish with 421 points.

Western Washington was other GNAC team in the field, placing 26th with a score of 633 points. The Vikings were led by sophomore Eric Hamel, who finished 58th in a time of 33:55.6.

The Seawolves placed four of its five scoring runners in the top-100 of the race. Sophomore Felix Kemboi placed 54th in a time of 33:51.7. Senior Jorge Sanchez placed 65th in 34:04.9 while sophomore Nickson Koech placed 78th in 34:16.8.

Simon Fraser placed three runners in the top-100. Behind Miller was Pierre-Louis Detourbe, who finished 61st in a time of 33:57.0, and junior Carlos Vargas, who placed 100th in 34:37.2.

Western Oregon senior Tyler Jones was the other GNAC runner to break the top-100. One of two individual qualifiers to the meet from the conference, Jones placed 60th in a time of 33:56.8.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team Scores (Top 10 Plus GNAC): 1, Grand Valley St., 89. 2, Colorado Mines, 99, 3, Western Colorado, 117, 4, Adams State, 175. 5, Sioux Falls, 214. 6, Saginaw Valley, 226. 7, Chico State, 230. 8, Alaska Anchorage, 279. 9, Queens (N.C.) 288. 10, Augustana (S.D.), 328. 14, Simon Fraser, 421. 26, Western Washington, 633.

Top 10 Finishers: 1, Marcelo Laguera, Colo. St. Pueblo, 31:46.4. 2, Zach Panning, Grand Valley St., 31:53.6. 3, Elias Gedyon, Adams State, 32:05.1. 4, Gidieon Kimutai, Missouri Southern, 32:11.7. 5, Taylor Stack, Western Colorado, 32:18.0. 6, Enael Woldemichael, Grand Valley St., 32:26.4. 7, Mason Phillips, Sioux Falls, 32:27.3. 8, Luke Greer, Carson-Newman, 32:31.2. 9, Wesley Kirui, Alaska Anchorage, 32:35.1. 10, Josh Hockinson, Colorado Mines. 32:38.0.

GNAC All-Americans (Top 40 Finishers): 23, Sean Miller, SFU, 33:03.3.

Other GNAC Finishers: 54, Felix Kemboi, UAA, 33:51.7. 58, Eric Hamel, WWU, 33:55.6. 60, Tyler Jones, WOU, 33:56.8. 61, Pierre-Louis Detourbe, SFU, 33;57.0. 65, Jorge Sanchez, UAA, 34:04.9. 78, Nickson Koech, UAA, 34:16.8. 100, Carlos Vargas, SFU, 34:37.2. 109, Dustin Nading, WOU, 34:42.0. 112, Rowan Doherty, SFU, 34:43.6. 123, Jadon Olson, WWU, 34:52.7. 130, Faisal Ibrahim, UAA, 34:57.8.160, Drew Johnson, UAA, 35:22.8. 166, Dylan Hayes, WWU, 35:27.9. 172, Kaleb Korta, UAA, 35:33.0. 193, Colton Hoggarth, WWU, 35:55.5. 198, Aaron Ahl, SFU, 36:02.3. 200, Kyler Sager, WWU, 36:03.0. 205, Chris Sobczak, SFU, 36:11.6. 210, James Jasperson, WWU, 36:20.3. 225, Ed Kiolbasa, WWU, 36:39.6. 252, Thomas Gallagher, SFU, 37:32.0.