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Chelimo places 3rd, Hawks 10th at NAIA XC National Championship
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Paul Chelimo may be just a
freshman, but you couldn't tell by watching him navigate a cross
country course.
Judging by his finish at the 2010 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship, Chelimo belongs with the big boys - as do his Shorter University teammates.
Paced by Chelimo's third place finish, the Hawks posted their best national finish ever, placing 10th out of 32 teams at the national meet presented by Nike and held at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash.
Chelimo, a native of Iten, Kenya who was a two-time NAIA National Runner of the Week selection this year, completed the 8k course in a time of 24:44. Kennedy Kithuka of Wayland Baptist won the national title in a time of 24:02 and Abednego Mugut edged Chelimo for runner-up honors by crossing the line in 24:41.
Shorter's record team finish was made possible by strong performances from the rest of the Hawk lineup.
Eliud Ng'etich, Shorter's top performer at the NAIA National Championship last season where the Hawks placed 18th, finished 36th in a time of 25:57.
Nicolas Toscan, a one-time SSAC Runner of the Week selection in 2010, placed 71st out of the field of over 300 competitors in a time of 26:33 and Peter Limo (26:39) and Doug Kalmbach (27:23) placed 80th and 137th, respectively to round out Shorter's point producers.
Edgar Santoyo (28:13) and Steven Rich (28:32) also ran for Shorter on Saturday morning.
The Hawks, who were coming off a fourth straight SSAC championship after notching a perfect score of 15 at the conference championship meet two weeks ago, appear to be on the right track as they look toward the future.
Of the Hawks who competed for Shorter at the national meet, only Rich is a senior. Limo is a junior while Kalmbach, Ng'etich and Toscan are just sophomores.
