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Nov. 11, 2006
LOCK HAVEN, PENN. - Head Men and Women's Cross-Country Coach Ernest Barrett was very pleased with how his young runners preformed at the 2006 Mid-Atlantic Regional Cross-Country meet. His three sophomore women's runners all placed in the top 80 of a field consisting of almost 200 runners while four men's runners had respectable times. The event was held, much as indoor and outdoor track & field regionals are held, in order to decide the field for the National Championship. Individually the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) runners would need top five finishes in order to make the National Championship field. "I wasn't worried about making the Championships," said Coach Barrett. "I wanted to see how we would perform in a competition like this one, against the best runners in the whole region." Perform, the Hawks did. The three sophomore women's runners were impressive. Betty Chumbe was the highest placing Lady Hawk as she came across the line in 55th place with a time of 22:02.00. Four spots behind her was Merrecia James who was 59th with 22:09.00, just seven seconds slower. The only other UMES runner in the race was Janeth Chelangat who was 79th with a time of 22:32.3. Considering the field was 195 strong with finishers, not counting those who didn't finish, Coach Barrett was extremely proud. "These young ladies really represented the University well," added Barrett. "I am very proud of them, they made a name for UMES Cross-Country today." The top finisher was Frances Koons of Princeton with a time of 20:02.9 and the second place finisher was 20:31.8, Elizabeth Maloy of Georgetown. In the men's race, All-MEAC performer Alfred Singoei crossed the line in 59th with a time of 32:20.8 on the five mile course. Solomon Kirongo was 121st with a time of 33:42.5 while Samuel Mwangi was 169th, crossing the line in a time of 36:38.8. Jerome Pyuzza was 178th with a time of 40:15.1.
"These guys, with the exception of Singoei, are all freshmen or sophomores. They too represented the University. They ran hard and finished among a tough field," added Barrett. Almost 200 men started the race with 178 actually finishing. Samuel Chelanga of Fairleigh Dickinson won the race in a time of 30:09.6 while Sean Quigley of La Salle was second with a time of 30:14.8. "We had an outstanding cross-country season," said Coach Barrett. "We had some impressive finishers today and at the MEAC Championships. The great news is that almost all of our runners return next year and our cross-country program will continue to improve," he added. The Hawks' cross-country season ends and preparation now begins for the indoor track and field season in January. |
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