Women 12th at Cross Country Nationals

Women's Results
Men's Results

(A video highlight show will air at approximately noon (CST) Sunday on www.NAIANetwork.com).

ELSAH, Ill. – A 12^th-place finish in a field of 36 teams capped the 20^th-ranked Wayland Baptist women's cross country team's season at the NAIA Championships held at North Farms Cross Country Course Saturday morning.
 
Pioneer coach Brian Whitlock came away extremely proud of the performance of his team, especially the top four – Jackline Jemeli, Silvia Sosa, Elizabeth Williams and Abril Padilla – who carried the load.
 
"They ran extremely ran," Whitlock said. "Through four girls we're a top-five team. I was really happy with all our girls."
 
Jemeli managed to earn NAIA All-American honors by finishing 17th of 334 runners. She finished with a personal-best time of 17 minutes, 40 seconds on the 5k course. The top 30 finishers are deemed all-Americans.
 
"She ran exceptionally well," Whitlock said of Jemeli's performance on a day with temperatures in the 40s and winds 15-20 mph. "She ran exactly how I wanted her to and led us well again."
 
Also posting personal-bests were South Plains College transfer Silvia Sosa (18:06), who finished 43rd overall, and freshman Elizabeth Williams (18:18), who came in 56th. Padilla (18:48) finished 102nd.
 
"I'm just so proud of these girls," Whitlock said. "This is the toughest group of girls I've ever coached. I can't tell you enough of how well those girls ran."
 
Rounding out the team were sophomore Kaelene Mooney (288^th, 20:36), and freshmen Jordan Heymans (296^th, 20:44), and Bailey Breeden (313^th, 21:34).
 
British Columbia won the meet with 90 points. Oklahoma City came in fifth.
 
In the men's race, sophomore Raul Almaraz finished 54^th, completing the 8k course in 25:37, while freshman Eric Villagrana placed 78th (25:52) out of 331 participants.
 
"Based on the way those guys ran, our men's team could've finished in the top 20," Whitlock said. "These guys beat athletes they haven't beaten all year."
 
Jackson Thomas of Bacone (Okla.) won the meet in 23:50.20. Southern Oregon took the team title; OCU was seventh.
 
The solid showing at nationals for both WBU's men's and women's programs forecasts a bright future for the Pioneers since neither team's roster shows any seniors.
 
"Of all my years coaching cross country, this has been a really good day," Whitlock said. "I'm pretty happy. I'm excited with what we have moving forward."