The Warhawk men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Fayatteville, Ark. on Friday for the 2012 NCAA Division I South Central Regional Championships hosted by University of Arkansas. The women raced first at 11 a.m., and the men followed at 12:15 p.m.
The Lady Warhawks had two runners compete in the Women’s 6K-Meter Run at regional: senior Sharon Sason and sophomore Anakaren Lopez.
Sason finished in 91st place with a time of 23:44.2. Sason has recorded four top-ten individual finishes for the Warhawks.
“Sharon ran a huge PR. She ran like a senior,” said head coach Karoly Varga. “I was proud of her.”
Fellow runner Lopez placed 124th place with a time of 24:55.3. Lopez has four top tens also.
The Men’s 10000 Meter Run was won for the second year in a row by Texas A&M’s Henry Lelei with a time of 29:36.5. Texas, Arkansas and A&M took home the top-three team scores respectively.
ULM senior Daniel Mutai was in fourth place and sophomore Silah Chumba was in the top 25 runners at the 5,000 meter mark, but both slowly trickled back in the pack.
“Mutai went for the win in his senior year. He got in trouble because of the windy day, and paid for it, but no regrets. He didn’t want to just make the national meet, he was going for the win,” said Varga. “Didn’t work out but we will get back stronger in outdoor season.”
Mutai earned all-region honors after a twenty-fifth place showing, with a time of 31:35.2. Chumba finished in forty-third place with a time of 32:24.3.
“Silah ran phenomenal. He beat lots of kids and ran a personal record, making a big jump from last year,”said Varga.
Last year, Mutai finished fourth overall at regional and twelfth two years ago in his first year at ULM. Mutai is heading to nationals and is currently the only NCAA cross-country qualifier in ULM history. Chumba has finished strong with an eleventh place overall finish at the Sun Belt Conference Championships.
The top 25 runners were placed on the all-regional team and the top two teams are invited to the 2012 NCAA championships. Also, the highest placed four individual finishers, not on a national qualifying team, get an invite to nationals held on Saturday, Nov. 17 in Louisville, Ky.
