Naimadu wins individual title

ACU men run to third-place finish

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- ACU freshman Nicodemus Naimadu on Saturday became the second Wildcat to win an individual national cross country title as his first-place finish led ACU to a third-place team finish at the NCAA Division II championships on the campus of the University of Southern Indiana.

Naimadu covered the 10-kilometer course in 31 minutes, 38.1 seconds, winning the individual title by .10 of a second of a second over Oliver Bodor of Western State, who finished in 31:38.20. 

Western State, which returned to the winner's circle after giving up the team title to Adams State in 2003, had three runners finish in the top six to win the team championshp with 39 points.  Adams State was second with 76 points and ACU -- which was ranked No. 3 in the nation heading into the meet -- finished with 137 points to finish third.  The third-place finish snapped a four-year streak of second-place finishes for ACU.

Naimadu joined two-time Wildcat national champion Alfred Rugema as the only two ACU runners to ever win individual national titles.  Rugema won the individual title in both 2000 and 2002, leading ACU to second-place team finishes both years.

Bernard Manirakiza -- who last year finished fifth, but this year was plagued with injuries -- finished 10th to join Naimadu and Martin O'Kello (27th) as the three Wildcats to earn all-America honors.  Martin O'Kello -- who two weeks ago won the NCAA Division II South Central Region title -- finished 27th in 33:09.20.  Laurent Ngirkamaro was 39th in 33:31.4, while Lucky Hadebe was 60th in 34:09.80.

On the women's side, Adams State won the national title with 31 points, easily outdistancing second-place Edinboro (Pa.), which finished with 101 points.

ACU junior Adeh Mwamba -- who won both the Lone Star Conference and NCAA Division II South Central Region individual championships -- finished ninth, covering the 6-kilometer course in 21:56.2 to earn all-America honors.  Trina Cox was 50th in 23:20.1, while Olha Kryv'yak was 72nd in 23:50.3.