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Wed, Oct. 5, 2011
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NAIA cross country runner of the week Silas Kisorio and the Oklahoma Christian Eagles are No. 1.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 5, 2011) - Oklahoma Christian's men's cross country team achieved a first for the program on Wednesday, rising to No. 1 in the NAIA rankings.
In a double dose of good news for the Eagles, senior Silas Kisorio also was named the NAIA's national runner of the week on Wednesday, following his strong performance on Saturday in the Oklahoma State University Cowboy Jamboree. It's the second time the Eldoret, Kenya, native has received such an honor, as he was named the NAIA's national indoor track athlete of the week this past Feb. 16.
Oklahoma Christian had been No. 2 in the two most recent NAIA cross country polls, but jumped to No. 1 on the strength of an exceptional outing Saturday in the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater. Running in the Jamboree's university division against 11 NCAA Division I teams and numerous NCAA Division II programs, the Eagles finished eighth, 10 spots ahead of then-No. 1 Wayland Baptist (Texas).
"I'd be lying not to admit that being ranked No. 1 is flattering, but I want to keep things in perspective," OC head coach Mark Thompson said. "We'd like to win a championship. When we line up and race our competition, they won't care about rankings. Or, if anything, they'll have more fuel for their fire! If we didn't already before, we now have targets on our backs and every team out there will want a piece of us!"
OC's team is led by a pair of All-Americans, Kisorio and junior Geoffrey Njonjo. Kisorio - a former NAIA individual cross country champion - led for a sizable portion of Saturday's race and eventually finished sixth while Njonjo was 14th in the field of 324 runners.
David McWilliams (45th), Austin Simkins (99th), Brayden Barrientez (105th) and Nathan Mesta (123rd) rounded out OC's squad at the Jamboree.
Thompson said his runners have worked hard and "deserve the accomplishment" of being ranked No. 1.
"We've been talking for a couple of years about the 2011 season, and they guys have really bought into our team concept and worked hard," Thompson said. "Our team performance at OSU Saturday was a nearly flawless, which doesn't happen every time out. I always have reasonable expectations for my athletes going into races, and am usually fairly accurate with predictions of how fast they will run. These guys surpassed my expectations at OSU."
While it's the first time OC's men's cross country program has achieved a No. 1 ranking, it's not a first for the school. The Eagles' men's basketball team twice has been ranked No. 1 for one week, during January 1978 and January 1999. The men's golf team - the reigning NAIA champion - achieved its first No. 1 ranking in April 2003 and has been atop the poll numerous times ever since. The men's tennis team never was ranked No. 1 but did win the 2003 NAIA championship.
In a double dose of good news for the Eagles, senior Silas Kisorio also was named the NAIA's national runner of the week on Wednesday, following his strong performance on Saturday in the Oklahoma State University Cowboy Jamboree. It's the second time the Eldoret, Kenya, native has received such an honor, as he was named the NAIA's national indoor track athlete of the week this past Feb. 16.
Oklahoma Christian had been No. 2 in the two most recent NAIA cross country polls, but jumped to No. 1 on the strength of an exceptional outing Saturday in the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater. Running in the Jamboree's university division against 11 NCAA Division I teams and numerous NCAA Division II programs, the Eagles finished eighth, 10 spots ahead of then-No. 1 Wayland Baptist (Texas).
"I'd be lying not to admit that being ranked No. 1 is flattering, but I want to keep things in perspective," OC head coach Mark Thompson said. "We'd like to win a championship. When we line up and race our competition, they won't care about rankings. Or, if anything, they'll have more fuel for their fire! If we didn't already before, we now have targets on our backs and every team out there will want a piece of us!"
OC's team is led by a pair of All-Americans, Kisorio and junior Geoffrey Njonjo. Kisorio - a former NAIA individual cross country champion - led for a sizable portion of Saturday's race and eventually finished sixth while Njonjo was 14th in the field of 324 runners.
David McWilliams (45th), Austin Simkins (99th), Brayden Barrientez (105th) and Nathan Mesta (123rd) rounded out OC's squad at the Jamboree.
Thompson said his runners have worked hard and "deserve the accomplishment" of being ranked No. 1.
"We've been talking for a couple of years about the 2011 season, and they guys have really bought into our team concept and worked hard," Thompson said. "Our team performance at OSU Saturday was a nearly flawless, which doesn't happen every time out. I always have reasonable expectations for my athletes going into races, and am usually fairly accurate with predictions of how fast they will run. These guys surpassed my expectations at OSU."
While it's the first time OC's men's cross country program has achieved a No. 1 ranking, it's not a first for the school. The Eagles' men's basketball team twice has been ranked No. 1 for one week, during January 1978 and January 1999. The men's golf team - the reigning NAIA champion - achieved its first No. 1 ranking in April 2003 and has been atop the poll numerous times ever since. The men's tennis team never was ranked No. 1 but did win the 2003 NAIA championship.