Posted by paul brueske on November 24, 2004 at 10:06:20:
11/22/04 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOUTH ALABAMA'S OKELLO FINISHES 23RD AT NCAA CROSS COUNTRY
CHAMPIONSHIP
OKELLO BECOMES THIRD USA RUNNER TO EARN ALL-AMERICA HONORS
CONTACT: Tim Lutz
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - University of South Alabama cross country athlete
Tonny Okello became only the third Jaguar cross country All-America
honoree, after finishing 23rd at the NCAA Cross Country Championships
on Monday.
Okello joins Jeff Campbell and David Kimani as Jaguar cross country
All-Americans. Campbell finished 32nd at the 1991 national meet,
while Kimani, who is still USA's only cross country national
champion, accomplished the feat in 1999.
"We are very proud of what Tonny accomplished today and this
entire
season," head cross country coach Lee Evans said. "He
battled hard
all day, but suffered a cramp late in the race that set him back a
little bit. Overall, this was a very good experience for him and will
prove to be very valuable in his future as a runner."
At the half-way point of the 10K race, Okello was among the nine
field leaders, recording a time of 15:17 at the 5K mark. At the 8K
split, Okello was 12 seconds behind the leader, with a time of 24:46.
Shortly after the 8K split, the Lira, Uganda native suffered a cramp
in his hamstring and fell behind the leaders. Okello officially
finished the race in 31:30.1, less than a minute behind national
champion, Simon Bairu from Wisconsin. Also to his credit, Okello
finished ahead of the Florida duo of Stephen Zieminski and Henok
Lechebo, who finished ahead of him in the South Regional on Nov. 13.
The University of Colorado won both the men's and the women's team
national championships.
In the men's team championship, the Buffalos finished with 90 points,
holding off Wisconsin, who finished with 94 points. Colorado was
paced by Brent Vaughn and Bret Schoolmeester, who finished fourth and
fifth, respectively. Arkansas finished third with 202 points. In the
women's competition, Colorado finished with 63 points, 81 points
better than runner-up Duke. Providence rounded out the team
medalists, finishing third with 164 points.
The women's individual championship was earned by Providence's Kim
Smith, who recorded a 6K time of 20:08.5. Renee Metevier from
Colorado finished second with a time of 20:26.4, while Caroline
Bierbaum from Columbia finished third.
Okello finishes the 2004 season with numerous accolades. Along with
All-America honors, Okello also earned South All-Region, All-Sun
Belt, as well as the Outstanding Performer award at the Sun Belt
Conference Championship. He finished the season with four individual
championships and led the team to two team titles. Okello was also
Sun Belt Runner of the Week twice during the season.