Western State, Adams State win NCAA Division II XC titles

Western State College's men and Adams State's women were the team winners Saturday at the 2005 NCAA Division II Cross Country championships at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona at Prado Park inChino, Calif.

On a sunny and warm day, Nicodemus Naimadu of Abilene Christian was an impressive repeat national champion in the men's race, while Mandi Zemba of Grand Valley State captured the women's title. For host Cal Poly Pomona, Mark Batres (Sr., Rowland Heights, Don Bosco Tech HS) earned All-America honors for a second straight year by finishing in 10th place. His finish is the best for a Cal Poly Pomona runner since Jose Rangel took ninth in 1997. The Bronco men finished 14th for the second straight season.

Naimadu, meanwhile, overpowered the talented men's field and won with a time of 30:13.8 over a 10,000-meter course at Prado Park. He won the race by nearly a minute and set a new course record by more than three seconds. Kelly Christensen of Western State was second in 31:10.4 and Jeff Weiss of Slippery Rock was third in 31:18.2.

Western State had all five of its scoring runners place in the top 20 and easily won the men's race with 51 points. Adams State was second with 108 points and Chico State of the California Collegiate Athletic Association was third with 127 points. Grand Valley State was fourth with 131 points.

The national title was the seventh overall for Western State, which leads all Division II programs. It is the second straight and sixth in the past seven years for the champions.

In the women's race, Zemba won by 11 seconds while finishing the 6,000-meter course in 21:01.7. Esther Komen of Western State was second in 21:12.9 and Victoria Martinez of Adams State was third in 21:13.6.

Adams State won the team title with 54 points, while Grand Valley State was second with 69 points. Western State finished third with 154 points and Chico State was fourth with 162 points.

It's the third straight team title for Adams State and their 11th overall, which is now the most in Division II history. Adams State entered this season tied with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which is now a Division I program, for the most overall.

A total of 186 women and 182 men competed in Saturday's championships.

Wisconsin-LaCrosse wins men's NCAA Division III title; Geneseo State claims women's crown

Wisconsin-LaCrosse placed two runners among the top 10 team scorers and five in the top 30 team scorers Saturday to defeat defending champion Calvin by a score of 94-117 at the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio and Dornoch Golf Club.

Wisconsin-LaCrosse placed third at last year's NCAA Division III championships meet, and for a while it looked like the Eagles were on their way to a repeat of that performance, or perhaps a jump to second place in the team standings.

Boomer Creger led the Eagles with a 15th-place finish, followed by Nate Hoffman in 17th place. The Eagles' 3-4-5 finishers were Kevin Oelstrom, who placed 36th; John Heitzman, who was 46th; and Scott Mueller, who finished 49th.

The national championship was the third for Wisconsin-LaCrosse, following team titles in 1996 and 2001.

Calvin, which had won the last two NCAA Division III team championships, was led by Tim Finnegan, who finished third overall. Jed Christiansen and Harrison Jorritsma followed in 34th and 35th place respectively, with Jon Gries finishing 55th and Bill Reynolds 73rd.

Haverford finished in third place with 118 points, a single marker behind Calvin, and Nebraska Wesleyan was fourth with 132 points.

Individual honors went to Neal Holtschulte of Williams, who won the race by a margin of nearly 13 seconds over runner-up Macharia Yuot of Widener. Finnegan of Calvin was third, Tyler Sigl of Wisconsin- Platteville was fourth and Dana Irrer of Carnegie-Mellon finished fifth.

Led by freshman Liz Montgomery, who finished third among individuals, Geneseo (N.Y.) State placed three runners in the top 20 and five in the top 30 team scorers on Saturday to defeat defending champion Williams for the NCAA Division III women's team title by a score of 87-107.

After Montgomery, the Blue Devils had Marta Scott finish in 24th place, Shannon Griggs in 30th place, Renne Catalano in 47th place and Christiana Martin in 56th place to finish off a jump from a 13th-place finish in last year's NCAA Division III meet to the 2005 national championship trophy.

Williams had three runners among the top 10 team scorers, but was not able to defend its crown. Caroline Cretti finished sixth overall, Elizabeth Gleason was 14th and Michelle Rorke placed 17th to lead the Ephs, with Mallory Harlin finishing 28th and Rebecca Davies rounding out the Williams scoring with a 116th-place finish.

Washington (Mo.) finished in third place with 132 points and Wisconsin- LaCrosse was fourth with 169 points.

Individual honors went to Hailey Harren of Gustavus Adolphus, who won the race by a margin of almost 8 seconds over runner-up Julia Rudd of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. Montgomery of Geneseo was third, Allison Busby of SUNY-Plattsburgh was fourth and Amanda Kuca of Concordia (Wis.) finished fifth.

The races took place over a soft, hilly course in sunny, 50-degree weather that featured a steady breeze.