Men's Cross Country 11/8/2019 4:12:00 PM

Top-ranked OCU looks for third straight SAC championship

Senior-laden squad to compete for another title

OKLAHOMA CITY – Top-ranked Oklahoma City University will aim to win their third consecutive Sooner Athletic Conference men's cross country championship on Saturday at Woodson Park.
The Stars, ranked No. 1 in NAIA men's cross country, have won six of the last seven SAC Championships. Head coach Matt Aguero and his defending NAIA champion squad will look to defend home turf, where they won last year, and receive a ticket to the NAIA Championships. The top 15 runners will earn all-conference honors and entry into the national meet Nov. 22 in Vancouver, Wash., along with the school that wins the team title.
OCU is led by three all-Americans who are all currently in their senior seasons: Oscar Kipkoros, Max McNeill and Mark Shaw.
"Oscar Kipkoros won it last year," Aguero said. "Dennis Kiptoo of Wayland [Baptist] is really good. They have some good other runners in our conference. Max McNeill is another guy that is really strong. Oscar is the returning champion but Dennis Kiptoo is good."
Kipkoros, a senior from Iten, Kenya, won last year's conference meet with a time of 25:03.0 to pick up his second all-SAC honor. McNeill, a senior from Uphall Station, Scotland, came in right behind to finish in second place and bring home his third straight all-conference award. Shaw, a senior from Ormesby, Middlesbrough, England, won the individual title as a sophomore back in 2017.
The Stars recently won the NAIA Mid-States Classic in Winfield, Kan., on Oct. 26. Kipkoros placed second and McNeill third, while freshman Kipruto Cherutich came in fourth place. WBU's Kiptoo was the individual champion.
"Oscar beat him pretty handily the first time and Max beat him, as well," Aguero said. "But then Dennis beat both of them in the last race two weeks ago. It will be pretty good to see where those guys stack up."
Isaac Roldan, Ilijah Coleman and Kyle McKinley will try for back-to-back top-15 placements for OCU. Roldan, a senior from Oklahoma City, came in seventh at last year's SAC Championships, while Coleman, a senior from Pine Ridge, S.D., finished in 11th place. McKinley, a junior from Oklahoma City, squeezed in with a 14th place result.
Roldan and Coleman have received the honor twice for the Stars and will look for their third all-conference award.
Paul Welch, a freshman from Piedmont, Okla., has competed in four meets during his first season at OCU. Welch picked up SAC runner of the week after finishing with the top time at the Red River Cross Country Shootout in Wichita Falls, Texas, on Oct. 10.
Other returning OCU runners that competed last year are Michal Roguski, Logan Gwinn, Cabe Killingsworth, Joseph Engel and Tyler Wade.
Wayland Baptist (Texas) is the one other SAC school included in the most recent NAIA poll, coming in at No. 21. Kiptoo, a sophomore from Kenya, is the only runner to win SAC runner of the week multiple times this fall.
"They are a really good team," Aguero said. "Their top guys are just as good as any of ours and [Kiptoo] could possibly win the national meet. I think there are probably six guys that could win it and he is probably one of them. We have a couple on our team that could, too. They are ranked finally and have gotten better each meet, so they are going to be a good team."
Temperatures are expected to be around 60 degrees under sunny skies at race time. Winds are forecasted at 11 miles per hour.
"We have run really well in just about every meet," Aguero said. "The big thing for us is to get to the national meet and see what we do there."
McNeill will look for a perfect four-for-four and the Stars will look to sport their third straight individual champion on Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

Ilijah Coleman: 5' 11"; Senior

Joseph Engel: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Logan Gwinn: Junior

Cabe Killingsworth: Junior

Oscar Kipkoros: 5' 8"; Senior

Kyle McKinley: Junior

Max McNeill: Senior

Michal Roguski: Senior

Isaac Roldan: 5' 7"; Senior

Mark Shaw: 6' 0"; Senior

Tyler Wade: 5' 8"; Senior

Paul Welch: 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Ilijah Coleman
: 5' 11"; Senior

Joseph Engel
: 6' 2"; Sophomore

Logan Gwinn
: Junior

Cabe Killingsworth
: Junior

Oscar Kipkoros
: 5' 8"; Senior

Kyle McKinley
: Junior

Max McNeill
: Senior

Michal Roguski
: Senior

Isaac Roldan
: 5' 7"; Senior

Mark Shaw
: 6' 0"; Senior

Tyler Wade
: 5' 8"; Senior

Paul Welch
: 6' 1"; Freshman