The Oklahoma Wesleyan men’s cross country team wrapped up their 2010 season with a 9th place finish at the NCCAA National Championships in Cedarville, OH on Saturday Nov. 13.
The Eagles raised the bar to surpass last year’s 17th place finish with another dazzling display that saw them finishing in the top ten for the first time ever.
There were 186 representatives from 29 schools at the championships.
Senior captain David Rannabagar, like he has been doing all season, led the way for the Eagle runners with a 5th place, All-American finish. His time of 26:31.25 is the also the second fastest in the school history – second only to his own school record of 25:49, achieved last week in St Louis.
Freshman Austin Blain was the second Eagle runner to cross the line in 28:44.20. Matt Atwell (28:51.97), James Hensel (28:59.60), Patrick Buntt (30:25.46), Devon Arredondo (30:39.48) and Andrew Townes (32:20.01) completed the list of OKWU runners at the championships.
“Ninth of out 28! Who could have asked for more from these guys,” head coach Gary Smith said.
“It has been a remarkable journey for these young men and they were justly rewarded for their efforts.
“At the beginning of the season we set the bar at excelling. I set the target very high with keeping the main focus on representing Christ and that has been our motivation all year. I am very proud of them.
The Eagles, minus Rannabagar, will now take a two-week break before starting their preparation for the indoor season.
Rannabagar will join the Lady Eagles next week in the final fine-tuning for next weekend’s NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Wash.