Abilene Christian men, Midwestern State women win Lone Star titles

- Complete results

Abilene Christian won the men’s title and Midwestern State claimed the women’s crown at the Lone Star Conference Championships Saturday in Kingsville, Texas.

ACU prevailed in the men’s 7,700-meter race for the 18th straight year, while MSU captured its first title in school history on the 6,000-meter course.

The race was hosted by Texas A&M-Kingsville at L.E. Ramey Golf Course.

The Wildcats tallied a near perfect score of 17 points as they had five of the top six placers. Junior Daniel Maina crossed the tape in a time of 23:32 to earn individual medalist honors. Cleophas Tanui and Julius Nyango were close behind at 23:39 and 23:40, respectively. Texas A&M-Commerce junior Tyler Tyndell broke up the lead pack placing fourth in a time of 23:45. ACU’s Serge Gasore and LSC Freshman of the Year Charles White rounded out the scoring runners for the champions in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

Tarleton State University came out on top in a close race for second place with 77 points. Texas A&M-Commerce was third with 78 points while East Central University was fourth with 89 points. Angelo State University (142), Cameron University (146), Eastern New Mexico University (174), West Texas A&M (193) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (270) rounded out the scoring teams.

In addition to the top six runners mentioned, TAMC’s Cody Hughes and Robert Reed finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Tarleton’s Jared McNeil came in ninth place and East Central’s John Sutrick finished in 10th place. It was the 24th time and 18th consecutive year that Abilene Christian won the Lone Star Conference men’s cross country title.

MSU placed five runners in the top 20, led by top 10 finishers Katie Stepp (4th, 22:35), LSC Freshman of the Year Lindsey Pate (7th, 23:13) and Kayla Hendrix (10th, 23:36). Andrea Borgman, 17th, and Brittany Barrington, 20th, closed out the Mustangs’ team scoring giving them a total of 58 points.

West Texas A&M narrowly held off East Central University for second place, 84-94. Central Oklahoma, Abilene Christian and Angelo State rounded out the top six teams. Southwestern Oklahoma, Tarleton State, Eastern New Mexico, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Southeastern Oklahoma finished in seventh through 12th place, respectively.

Despite finishing in fifth place as a team, Abilene Christian boasted the top two individuals in the conference. Sophomore Winrose Karunde easily won the race in a time of 21:39. She was followed by teammate Loice Cheboi in a time of 22:15. WT’s Jeniffer Cherono paced the Buffs in a time of 22:21, Stepp was fourth and SWOSU’s Stefanie Jones took fifith place in a time of 22:51. UCO’s Alina Istrate crossed the tape in 23:08 and was followed by Pate, teammate Evelyn Barko, Paige Massingill of ASU and Hendrix.

The top 10 finishers in each race were honored as All-LSC runners.