Mars Hill Men’s Cross Country Team Advances To NCAA Championship
Wingate, N.C.--Queens University of Charlotte junior Daniel Kanyaruhuru ran away with the 2007 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional cross country individual title Saturday morning. Kanyaruhuru clocked a 10K time of 30:38 to finish almost two minutes ahead of Wingate University junior Jayce Watson (Millersport, Ohio). Kanyaruhuru led the Royals to a first-place team finish in the 10K race held Saturday at the Wingate University Cross Country Facility.
The top two finishing teams from each region qualify for the nationals on November 17 in Joplin, Mo. The top five individuals, if not on a qualifying team, also get a bid in the nationals.
Queens placed three runners in the top nine on its way to a team score of 40. The Conference Carolinas runner of the year, Kanyaruhuru led the charge as the Royals picked up their first regional title. In addition, Queens sophomore Ryan Connelly finished third overall in 32:27, while freshman Marius Koksvik finished ninth with a 33:10 time. The other two scorers for the Royals were senior Philipe Araujo in 14th and sophomore Nick Norton in 16th.
The Mars Hill College men qualified for nationals for the second straight year, finishing with 92 points. The Lions were 12 points ahead of third-place Lees-McRae College. For Mars Hill, junior Dustin Whitlow finished eighth (33:04), sophomore Winston Curry finished 12th (33:44), freshman Justin Baker finished 19th (34:14), freshman Aaron Thomas finished 26th (34:40) and senior William Mikolajczak finished 32nd (34:56).
The South Atlantic Conference runner of the year, Watson will make his second consecutive appearance at the national meet. Watson ran a 32:19 10K Saturday. Joining Watson as an individual qualifier from the Southeast region include St. Andrews Presbyterian College junior Mitch Cooper, a junior from who finished fourth with a 32:31 mark.
Lees-McRae senior Lewis Martin grabbed the fifth spot with a time of 32:33. Martin nipped Saint Augustine's College's Ken Samoei (32:47) for the final individual spot.
Last year, Cooper qualified for the nationals when St. Andrews won the Southeast region. Cooper finished sixth in last year's regional. This is Watson's second consecutive second-place finish in the regional, propelling him to the nationals where he will be accompanied by the Wingate women's team who qualified with a second-place team finish.