Follow the meet here
WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Just before departing Abilene for the NCAA Division II South Central Region cross country championship meet on Wednesday, ACU head coach Chris Woods had one message for his team, and it was apparently heard loud and clear by both the men's and women's teams.
"I told both teams that if they weren't ready for a fight to not even to get on the bus," said Woods, who is in his first season as the ACU coach. "Fortunately, everyone showed up, so I think we're ready to roll."
This year's regional championship meet will get started Saturday at 10:30 a.m. with the men's 10-kilometer race at the Keith Memorial Golf Course, followed by the women's 6-kilometer race at approximately 11:30 a.m.
The top two men's teams and the top three women's teams will advance to the NCAA Division II national championship meet in two weeks in Louisville, Ky. Also advancing will be the top five individuals from non-qualifying men's and women's teams.
Both ACU teams will be trying to wash away the memory of bitterly disappointing finishes at last year's regional championship meet in Abilene. The men's team finished 10th while the women were 19th.
The only redeeming factor for the ACU men last year was that
Amos Sang – who would go on to earn NCAA Division II all-America honors with a fourth-place finish at the 2009 national meet – won the individual regional championship.
Sang is once again one of the favorites to win the individual title. The reigning regional and Lone Star Conference champion, however, will have help from
Cleophas Tanui,
Romain Rybicki and a strong group of underclasmen.
And this is a group that has already had success on the same course they'll be running on Saturday. Back in early September the Wildcats won the team championship at the Central Missouri Mule Run with the Wildcats scoring 28 points to easily out-distance runner-up and host Central Missouri, which scored 44 points. Sang covered the four-mile course in 20:09.74 to in the individual title over Tanui, who was second in 20:35.88 and Rybicki, who was fourth in 20:55.11.
"I think that win earlier this year is big," Woods said. "It gives our confidence knowing that they've already come up here once this year and won."
Woods said he believes the two teams that will advance to the national championship meet will come from a group that includes ACU, Central Missouri, Eastern New Mexico and East Central University.
On the women's side, the Wildcats will be competing a strong field that includes the region's top-ranked squad in Pittsburg State, LSC champion Midwestern State and defending regional champion Missouri Southern.
And while a team championship might be out of reach for the Wildcats, Woods said he believes he has three athletes capable of reaching the national meet in LSC individual champion Anais Belledant, Chloe Sussett and Alyse Goldsmith.
"I think we've got a good chance to get two or three girls to the national meet," Woods said. "Anais has the capability to win this thing; she's one of the toughest runners I've ever coached, male or female. Once she decides in her mind to win, she can do whatever she wants to do. I expect that kind of effort from her."
