Southern Oregon team members celebrate the Raiders' NAIA cross country national championship and combined team title at Fort Vancouver Saturday.
Southern Oregon Brings Home National XC Title
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INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
TEAM RESULTS
VANCOUVER, Wash. – No. 1-ranked Southern Oregon captured its first-ever NAIA Cross Country National Championship team title, as three Raiders earned NAIA All-American honors led by David Laney's fourth place finish overall Saturday at the 2010 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship held at Fort Vancouver National Historical Site.
SOU also won the combined (both genders) title, and Raiders' coach Brent Ericksen was named the men's National Coach of the Year.
This is the first-ever team title on the men's side, as Northwest brought home the women's title in 2002. Southern Oregon combined to score 105 points, which bettered Wayland Baptist by 19 points overall. Individually, Wayland Baptist's Kennedy Kithuka brought home the title with a time of 24:02 as he bettered the national runner-up Adebnego Magut from Azusa Pacific by 39 seconds.
Laney, who clocked a time of 24:57, outlasted Eastern Oregon’s D.J. Flores by a mere three seconds, as both runners earned NAIA All-American honors with Flores finishing fifth overall.
Also earning NAIA All-American honors with a Top 30 finish was Southern Oregon’s Zach Elliott thanks to a 13th place finish in a time of 25:18, the Raiders’ Ryan Sorenson with a 22nd place finish in a time of 25:35, and Concordia's Marcus Nelson with a 21st place showing in a time of 25:34.
Southern Oregon’s Dennis McCaffrey posted a 33rd place finish with a time of 25:49, while Raider teammate James Johnstone rounded out SOU's team scoring with a 43rd place showing in a time of 25:58.
On the team side, Eastern Oregon finished fifth overall (276 points) and The College of Idaho was in 13th place (389 points) with the 'Yotes Greg Montgomery posting a 24th place finish overall thanks to a time of 25:35. Championship host Concordia concluded the race in 25th place, as Nelson led the Cavaliers with his NAIA All-American performance.
Running as an individual was Northwest Christian’s Samuel Robison, as the Beacon posted a career-best 87th place finish overall thanks to a time of 26:27.
