ACU men second, women fifth at OSU

Naimadu, Kryv'yak pace Wildcat teams to top-five finishes

STILLWATER, Okla. – Both the ACU men's and women's cross country teams finished in the top five in their respective team divisions Saturday at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree cross country  meet.

The men's team finished second behind defending NCAA Division I national champion Arkansas, while the women were a strong fifth.

Arkansas scored 41 points to win the men's division, 65 more than the runner-up Wildcats from ACU who had 106 points.  ACU was led by sophomore Nicodemus Naimadu, who finished fifth in the individual standings.  Naimadu, the defending NCAA Division II national champion and one of the top cross country runners in the nation regardless of level, covered the muddy 8000 meter course in 25:12 to finish fifth.

Philip Birgen was 13th in 25.51, followed by Serge Gasore in 16th at 26:00.  Lucky Hadebe was 21st in 26:14 with Martin O’Kello coming in 48th in 27:00.

On the women's side, Oklahoma State won the team championship with 41 points, while Wichita State finished second with 61 points.  ACU was fifth with 195 points and finished ahead of Texas A&M (sixth with 203 points), and was the highest-finishing NCAA Division II team in the field.

Olha Kryv'yak paced the Wildcats over the 5000 meter course, finishing ninth in 18:34.  Adeh Mwamba was 12th in 18:43, just ahead of teammate Trina Cox, who was 14th in 18:49.  ACU head coach Derek Hood said he was especially proud of the way Abbie Waters (72nd in 21:17) and Mollye Stanford (88th in 21:45) competed in the meet.

"Abbie and Mollye competed really well, and they're the reason we were able to finish in the top five," ACU's first-year head coach said.  "The course was in bad shape after it rained all night long, but it was a great competition.  I'm really proud of the way both our men and women responded and competed."

ACU will take next week off before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 15, when both men’s and women’s teams run in the annual Arkansas Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.