ECU men's team wins GAC cross country championship

Jeff Cali, The Ada News, Okla.
·2 min read

Nov. 12—SHAWNEE — East Central saw Amos Pkiach, Oliver Kiptoo and Melvin Kipkemboi claimed the top three finishing positions as the Tigers won the title at the 2022 Great American Conference Men's Cross Country Championships last Saturday in Shawnee.

The meet, hosted by Oklahoma Baptist University, took place at the Gordon Cooper Technology Center.

ECU finished with 24 points, 26 clear of second place.

The victory gave the Tigers eight GAC titles in 12 seasons. Pkiach became the sixth different ECU runner to claim the individual title. His winning time, 24:43.1, represented the fifth-fastest time in GAC Championship history and the fastest in seven years. He edged out Kiptoo by nine-tenths of a second, the third time the top-two runners finished within one second of each other.

Michael Iyali placed sixth and Drew Wiles took 12th to represent the five scoring runners for the Tigers. Gilberto Palomo finished in 16th.

Other ECU runners included Matthew Norton, 23rd; Maverick Stephenson, 27th; Zander Wood, 28th; Jordan Garcia, 29th; Chris Larson, 37th; AJ Gustin, 39th; Cesar Garcia, 50th; and Elijah Woodward, 58th.

East Central veteran head coach Steve Sawyer picked up his eighth men's cross country GAC Coach of the Year Honor as well.

Harding, last year's champions, finished as the runner up. Noah Haileab paced the Bisons with a fifth-place result. He earned the league's Freshman of the Year honor, the fourth Bison to claim that award. Luke Walling, last year's Freshman of the Year, took seventh and Zach Reed crossed in eighth.

Host Oklahoma Baptist placed third, followed by Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas. Maxamillian Wheeler led the Bison as he finished in sixth — his second-straight top-10 performance at the GAC Championships. Like Wheeler, Ouachita's Whit Lawrence registered his second-consecutive top-10 showing as he finished in 10th. The Muleriders' Robert Kraus collected his second top-10 finish of his career as he finished in ninth.

Northwestern Oklahoma State, Southern Nazarene and Arkansas-Monticello rounded out the team standings.

The top 20 finishers earned All-GAC distinction. ECU and Harding led with six honorees apiece; Oklahoma Baptist picked up four followed by three from Ouachita Baptist and one from Southern Arkansas.

The league also recognized its top student athletes with its Elite and Distinguished Scholar Athlete awards. East Central's Elijah Woodward and Oklahoma Baptist's Blake Cope each received the Eilite Scholar honor as both own perfect 4.00 grade-point averages.

Harding's Caleb Chunn and Paxton Davis, Ouachita Baptist's Andrew Tarleton and Joshua Tibbs, Oklahoma Baptist's Parker Ables and Southern Arkansas' Brixton Rains received the Distinguished Scholar award.