Men's Cross Country 11/22/2014 5:14:00 PM

OCU COLLECTS SECOND CONSECUTIVE NATIONAL TITLE

Stars have five all-Americans

OCU celebrates its second consecutive NAIA men's cross country title.

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Top-ranked Oklahoma City University captured its second consecutive national crown in the NAIA men's cross country championships Saturday at Rim Rock Farm.
Peter Koskey led the Stars with a third-place individual finish in the 8,000-meter race. Koskey, a junior from Keringet, Kenya, paced five OCU runners who took all-American honors with top-30 finishes.
OCU turned in a meet-best 55 points, while second-ranked Southern Oregon had a runner-up showing to repeat last year's two top teams in the national meet. OCU lived up to its season-long billing atop the NAIA rankings as the Stars have owned the No. 1 spot for 10 consecutive weeks dating back to the 2013 postseason ratings.
Oklahoma City has 57 national championships in all sports. The Stars took five national titles in 2013-14 in men's cross country, women's basketball, cheerleading, women's golf and pom/dance.
"We are super excited to defend the national title," said Oklahoma City coach Conor Holt, who was NAIA coach of the year for the second year in a row. "The men ran with heart and pride and got the job done for OCU."
Koskey, Arya Bahreini and Mackenzie Wahpepah-Harris of OCU became two-time all-Americans. Koskey recorded a time of 24 minutes, 44.20 seconds to be 7.8 seconds off the pace set by Benard Keter of 18th-rated Wayland Baptist (Texas).
OCU's Csaba Matko, a freshman from Budapest, Hungary, came in fifth place at 24:54.30, while Bahreini, a junior from Edmond, Okla., completed the race in 25:19.10, good for 13th.
David Mountford, a sophomore from Shotton, Wales, clocked a 25:24.90 to take 18th, and Wahpehpah-Harris, a sophomore from Norman, Okla., posted a 25:29.30 for a 21st-place showing for Oklahoma City.
"It's a great achievement to have five guys make all-American," Holt said. "They listened to the race plan really well and executed it to a tee in the second half of the race. That was the difference - patience, pride and the silver singlet."
The Stars' Kyle Wardwell, a senior from Norman, Okla., had a time of 25:47.10, good for 43rd, and Michael Vercoe-Curtis, a freshman from Auckland, New Zealand, finished in 26:17.70, which was 82nd.
The competitors faced 55-degree temperatures with 16-mph winds and gusts up to 25 mph under overcast skies.
"We had great weather and great cross country conditions," Holt said.
Along with OCU's program-best 15th-place finish in the women's race, the Stars finished third place in the combined standings.
Results

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Players Mentioned

Arya Bahreini: Junior

Peter Koskey: Junior

David Mountford: Sophomore

Mackenzie Wahpepah-Harris: Sophomore

Kyle Wardwell: Senior

Csaba Matko: Freshman

Michael Vercoe-Curtis: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Arya Bahreini
: Junior

Peter Koskey
: Junior

David Mountford
: Sophomore

Mackenzie Wahpepah-Harris
: Sophomore

Kyle Wardwell
: Senior

Csaba Matko
: Freshman

Michael Vercoe-Curtis
: Freshman