By Jeff Craig, Sports Writer
The track and field team’s long distance runners shined Friday in Philadelphia at the Penn Relays Carnival.
The Wildcats added four more NCAA Division II National Championship invites to an already long list of invites, with Daniel Maina, Amos Sang and Cleophas Tanui combining to gain four spots for the Championships in San Angelo on May 21-23. Head cross country coach Sam Burroughs, who accompanied the team to Philadelphia, said he was pleased with his team’s performance in the City of Brotherly Love.
“It’s a big race; it was the biggest track meet in the entire country being held that weekend,” Burroughs said. “The distance events are all very good with a tough field of about 40 competitors.”
In 2008, Daniel Maina dominated the 3,000-meter steeplechase, winning the Penn Relays en route to capturing the national title. This year, Maina finished in sixth place, impressive considering Maina has battled a nagging injury all year. Maina’s time of 8:51.44 was the second fastest in Division II this season, and Burroughs said he thought his speedster had recovered from his injury and is ready to make a splash at the LSC and national championships.
“Daniel performed really well in some strange conditions,” Burroughs said. “When we left Abilene, the temperature was in the mid-90s; when Daniel ran, the temperature was in the upper-50s, so quite a change,” Burroughs said.
Maina’s teammate and fellow Kenyan Amos Sang entered the men’s 10,000-meter as one of the favorites, and he did not disappoint. Sang crossed the tape before any other competitor and just ahead of ACU’s Cleophas Tanui, who finished in second place. Both runners earned automatic bids to the national meet. In the women’s 10,000-meter race, Winrose Karunde put in a strong performance, finishing in 15th place, good for a provisional qualifying time. Burroughs particularly was impressed with how Sang and Tanui pulled away from the competition, even lapping some competitors.
“It was a really good performance; it was interesting watching the race unfold. A few miles into the race, a group of about eight began to pull away. At about four miles, the pack began to slow, and Amos began to separate from the lead group,” Burroughs said. “After Amos got about a 30-foot lead, Cleophas took off with Amos, and they began to pull away.”
Next up for the Wildcats is the Oliver Jackson Open at ACU. Last year ACU put on a show at home with the men’s team winning the discus, 800-meter, 1,500-meter, 5,000-meter, 110-meter hurdles, both relays and the pole vault. On the women’s side, ACU won the 800-meter, 1,500-meter, 3,000-meters and the javelin.
