SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.- The Queens University of Charlotte harriers finished 7th at the NCAA National Championship at Cooper's Lake Campground, hosted by Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pa. The finish is a tremendous improvement on last years 15th place finish.
Michael Crouch (Yucca Valley, Calif., Yucca Valley) was the highlight of the day for the Royals as the sophomore raced is way to a third place finish, the highest ever for a Queens harrier. Crouch positioned himself in the top ten by the one thousand meter mark and continued to push his way up through the field. At 3k Crouch established himself at the front of the pack amongst the third through 10th runners and patiently tested his competitors in the blustery conditions. At 5k Crouched began to power his way from the pack and opened up a dominating margin over the 4th place runner. Crouch never looked back over the snowy course and finished the 10k distance in 30:56, 16 seconds up on fourth place.
His top-30 placement earns him the distinction of All-American.
Matthew Rowell (Show Low, Ariz. , Blue Ridge ), Oscar Ogwaro (Los Angeles, Calif., Woodrow Wilson), and Futsum Mebrathu (Phoenix, Ariz., North) maintained a tight pack to finish up 49th, 50th, and 51st, respectively. Their close finish echoed the strong teamwork they have displayed all year. Ogwaro, last weeks regional champion, had a tough start but was carried by his teammate Matt Rowell at three thousand meters. At 7k, Rowell began to tighten up and it was Ogwaro who returned the favor and kept Rowell in the hunt for a top-ten team finish. Keying off both runners in his first NCAA Championship was Mebrahtu, who used a crucial late race surge to run with his teammates.
Rounding out the scoring for the Royals was sophomore Marius Koksvik (Tingvoll, Norway, Tingvoll). Marius started out near the back of the 200 man field and slowly wound his way up to a 112th place finish, sealing the 7th place spot for the men.
Head Coach Scott Simmons was pleased with the effort his athletes on a tough course today, "I am proud of the way guys competed today, the men ran tough today despite very difficult conditions."
"We made tremendous progress throughout the year and I am proud of the way each athlete grew this season."
Queens returns its top five scorers for next season.
This ends the cross-country season for the Royals and begins the march towards indoor track titles.
