MTSU Men’s Cross Country Qualifies For First NCAA Championship

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The No. 26 ranked men’s cross country team qualified for its first ever NCAA Cross Country Championships, by placing second overall in the NCAA South Regional in Tallahassee, Fla. Friday morning.

Middle Tennessee placed first and second individually, with superstar Jacob Choge finishing in first place for the second straight week with a time of 30:19.8 in the 10k. Sophomore standout Kigen Chemadi, followed right behind Choge with a 30:22.7 time and the second place finish.

Six different Blue Raiders finished in the Top 25 individually to earn All-Region honors, which is a big step up from last year, where only one Blue Raider earned recognition. Juniors Amos Cheruiyot and Sampson Laari finished within a tenth of a second of each other, taking 18th and 19th place in the race. Junior Geoffry Cheruiyot was not far behind finishing 21st with a 31:10.4 time. Senior Hillary Rono rounded out the Top 25 with a 31:15.7 time.

Associate Head Coach Keith Vroman was ecstatic about his team’s all-around performance.

“They’ve been working all year for this day and they ran a spectacular race,” stated Vroman. “They put in the work over the summer and I’m so proud of the year that they’ve had, I can’t wait to see what they do next week.”

The freshman Choge has been remarkable all year for the Blue Raiders, as he has finished in the Top 5 in all of his races in his career. Choge’s performance has Vroman proud of his accomplishments this year.

“Choge has demonstrated resiliency all year,” said Vroman. “He ran hard today and came up with another first place finish for us.”

The team finished with 61 points, only 15 points behind No. 11 Ole Miss. Middle Tennessee finished ahead of top Power 5 schools, Florida State, Georgia, Alabama, Georgia Tech and Florida.

In her final race of her career, senior Hannah Maina was named All-Region and finished 24th overall among some of the top competition in the country. Maina was the only Blue Raider to run in the women’s 6k race.

“I’m so proud of Hannah and her career at Middle Tennessee,” said Vroman. “She has tremendous work ethic and it paid off being named All-Region.”

The Blue Raiders are one of 31 teams across the country to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Middle Tennessee will take on the competition Saturday Nov. 19 for its first ever NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

Men’s Team Results (Top 5)
1. No. 11 Ole Miss (46)
2. No. 26 Middle Tennessee (61)
3. Georgia (105)
4. Alabama (122)
5. Florida State (127)

Middle Tennessee Individual Men’s Results (10k)
1. Jacob Choge (30:19.8)
2. Kigen Chemadi (30:22.7)
18. Amos Cheruiyot (31:06.2)
19. Sampson Laari (31:06.3)
21. Geoffry Cheruiyot (31:10.4)
25. Hillary Rono (31:15.7)
68. Shadrack Matelong (32:24.6)

Middle Tennessee Individual Women’s Results (6k)
24. Hannah Maina (20:53.8)

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