Terre Haute, IN - The Iona College men's cross country team earned a second place finish at the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championship at LaVerne Gibson XC Course this afternoon. Senior Abraham Ng'etich and junior Mohamed Khadraoui led the Gaels earning All-American medals.
"It is a very special day for Iona College and the cross country program and I'm extremely proud of our kids for the job they did this afternoon," said head coach Mick Byrne. "We set out to win a national championship and competed real well we just fell a little short. The guys executed the game plan to perfection, I have to give a ton of credit to coach Vin Lananna and the Oregon team for running a tremendous race."
The second place finish is the highest finish at the national championship by an Iona College athletic program. It marks the third straight year the Maroon & Gold earned a spot on the championship podium and the fourth in the last five years. The Gaels finished fourth in 2003 and 2005 and third in last year's championship in Terre Haute.
Top ranked Oregon led the race for virtually the duration but received a late scare by the surging Gaels. At the halfway point the Gaels were announced to be in fifth place overall with the Gaels top five sticking close to each other and ready to pounce. At 8k, the public address announcer sent chills through the Iona faithful as the squad had climbed all the way to second, just 17 points behind the Ducks with 2000-meters remaining.
Ng'etich was the Gaels top finisher crossing the line in the 10k race in 30:04.6. He was the 14th overall finisher. Khadraoui followed behind his teammate in 25th place with a time of 30:20.9. By virtue of finishing in the Top 30, both Iona harriers earned All-American accolades. Khadraoui also joins former teammate Richard Kiplagat as the only Iona runner to earn two All-American honors in cross country.
Junior Andrew Ledwith finished 31st overall, two seconds behind the All-American standard with a time of 30:28.2. Junior Harbert Okuti was the Gaels fourth finisher (30:35.3, 38th) and was followed by Mathew Kiplagat in 45th place. Kiplagat's second half surge sealed the Gaels' runner up status. He climbed nearly 40 spots from the 5k point in the race to earn his finish.
Oregon and Iona were joined on the championship podium by third-place Oklahoma State (180 team score) and Northern Arizona (190). Wisconsin, Alabama, Colorado, Minnesota, Louisville and UTEP rounded out the top 10 at the meet.
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