Sunday, November 19, 2000

NCAA Div. II Cross Country
Rugema runs away from field; ACU takes 2nd
From staff and correspondent reports

CHINO, Calif. — Abilene Christian University runners took first and second, but Western State (Colo.) placed five runners in the top 10 Saturday to beat the No. 1-ranked Wildcats at the NCAA Division II men’s national cross country championships at Prado Park.

The second-place finish is the best ever by an ACU men’s cross country team. The Wildcats were fifth in 1998 and fourth last year.

ACU’s Alfred Rugema, a sophomore from Burundi, ran away with the individual title, finishing 41 seconds ahead of teammate John Kemboi. Rugema became ACU’s first national cross country champion.

“He hasn’t been pushed all year,” ACU coach Jon Murray said of Rugema. “No one was close all year and no one was close today. His individual accomplishments have been overshadowed because we have been winning as a team. But he is as good a runner as there is in the country.”

Rugema won six consecutive races this fall.

“The first mile was a little fast (4:37),” said Rugema, “and the second mile was a little slower. It was starting to be a tactical race, and I didn’t want any part of that. So I started to push the pace and that was in my favor.”

Rugema’s winning time in the 10-kilometer race was 30:17.0.

“One of my goals was to be the national champion and lead my team to the national championship,” Rugema said. “I’m proud that I accomplished one of those, but we still have work to do for next year.”

ACU’s Gilbert Tuhabonye placed eighth, giving the Wildcats three runners among the top eight. But Western State, which successfully defended its national championship, went 3-4-5-7-10 to place five runners among the top 10.

“That’s the best team we’ve run against this year by far,” Murray said of Western State. “And that’s the best they’ve run all year.

“We keep moving up, so we have nothing to be ashamed of. I felt before the year started that we were still a year away from winning this, and I still feel that way. We only lose one of our top five runners (Tuhabonye), and we have some good young people.”

Freshman Justine Nahimana of ACU placed 10th in the women’s race. She was the only ACU runner in the women’s competition.

Western State made it a clean sweep by capturing the women’s title, snapping a streak of eight straight national championships for Adams State.

Men

Team standings — 1. Western State 29; 2. Abilene Christian 62; 3. Adams State 96; 4. Edinboro, Pa. 124; 5. Cal-Davis 145; 6. Missouri Southern 210; 7. South Dakota 239; 8. Cal State-Chico 243; 9. South Dakota State 280; 10. Truman State 305

Top 10 individuals — 1. Alfred Rugema, ACU, 30:17.0; 2. John Kemboi, ACU, 30:58.3; 3. Michael Aish, Western State, 31:03.0; 4. Josephus LeRoux, Western State, 31:06.0; 5. Rubin McRae, Western State, 31:15.3; 6. Jeff Barker, Edinboro, 31:19.5; 7. Paul McRae, Western State, 31:43.3; 8. Gilbert Tuhabonye, ACU, 31.44.6; 9. Petri Kykyri, Missouri Southern, 31:55.1; 10. Scott Nagelkerke, Western State, 31:56.5

Other ACU runners — 20. Arthemon Sindayigaya 32:28.5; 35. Nick Branen 32:50.4; 75. Jean-Marie Ndikumana 33:53.9

Women

Team standings — 1. Western State 38; 2. North Dakota 131; 3. Cal-Davis 146; 4. Edinboro 167; 5. Adams State 173; 6. Northern Colorado 188; 7. Central Washington 190; 8. Northern Michigan 194; 9. Cal State-Chico 242; 10. Colorado-Colorado Springs 242

Top 10 individual — 1. Mario Venalainen, Kennesaw State (Ga.), 21:33.6; 2. Becky Leppard, North Dakota, 21:42.4; 3. Sarah Meyer, Adams State, 21:53.7; 4. Andrea Hurbina, Western State, 21:56.7; 5. Yvonne Liebig, Cal-Davis, 21:58.0; 6. Kirsty Weir, Western State, 22:04.3; 7. Lisa Blomme, Hawaii-Pacific, 22:07.2; 8. Rebekah Mackie, Western State, 22:07.3; 9. Jeanette Mott, Pittsburg State, 22:09.8; 10. Justine Nahimana, ACU, 22:13.2.