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Shorter sweeps SSAC Cross Country Championships
Excerpts courtesy Kirk McDonnell, Belhaven Sports
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CLINTON, Miss. – It was a big day for the Shorter University cross country teams as the Hawks claimed both the men’s and women’s Southern States Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday morning at Choctaw Trails in Clinton, Miss. Both teams punched their tickets to the NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Washington on Nov. 19.
The sweep marked just the second time in school history that Shorter has won both the men’s and women’s conference titles.
The No. 2-ranked Hawks captured a fifth-straight conference title and dominated the field with runners placing in the top four spots in the 8k race.
Eliud Ng’etich won the race with a time of 25:32.32 followed by Daniel Sorenson in second (25:35.34), Carlos Perez in third (25:49.27) and Peter Limo in fourth (25:52.71).
Evans Tanui rounded out the Hawks top five with a time of 26:53.02. Shorter competed without standout Nicolas Toscan, whom head coach Jay Stephenson fully expects to be healthy for the national championships.
Emmanuel College finished in second with an average team time of 27:02.72 and Lee clocked in third with a team time of 27:34.23.
“Our men challenged for a perfect score again,” said Shorter head coach Jay Stephenson, whose team just missed out on a perfect 15-point performance for a second straight year.
“The men ran a strong race and executed their plan to perfection,” Stephenson added. “Eliud won the individual championship, but was followed closely by his teammates and Nicolas should be ready to go for nationals.”
Shorter’s women, who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Poll, posted an average time of 19:18.3 in the 5k race en route to the championship. The Lady Hawks had three runners in the top 10 led by Sarah Massey who crossed the line in second place with a time of 18:14.17.
Shea Spicher finished a few seconds behind her teammate to grab third place with a time of 18:26.86. Katie Rutledge rounded out Shorer’s top 10 finishers in ninth place with a time of 19:39.93.
Rachel McDaniel (20:04.69) and Ashley Logan (20:05.00) placed 11th and 12th, respectively, as Massey, Spicher and Rutledge all posted personal records to send Shorter to the championship.
“The women ran the race of their lives,” Stephenson said. “Sarah ran a PR and challenged for the win several times. Shea cut 30 seconds off her previous PR and Katie also ran a PR. Rachel and Ashley ran within a second of each other to seal the win.”
Lee University came in second place on the women’s side and will also be making the trip to Vancouver, Washington in a couple of weeks. Southern Wesleyan took third place.
Shorter placed eight athletes on their respective SSAC All-Conference teams. Ng’etich, Sorenson, Perez, Limo and Tanui all earned All-Conference nods on the men’s side by virtue of placing in the top 10 while Massey, Spicher and Rutledge were named to the women’s All-Conference roster.
The individual qualifiers for the national meet will be announced by the NAIA on Monday.
