ST. LEO, Fla. – Innocent Murwanashyaka became the fifth Buff in program history to earn All-American honors at the 2021 NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning in St. Leo, Florida. The junior led West Texas A&M to a 22
nd-place team finish with 528 points.
Grand Valley State claimed the team title with 43 points after placing five runners in the top 20 including 1-2 individual finishes. Adams State finished second with 84 points followed by Colorado Mines (123), Augustana (222) and UC-Colorado Springs (254).
"We finished one spot ahead from where we were ranked when we came in finished 22
nd so it was probably where we are at but there was a point in the season where we didn't think we were going to be here," said head coach
Jake Krolick. "There was a point where we were pretty rough and we didn't think we were going to be here after regionals so to get this opportunity, especially one more event for Innocent to avenge his regional race."
The Buffs were led by Murwanashyaka who claimed his first All-America accolades after finishing 40
th overall. The St. Paul, Minn. native completed the 10,000-meter course 31 minutes, 29.0 seconds which was just .9 seconds faster then Adams State's Andrew O'Keefe.
"He finished about 20 spots over the last mile to get 40
th and get an All-American spot. He ran a really tough, smart race and gained some valuable experience. All these guys gained some valuable experience. Yes, it wasn't our best team effort that we've had since I've been here but we've got a young group and we'll have five of them come back next year. We gained some experience that's going to translate to some great results in the future.
Senior
Ezekiel Kipchirchir was the second Buff to cross the finish line in 79
th as he finished his second NCAA Championship race in 32 minutes, 15.2 seconds.
Jay Hall was the third scorer for WT and 141
st overall in 33:00.8 followed by
Harry Louradour (160
th, 33:18.8),
Briggs Wittlake (169
th, 33:28.1), and
Gustavo Posada (180
th, 33:44.1).
Noah Bundrock was the final runner for WT as he placed 224
th at 35:09.1.
The Buffs will now turn their attention towards track when they open the 2021-22 indoor season at the Grand Valley State Holiday Open and Crimson & Golden Open on Dec. 3-4.
