Mississippi State
MSU Invitational
MSU Cross Country Teams Dominate MSU Invitational
September 22, 2007 | Cross Country
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? The Mississippi State cross country teams dominated the MSU Invitational on Saturday at the MSU Cross Country Course in Starkville, Miss. The State men tallied 15 points, while the women totaled 19 points.
On the men's side, MState's captured 15 of the top 20 spots, collegiately, en route to their team title. Junior Jonathan Rono won his second collegiate meet with a time of 18 minutes, 54.93 seconds in the 6K race. With that time, Rono broke the MSU Cross Country Course record of 18:55.40 that was previously held by former MSU distance runner Gedamu Ege. Freshman Ben Blakenship finished in second place with a time of 19:10.54 while junior Robert Scribner came in third with a time of 19:15.39. Senior Ashenafi Arega came in fourth with a time of 19:20.78 and junior Michael Chapa finished fifth at 19:21.07 rounding out the Bulldog top five.
“It is good to win your home meet, said Men's Head Coach Steve Dudley. “It was good to win in front of a lot of high schools. I am proud of the guys, but obviously next Friday is when the season starts. This is all preseason. The real season starts next Friday.”
West Alabama finished second with 60 points while Mississippi College came in third with 78 points. Millsaps finished fourth with 98 points rounding out the men's team results.
Freshman Simone Domingue captured her first collegiate individual crown on the women's side with a time of 15:12.65. Freshman Sarah Hammes came in second with a time of 15:30.92 while senior Annie Falor came in third place with a time of 15:40.03 to give the Lady Bulldogs a sweep of the top three spots. Junior Brittany Detzel finished sixth with a time of 16:22.29 followed by freshman Diamond Marks (17:02.51) and junior Abbey Grahman (17:03.75) finishing seventh and eighth, respectively giving MState six of the top 10 spots.
“I am really happy, said Women's Head Coach Al Schimdt. “The course is a little longer than 4000 meters and those are two tough big hills that they have to run on. I am really happy for Simone (Domingue). It is her first college win. It was a great meet and the girls ran very, very well. I am pleased with them. We go to Notre Dame now with some confidence and that is what we needed.”
University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff came in second with 55 points. Mississippi College finished third with 67 points and Delta State finished with 91 points, coming in fourth place.
Both cross country teams now turn their attention to the Notre Dame Invitational taking place Friday, Sept. 28 in South Bend, Ind.
