ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Senior two-time All-American Caroline Kurgat raced to victory and propelled the unranked Alaska Anchorage women’s cross country program to an impressive third-place finish at the Division II Conference Crossover at the Lewis Cross Country Course on Saturday.
Senior two-time All-American Edwin Kangogo and freshman Felix Kemboi both cracked the top 25 in a field of over 350 finishers, helping the No. 13 nationally ranked men’s team finish sixth.
Kurgat, of Eldoret, Kenya, covered the six-kilometer course in 21 minutes, 18.9 seconds, besting Walsh University’s Sarah Berger by over 12 seconds (2nd, 21:31.5). Kurgat recorded her first victory of the season in her second race. She also won two races in both 2016 and 2015.
Also scoring for the Green & Gold were junior Zennah Jepchumba (15th, 22:12.0), sophomore Emmah Chelimo (26th, 22:30.4), junior Danielle McCormick (30th, 22:33.0), and senior Mariah Burroughs (57th, 23:00.0). All of UAA’s nine runners finished in the top 150 of 359 finishers.
No. 6 Cal Baptist bested the nationwide 34-team field with 51 points. No. 1 and defending national champion Grand Valley State finished in second with 66 points. Unranked UAA (3rd, 126 pts), No. 10 Walsh (4th, 188 pts), and No. 5 Hillsdale (5th, 192 pts) rounded out the top five. Eight ranked teams and four teams receiving votes – including the Seawolves – ran in the women’s competition. With its third-place showing, UAA bested six ranked foes.
In the men’s race, Kangogo, also of Eldoret, Kenya, led UAA in 19th place with an 8K time of 25:29.3. Freshman Felix Kemboi finished closely behind in 25:31.7 (23rd). Academy of Art’s Gatien Airiau won in 24:42.7.
Freshman Nickson Koech recorded a time of 25:48.4, good for 42nd. Junior Jorge Sanchez (75th, 26:12.4) and senior Nathan Kipchumba (78th, 26:14.8) completed the scoring.
Ranked programs were featured a top the men’s team standings as well. No. 3 Grand Valley State (1st, 55 pts) bettered No. 9 Cal Baptist (2nd, 121 pts) and No. 6 Southern Indiana (3rd, 150 pts) in the team competition. Unranked Lindenwood (4th, 191 pts), No. 11 host Lewis (205 pts), and No. 13 UAA (6th, 223 pts) rounded out the top six squads.
In total, the quality field featured 31 teams – eight were ranked and three received votes in this week’s USTFCCCA NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll.
The meet is a product of legislative changes in Division II cross country for NCAA qualifying, which takes into account how programs perform against teams outside their region. 24 automatic bids will be awarded to the top three teams at each of the eight region championships in four weeks, for each gender. The remaining eight teams will be determined by performance throughout the season, with weight given to the Conference Crossover.
UAA will return to action and look to defend its titles at the GNAC Championships, Saturday, Oct. 21 in Bellingham, Wash. The men have won the last seven conference titles, while the women have earned seven of the last eight.
UAA Results
Women – 6K
# Name Time PTS
1 Caroline Kurgat 21:18.9 1
15 Zennah Jepchumba 22:12.0 15
26 Emmah Chelimo 22:30.4 26
30 Danielle McCormick 22:33.0 30
57 Mariah Burroughs 23:00.0 54
66 Kimberly Coscia 23:12.7 62
75 Tamara Perez 23:19.6 68
124 Jordyn Block 23:54.0 ---
144 Michaela Keller-Miller 24:07.1 ---
359 Finishers
Top 10 and Ranked Teams
# (Rank) School Pts
1 (6) Cal Baptist 51
2 (1) Grand Valley State 66
3 (RV) Alaska Anchorage 126
4 (10) Walsh 188
5 (5) Hillsdale 192
6 (RV) Northern Michigan 194
7 Minnesota-Duluth 213
8 (18) UC-Colorado Springs 271
9 (22) Malone 313
10 Academy of Art 361
11 (17) Cedarville 367
12 (8) South Indiana 379
13 (RV) Edinboro 413
20 (RV) Fort Lewis 533
34 Teams
Men – 8K
# Name Time PTS
19 Edwin Kangogo 25:29.3 18
23 Felix Kemboi 25:31.7 22
42 Nickson Koech 25:48.4 40
75 Jorge Sanchez 26:12.4 71
78 Nathan Kipchumba 26:14.8 74
81 Justin Carrancho 26:16.2 77
113 Kaleb Korta 26:43.1 103
223 Taylor Turney 27:47.5 ----
361 Finishers
Top 10 and Ranked Teams
# (Rank) School Pts
1 (3) Grand Valley State 55
2 (9) Cal Baptist 121
3 (6) Southern Indiana 150
4 (RV) Lindenwood 191
5 (11) Lewis 205
6 (13) Alaska Anchorage 223
7 Walsh 256
8 Academy of Art 258
9 (22) Missouri Southern 258
10 (25) Malone 298
11 (RV) Edinboro 313
12 (15) Bellarmine 325
13 (RV) UC-Colorado Springs 353
31 Teams