The ACU cross country team continued its strong showing this year with a solid performance at the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday.
All-American Amos Sang finished fourth individually, helping the ACU men’s cross country team finish 10th overall at the meet and fourth among the Division II schools present.
Head coach Chris Woods was pleased with the team’s showing in Oklahoma City and hopes to use this meet as preparation for later ones down the road.
“I felt like we were solid all around at the Jubilee. We had strong performances around the board, and as a coach that is always a good thing,” Woods said. “This was a big meet for us to compete at, and I feel good about the experience our runners took away from it.”
Sang ran the 8,000-meter course in 24:25.04. His teammate Cleophas Tanui finished 15th overall with a time of 25:04.40.
“I felt like this course was a good test for us as a team. It had some varied elevation and offered some new challenges that we’re not used to here in Abilene, so that was good for us,” Sang said.
The women’s cross country team finished in eighth place and displayed its strongest showing of the season, Woods said.
Anais Belledant came in 15th and was the top finisher for the ACU women, completing the 6,000-meter course in 22:24.62.
“I felt like everyone ran a good race, and everyone performed well,” Belledant said. “It was fun getting to race against lots of big name schools and really hang with them.”
The oldest cross country race in the country, the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree attracts many top-flight Division I schools, including Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, Kansas State University, Texas Christian University and many others.
Woods used this particular race and group of schools as a measuring stick for his program and to give his team a chance to compete with the best schools in the country, regardless of their classification.
“I think it’s very important to compete against these guys because we don’t just want to be a Division II national contender.” Woods said. “We want to be compared to a national powerhouse.”
The men and women will return to action Saturday at the ACU-hosted Naimadu Pre-Conference Meet at Sherrod Park.
