TULSA, Okla. -- The John Brown University men's cross country team placed fifth out of 10 teams at Thursday's (Sept. 4) Distance After Dark meet hosted by Rogers State (Okla.) at the Mohawk Sports Complex, posting a team time of 1:46:50 (116 points) in the 117-runner field.
Freshman Payton Brack led JBU with a 17th-place finish, clocking 21:08.00 over the four-mile course. Sophomore Samuel Burkett followed closely behind in 18th place with a time of 21:11.27, giving John Brown a strong 1-2 punch at the front of the pack.
The Blue and Gold's scoring was rounded out by freshman Ian Sustaita Garcia in 23rd place (21:22.25), senior Chase Schermer in 24th place (21:23.67), and freshman Ethan Elder in 34th place (21:45.21). The team's top five runners finished within a 37-second spread.
Rounding out John Brown's top seven were junior Henry Zedler who placed 42nd in 22:02.60 and freshman Daniel Ogomo who finished 51st in 22:28.36. JBU's top seven runners crossed the line with a 1:20 spread from first to seventh place.
Oklahoma Christian claimed the team title with 53 points, led by individual runner-up Tegen Arega (20:26.62). Mid-America Christian (Okla.) finished second with 63 points, while host Rogers State took third place with 76 points despite winning the individual race through Nathaneal Gibson's clinching time of 20:17.68.
"Proud of both the men and women for executing Coach Ledbetter's game plan," head coach Peter Cunningham noted. "They were told to get out controlled and then hunt late, and they did exactly that—hitting splits like clockwork.
"We have a great team in the making. Ben and I have been saying for weeks that much of our men's team is undertrained. Whether from injuries or sickness over the summer, we came in far from peak fitness—which gets us excited, because we already look really strong. Our men's team has never been deeper than it is right now. We see in them a balance between hunger for competition and an incredible bond with each other."
The Golden Eagles open the 8,000 meter part of its season on Saturday (Sept. 20) at the Missouri Southern State Stampede. Start times at the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course have not yet been announced.
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