Men's Cross Country 1/21/2021 5:00:00 PM

Stars return to course, track

OCU kicks off season in OBU Invitational, Friends Mid-Season NAIA Invitational

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University gets back to the cross country course and the track, bringing along four national qualifiers and an all-American from last season into the action this weekend.
Two-time defending national champion Oklahoma City, second in the preseason NAIA men's cross country rankings, compete in the Oklahoma Baptist Invitational at 2 p.m. Friday in Shawnee, Okla., in a four-mile run. The Stars' track & field season opens in the Friends Mid-Season NAIA Invitational on Friday in Wichita, Kan.
The Stars' Kipruto Cherutich and Kimani Gardner earned all-American nods in the NAIA indoor track & field championships. Cherutich snared seventh place in the 3,000 meters, while Gardner scooped up eighth in the 60-meter race March 5-7 in Brookings, S.D.
In the national meet, Bryce McConnell and Antravius Perkins represented OCU in the 4x400-meter relay. Perkins ran the 200 for the Stars.
Oklahoma City triumphed for its fifth national championship in the NAIA men's cross country championships on Nov. 22, 2019 in Vancouver, Wash. The Stars return Joseph Engel, Logan Gwinn, Zander Rossiter and Paul Welch, who ran in the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships, where OCU won its third conference title in a row. OCU owns national championships won in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019.

TOP RETURNERS

• Cherutich completed the 3,000-meter run in 8 minutes, 31.98 seconds in the national indoor meet. He qualified for the finals in the 5,000 meters as well. Cherutich, a senior from Iten, Kenya, nabbed first in the mile at the J.D. Martin Invitational
• Gardner dashed to a mark of 6.91 seconds in the 60-meter race. Gardner, a senior from Kingston, Jamaica, won the event in Kansas State's Steve Miller Open
• Gwinn fell short of all-conference honors in the SAC cross country championships, finishing 18th with a time of 27:16.1. Welch became conference runner of the week for Oct. 7-13, 2019

NEW FACES

• Zouhair Talbi accumulated all-American acclaim in cross country and track & field with Northwest Kansas Tech. Talbi, a sophomore from Tighassoaline, Khenifra, Morocco, boasted of being the runner-up in the NJCAA cross country championships and second place in the 5,000 meters in the NJCAA indoor track & field championships
• Milos Pendic became a two-time all-American for Iowa Central, earning top honors in the 3,000 meters and mile runs in the NJCAA indoor track & field championships. In the NJCAA Region XI cross country championship, Pendic finished 10th
• Milan Todorovic snagged the NJCAA Region XXIV cross country title competing for Vincennes (Ind.) in 2019
• Simon Siebert became an all-conference performer in the 100 meters, 400, 800 and the long jump as a prep competitor in Cuba, Mo.

PRESEASON BUZZ

• OCU picked up the No. 2 spot in the preseason NAIA men's cross country rankings, ending the Stars' string of 13 polls in a row atop the NAIA top 25. The Stars collected the most No. 1 votes with 10

MEET THE COACH

• Matt Aguero has spent the previous four years as OCU head men's and women's cross country and track & field coach. He has led the Stars to two men's cross country national championships and the 2017 women's indoor national runner-up finish. Aguero started at OCU as assistant coach and aided the Stars to two national crowns in men's cross country
• Aguero has guided Oklahoma City to seven conference cross country titles, three men's crowns and four women's championships. He has been decorated as NAIA men's cross country coach of the year twice, cross country regional coach of the year five times (two men's honors, three women's nods) and SAC coach of the year seven times (three men's awards, four women's accolades)
• Aguero has mentored 38 individual and relay national champions. In 2019-20, Mark Shaw secured his second individual NAIA men's cross country championship in addition to Rowell nabbing the high jump indoor title. Notably, Aguero directed Aminat Olowora, who became a 12-time national champion with two NAIA records

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

• The NAIA indoor track & field championships will be March 3-6 at the Ruth Donohoe First Dakota Fieldhouse on the campus of Mount Marty University in Yankton, S.D.
• The SAC cross country championships are slated for the third consecutive year at Woodson Park in Oklahoma City. The meet is scheduled for March 27
• The NAIA cross country championships have been set for April 9 at the Seminole Valley Cross Country Course in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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Players Mentioned

Mark Shaw: 6' 0"; Senior

Joseph Engel: 6' 2"; Junior

Zouhair Talbi: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Milos Pendic: 6' 4"; Junior

Logan Gwinn: Senior

Zander Rossiter: 5' 11"; Junior

Milan Todorovic: 6' 1"; Junior

Paul Welch: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Kipruto Cherutich: Senior

Kimani Gardner: 5' 8"; Senior

Bryce McConnell: 5' 11"; Junior

Antravius Perkins: Senior

Players Mentioned

Mark Shaw
: 6' 0"; Senior

Joseph Engel
: 6' 2"; Junior

Zouhair Talbi
: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Milos Pendic
: 6' 4"; Junior

Logan Gwinn
: Senior

Zander Rossiter
: 5' 11"; Junior

Milan Todorovic
: 6' 1"; Junior

Paul Welch
: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Kipruto Cherutich
: Senior

Kimani Gardner
: 5' 8"; Senior

Bryce McConnell
: 5' 11"; Junior

Antravius Perkins
: Senior