8th-place OSU Jamboree finish could mean No. 1 ranking for OC

Silas Kisorio, shown earlier this year, led OC with a sixth-place finish in the Cowboy Jamboree.

STILLWATER, Okla. (Oct. 1, 2011) – Oklahoma Christian’s men’s cross country team took a big step Saturday toward the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA.

The Eagles finished eighth in the university division of the annual Cowboy Jamboree at Oklahoma State University, running against numerous NCAA Division I and II teams.

More important for NAIA rankings purposes, the second-ranked Eagles finished well ahead of No. 1 Wayland Baptist. The Pioneers finished 18th among the 29th teams entered in the Jamboree’s university division.

It won’t be for certain until Wednesday, when the national rankings come out, but it seems likely OC will jump ahead of its Sooner Athletic Conference rival. It would be OC’s first No. 1 ranking in men’s cross country.

OC head coach Mark Thompson said Saturday the Eagles know they’ll have the proverbial targets on their backs if that happens. But he said he was thrilled with how well his runners performed in the Jamboree, the nation’s oldest cross country race.

“We ran about as good as I would have imagined on our best day,” he said.

Silas Kisorio led the Eagles with a sixth-place individual finish in the 324-runner field, covering the 8,000 meters in 24:08.19, about 34 seconds behind the winner, Diego Estrada of Northern Arizona.

OC’s Geoffrey Njonjo was 14th in 24:22.71 and second among NAIA runners, behind Kisorio. Both defeated Wayland Baptist’s top runner, Kennedy Kithuka – last year’s NAIA individual cross country champion – who finished 19th.

“The men put together a solid day top to bottom,” Thompson said. “Silas led the charge. He was in the lead pack from the start, and opened up a wide gap on the field in the fourth mile, but he ran out of his reserves in the last mile. Given the amount of training he has done, I was impressed with how sharp he already looks.

“Geoffrey was a little too conservative in the first mile, and had to play catch-up quite a bit. He had a very strong showing today, and is coming along nicely.”

The Eagles had four other runners in the race. David McWilliams was 45th in 25:02.55, Austin Simkins was 99th in 25:47.49, Brayden Barrientez was 105th in 25:50.04 and Nathan Mesta was 123rd in 26:11.66.

“David McWilliams stepped up his game to a new level today,” Thompson said. “25:02 on this course is a fantastic time, and he is enjoying the reward for consistent hard work. I was extremely proud of his effort today.

“Fourth to sixth was pretty tight for us today, which is good. Between Austin, Brayden, and Nate, if one guy has a tough day, there’s another guy there to take up the slack. Today Nate didn’t have his best day, but Austin and Brayden both ran very well. I’m confident that all three will continue to improve in the coming weeks.”

OC’s team score was 228 while Wayland Baptist posted a 492. Host Oklahoma State won the meet with 54 points, followed by Indiana (89).  Northern Arizona and Adams State (Colo.) tied for third at 129 and Arkansas was fifth with 139. Tulsa (147) and Western State (Colo.) (177) also finished ahead of OC.

The Eagles and Pioneers are scheduled to meet three more times this season – in the Mid States Classic in Winfield, Kan., on Oct. 22; the annual SAC Championships on Nov. 5 in Shawnee and the NAIA Championships on Nov. 19 in Vancouver, Wash.
OC’s entry in the Jamboree’s college division finished 17th among 25 teams. Drew Harwell led the Eagles in that race, finishing 57th in 27:19.88. Evan Fike (76th in 27:41.79) and Robert Macom (82nd in 27:54.71) also posted top-100 finishes.

Only one OC women’s runner ran, with Cady Block finishing 99th in the college division race. Block covered the 5,000 meters in 20:52.17.

“We are injury stricken, and I didn’t feel that it was wise to try to string them out there today when they weren’t ready,” Thompson said. “I still contend that we have a very good women’s team on paper, but we have to get healthy. Cady Block did run, and she had a nice race.”

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