Sooner Athletic Conference champion
Benard Keter will be joined by the rest of the Pioneer men's team as well as women's runners
Jackline Jemeli and
April Padilla at the NAIA Men's and Women's Cross Country National Championships to be held Nov. 21 at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, N.C.
The Wayland men, after finishing second to top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Oklahoma City at the SAC Championships last Saturday in Shawnee, Okla., earned the fourth of 13 at-large bids given to teams that did not win their conference meets. At-large invitations are based on the final regular-season NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, in which Wayland went from being ranked No. 14 to tied-for-13
th.
Joining Keter, the defending national champion, on the men's team, along with their places among the 66-runner SAC Championship field, are
Bobby Childers, 15
th;
Raul Almaraz, 16
th;
Jason Rowe, 19
th;
Christian Garcia, 38
th; and
Randall Borden, 42
nd;
Wayland is one of 36 teams, along with 85 individuals, to qualify for nationals. Besides Wayland and OCU, also representing the SAC will be Bacone, Okla., which entered the Top 25 at No. 20 after finishing third at the SAC meet.
On the women's side, WBU's Jemeli and Padilla qualified for nationals as individuals after finishing fourth and ninth, respectively, at the conference meet. Individuals advance by being among the top four finishers not on qualifying teams as well as finishing in the top 15 overall.
The WBU women took third at the SAC meet behind OCU and Texas Wesleyan, both of which qualified for nationals as teams.
Thirty-six teams and 82 individuals will make up the national championship field.
The men's 8-kilometer race will begin at 10:30 a.m. EST, followed by the women's 5K-race at 11:30 a.m. EST.
A post-race highlight show will be free to all fans through the NAIA Network, available no later than noon CST on Sunday, Nov. 22.
For more on the national championships, click
here for men or
here for women.
2015 NAIA Men's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 6 (Oct. 21)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 3 | Oklahoma City (11) | 432 |
| 2 | 1 | Southern Oregon (4) | 423 |
| 3 | 3 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (1) | 409 |
| 4 | 5 | Indiana Wesleyan | 384 |
| 5 | 4 | Saint Mary (Kan.) | 382 |
| 6 | 7 | British Columbia | 368 |
| 7 | 8 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 345 |
| 8 | 6 | Carroll (Mont.) | 336 |
| 9 | 9 | College of Idaho | 326 |
| 10 | 10 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 318 |
| 11 | 11 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 302 |
| 12 | 13 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 283 |
| T13 | 15 | Marian (Ind.) | 247 |
| T13 | 14 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 247 |
| 15 | 19 | The Master's (Calif.) | 228 |
| 16 | 17 | Taylor (Ind.) | 218 |
| 17 | 20 | Indiana Tech | 206 |
| 18 | 18 | Columbia (Mo.) | 187 |
| 19 | 24 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 185 |
| 20 | RV | Bacone (Okla.) | 169 |
| 21 | 12 | Morningside (Iowa) | 159 |
| 22 | RV | Biola (Calif.) | 142 |
| 23 | 21 | Northwest Christian (Ore.) | 137 |
| 24 | 23 | SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 103 |
| 25 | 22 | Bethel (Ind.) | 98 |
| | | |
Dropped from the Top 25: Westmont (Calif.) (No. 26) and Saint Xavier (Ill.) (No. 25)
Others receiving votes: Westmont (Calif.) 87; Cornerstone (Mich.) 72; Campbellsville (Ky.) 40; Concordia (Neb.) 26; Eastern Oregon 23; Milligan (Tenn.) 22; Shawnee State (Ohio) 22; Saint Xavier (Ill.) 9; Texas Wesleyan 7; Dickinson State (N.D.) 6; Doane (Neb.) 3.
2015 Women's Cross Country Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Final (Nov. 8)
| RANK | LAST | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Northwest Christian (Ore.) (18) | 498 |
| 2 | T2 | Biola (Calif.) | 480 |
| 3 | T2 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 468 |
| 4 | 4 | Taylor (Ind.) | 446 |
| 5 | 6 | Carroll (Mont.) | 422 |
| 6 | 5 | College of Idaho | 416 |
| 7 | 7 | British Columbia | 399 |
| T8 | 9 | Indiana Wesleyan | 373 |
| T8 | 11 | The Master's (Calif.) | 373 |
| 10 | 13 | Oklahoma City | 353 |
| 11 | 10 | Dordt (Iowa) | 350 |
| 12 | T11 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 323 |
| 13 | 8 | Westmont (Calif.) | 318 |
| 14 | 16 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 282 |
| 15 | 17 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 273 |
| 16 | 15 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 271 |
| 17 | 14 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 244 |
| 18 | 20 | Milligan (Tenn.) | 213 |
| 19 | 21 | Oregon Tech | 210 |
| 20 | 23 | Morningside (Iowa) | 200 |
| 21 | 18 | Southern Oregon | 170 |
| T22 | RV | Hastings (Neb.) | 134 |
| T22 | 22 | Texas Wesleyan | 134 |
| 24 | 24 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 121 |
| 25 | NR | SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) | 97 |
| | | |
Dropped from the Top 25: Tennessee Wesleyan (No. 29) and Doane (Neb.) (No. 19)
Others receiving votes: Siena Heights (Mich.) 83; Marian (Ind.) 82; Concordia (Neb.) 67; Tennessee Wesleyan 42; Cornerstone (Mich.) 40; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 33; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 19; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 16; Doane (Neb.) 8.
