Several sports teams come to mind when the word success comes up: the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, the New York Yankees, the pre- Tony Romo Dallas Cowboys, and the ACU Men’s cross country team.
For the twentieth year in a row, the ACU men’s cross country team was crowned the champion of the Lone Star Conference on Saturday after winning the LSC Conference Championship at Sherrod Park on the campus of Abilene Christian University.
Head coach Chris Woods was thoroughly pleased with his team’s performance and hopes to use this meet as a momentum for the regional tournament on Nov. 20 in Warrensburg, Mo.
“I felt like our guys ran and competed well in all phases of the race Saturday. Anytime you win a conference championship, the team as a whole deserves all the credit, not one individual or anything like that. Everyone did what we asked of them, and I consider this a total team victory,” Woods said.
Senior All-American Amos Sang won the individual title for the second year in a row, running the eight-kilometer course in 23:49.50, beating second-place finisher Mohamed Noor of Eastern New Mexico, who finished in 24:28.86.
In reference to Sang’s continued dominance, Woods says that his determination and drive to succeed is unparalleled.
“He is in another tax bracket as compared to the other runners who compete against him. He’s in a 7-figure tax bracket, while those he competes against are in a 5-figure tax bracket,” Woods said.
ACU senior Cleophas Tanui was third in 24:30.91, while Romain Rybicki finished in sixth place with a time of 24:54.48, giving ACU three out of the top six finishers for the meet.
Along with the 20 consecutive conference championships, Sang’s win also marked the 20th straight year that an ACU athlete won the men’s individual championship.
The men finished with 54 points, while runner-up Eastern New Mexico finished with 68 points, followed by East Central’s 90 points.
The women’s cross country team also made their presence known, finishing fifth in the confrence meet.
Anais Belledant won the individual title, covering the course in 16:07.74, while Chloe Susset finished third with a time of 16:29.76. Alyse Goldsmith ran the course in 16:35.64, good for fifth.
“I felt really happy about this weekend. Our team performed very well. The race served as great preparation for regionals next month,” Belledant said.
The cross country team kicked off one of the best weekends in ACU sports history. Cross country, combined with football and soccer, gave the ACU sports fan base an unforgettable weekend which included three conference championships.
Woods mentioned that consistency wins championships. 20 years in a row seems pretty consistent to me.
