[October 26, 2008]

GSC Men’s CC results.pdf
GSC Women’s CC results.pdf

By: Houston Taylor

HOOVER, Ala. – Harding’s men’s team celebrated its eighth Gulf South Conference cross country championship, while its women’s team won its fourth consecutive title Friday at Veterans Park.

The Southern Arkansas Mulerider team finished seventh over the 8K course with 187 points in the 11-team field, while the Lady Muleriders placed ninth in their 5K run with 238 points in a 14-team field.

The Bisons did what only one other GSC team has ever done, finishing with a perfect score of 15 after claiming the top five individual spots in the race. Alabama-Huntsville (64) was second, West Georgia (92) third, Christian Brothers (102) was fourth and West Florida (151) rounded out the top five.

Completing the field was West Alabama (159) in sixth, Valdosta State (206) was behind SAU, and North Alabama (237), Henderson State (241) and Arkansas-Monticello (355), were ninth through 11th, respectively.

Harding’s Daniel Kirwa led six Bison runners that placed in the top nine as he claimed both the GSC individual championship and freshman of the year award. Kirwa had an impressive time of 24:30.44 as he finished almost a full minute ahead of teammate Philip Biwott.

Southern Arkansas sophomore Nathan Blim placed 18th in the competition to earn second team All-GSC laurels, posting a time of 27:32.10. Other Mulerider runners were sophomore Dusty Hardin (28:11.49) finishing 31st, freshman Todd McAdoo (28:20.24) was 35th, junior Kevin Perez (28:54.39) placed 41st and senior Michael Wooten (30:21.25) was 62nd in the 73-man field.

The Lady Bisons claimed the top three spots and had all five scorers finish in the top nine, recording 22 points for the win. Alabama-Huntsville (65) was second, Arkansas Tech (76) third, West Georgia (142) was fourth, and North Alabama (151) concluded the top five.

The rest of the women’s field was West Florida (167) at sixth, Montevallo (199) seventh, Ouachita Baptist (216) was eighth, and Valdosta State and West Alabama each scored 254 points to tie at 10th behind SAU. Henderson State (332), Christian Brothers (365) and Arkansas-Monticello (394) rounded out the rest of the field.

Harding’s Esther Komen (18:53.81) claimed the individual title, while teammate Mary Samoei (19:04.59) was second and received the freshman of the year award.

Senior Kendall Mears, Southern Arkansas’ leading runner, earned second team All-GSC honors by placing 18th in a time of 20:09.39. Other Southern Arkansas runners were sophomore Jessica Gadlin (20:58.07) finishing 34th, Bailey Dulaney (21:27.01) was 42nd, sophomore Samantha Sparks (22:29.14) placed 60th, and freshman M’Kenna Moore (25:39.60) was 84th in rounding out the Lady Muleriders’ scoring. Sophomore Lindsay Spooner also competed for SAU in the 97-woman field.

The NCAA Division II South Region Championships will be hosted by Harding and held in Searcy on Saturday, November 8.