Louisville, Kentucky - In the men's cross country season finale at the NCAA National Championships, the Thunderbirds finished 21st as a team and senior Hayden Hawks earned All-American status by finishing 35th individually.
Hawks finish was the result of finishing the 10K in 30:22.8, which was the fastest time for the Thunderbirds. Hawks had told SUU head coach Eric Houle when he was redshirting that he would be an All-American, and he accomplished that goal, which is something Houle is very proud of.
“He put his mind to it and did the work we needed him to do and he's awarded now with one of the All-American spots,” he said. “That's something he and the rest of the team will remember for a long time to come.”
Mike Tate was the second fastest finisher for SUU, running a 30:46.8 which placed him in 78th place individually. Ibrahim Ahmed finished third for SUU and 142nd overall with a 31:19.5.
Shinano Miyazawa finished fourth for the Thunderbirds with a 31:31.5, which placed him in 159th place. Kasey Knevelbaard wrapped up the scoring for SUU, finishing in 186th place with a 31:49.8.
Matt Wright finished in 198th for SUU with 31:57.4 and Josh Collins finished in 219th with a 32:24.2.
Syracuse defeated Colorado by nine points to claim the team title, followed by Stanford and Oregon.
Edward Cheserek took the top spot with a 29:11.1, claiming his third straight National Championship.
The 21st place finish is one spot higher than the T-Birds finished last season, but Houle said the space between several teams above them was very slim.
“About 71 points separated us from 12th,” he said. “We had a couple of guys run off pace, and everybody else had a drastic improvement over last year and in a race like this 71 points is not a big deal, so we ran really good we just had a couple guys run off pace, but it was a huge improvement for us over last year.”
Houle said this time around there was a little more recognition for the team, and as they continue to improve over the upcoming years that will as well.
“We're considered a threat to a lot of programs and a legitimate program, we're not a flash in the pan,” he said. “You can tell we're considered one of the big teams in the country.”
Photo by Daniel Petty
