Greyhounds Place 13th at NCAA Regional Meet
McGuire is Eastern’s Top Finisher in 33:34.5

JOPLIN, MO. — The Eastern New Mexico University men’s cross country team earned a 13th place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional Meet on Saturday, Nov. 6, at the Missouri Southern State University Cross Country Course. Patrick McGuire (Jr., Tacoma, WA/Highline CC) was Eastern’s top finisher in 35th place with a time of 33:34.5 for the 10-kilometer course.

Abilene Christian University ran away from the field in winning the team title. The Wildcats took the top five places, led by individual medalist Nicodemus Naimadu in 29:58.4. He won by 53.6 seconds over teammate Bernard Manirakiza, who finished in 30:52.

ACU recorded a perfect team score of 15 for a comfortable win over Central Missouri State University in second with 73 points. Missouri Southern was third with 129 points. All three teams advanced to the NCAA National Cross Country Championships, set for Nov. 20 in Evansville, Ind.

Other top 10 team placings were Drury University in fourth place with 144 points. Emporia State University in fifth place with 167 points, Northwest Missouri State University in sixth place at 171, East Central University in seventh place at 202, Truman State University in eighth place with 219 points, Texas A&M University-Kingsville in ninth place with 222 points and Pittsburg State University in 10th place at 238.

The remaining team scores were Angelo State University in 11th place at 244, University of Missouri-Rolla in 12th place at 264, Eastern New Mexico University in 13th place at 271, Southwest Baptist University in 14th place with 350 points and Dallas Baptist University in 15th place with 361 points.

Despite taking 35th place, McGuire was just 35.7 seconds from a top 20 finish. His time of 33:34.5 was 11.5 seconds faster than Eastern’s second finisher, Jason Garcia (Fr., Alamogordo, NM/Alamogordo HS), who completed the 10 kilometers in 33:46.0 to take 42nd place.

Ricardo Hernandez (So., Carlsbad, NM/Carlsbad HS) took 46th place for the Hounds after clocking in with a time of 33:57.4. Orlando Sanchez (Jr., Los Lunas, NM/Los Lunas HS) was 54th, as he completed the race in 34:15.3. Kennedy Baiywo clocked in at 42:12.4 and was the 101st runner to reach the finish line. Eastern’s five places for team scoring were 34th, 41st, 45th, 53rd and 98th.

“Our top four ran very good races,” said Head Coach Joel McMullen. “Patrick McGuire led the way and ran a very good race. He may have waited a little too long to make his move in the pack, and he was disappointed that he didn’t place better ... Freshman Jason Garcia ran a much smarter race than he did at the LSC Championships and finished strong for us. Ricardo Hernandez and Orlando Sanchez both gave great effort and pushed themselves hard.

“Kennedy Baiywo, suffering from a leg injury, came across in 98th ... Had he run his average all season, we probably would have finished in the top 10 in the Region. There were three runners (from other colleges) who dropped out of the race, and Kennedy finishing was courageous,” McMullen said.

Tarleton State University and the University of the Incarnate Word did not field complete teams in the men’s race. Their runners (two from TSU, one from UIW) earned individua placings but did not figure into team scoring. Overall, 104 runners were entered in the event. Three athletes — one each from Angelo State, Northwest Missouri and Emporia State — did not finish the event.

Abilene Christian, Central Missouri and Missouri Southern will be joined as representatives of the South Central Region at the NCAA National Cross Country Championships by the top two finishers in the Regional Meet who were not on one of the top three teams. The at-large qualifiers for the National Meet were Aaron Wells of Truman State University (9th in 32:11.1) and Trent Joseph of Angelo State (11th in 32:27.9).

Eastern’s women’s team did not enter the Regional Meet. The women’s team title was won by Central Missouri State with a score of 71. Medalist recognition went to Adeh Mwamba of Abilene Christian. She completed the 6-kilometer course in 21:34.8 to win by 17.8 seconds over Kristin Anderson of Central Missouri, who clocked in at 21:52.6. Truman State took second in the team standings with a score of 85.

The women’s teams from CMSU and Truman State advanced to the National Meet, along with four individuals. The at-large qualifiers from the women’s division were Mwamba of ACU, Trina Cox of ACU (3rd in 21:53.4), Olha Kryvyak of ACU (4th in 22:05.5) and Megan Russell of Missouri Southern (5th in 22:09.1). The NCAA South Central Regional concluded a solid cross country season for the Hounds.

ENMU’s runners consistently recorded personal-best times regardless of the distance raced, as the squad showed progress throughout the season to first-year Head Coach Joel McMullen. The Hounds did not have a senior on the roster, but took fifth place for the second consecutive year at the Lone Star Conference Cross Country Meet, held in Durant, Okla., on Oct. 23.

“We believe we have built a solid foundation for next year and we have significant goals set for 2005-06,” McMullen said. “With everyone returning (on the men’s team), the addition of Felix Boit (who redshirted this fall) and some solid recruiting prospects, our team should be very, very solid from top to bottom.”