For the first time in its five-year history, the Winston-Salem State cross country team has been crowned CIAA champions after five years of existence.
The men’s and women’s teams marched into Cary, N.C. Oct. 21 and outran their competition, defeating their closest opponent by 24 points. Sophomore Andrew Chebii and freshman Brittney Killebrew led the teams to victory.
Killebrew finished with a time of 19:40.6; Chebii clocked in a time of 24:33.3, over a minute faster than his closest contender, fellow teammate Aaron Barnes.
The women took the field first as the Lady Rams set the stage for a day dominated by WSSU athletes.
In addition to Killebrew’s first place performance, sophomore Manuela Rigaud trailed close behind, offering up a time of 20:01.6 to take second place. Sophomore Tyrah Winfrey placed eighth with a time 21:06.8, and junior Ashley Lawson turned in a time of 21:15.8 to claim a 10th place finish.
Success was contagious for the Rams as the men’s team managed to clinch the top three spots.
Juniors Barnes and Desmond Wiggan rounded out the men’s top three finishers with a time of 25:57.6 and 26:06.0, respectively.
Strong performances by these runners solidified milestone victories for both teams.
Inez Turner, head coach for the men’s and women’s cross country team, contributes both programs tremendous success to keeping a positive perspective on training and a dedication to the sport.
“I was always preaching how we should approach training in our attitude toward winning and making sure that our attitude stays positive,” Turner said.
Their work ethic has produced not only big wins for the team, but also individual honors have been garnered.
Chebii, Barnes, Wiggan and freshman Kevin Rice earned All-CIAA honors for the men in the CIAA championship.
The women also took home hardware, with Killebrew, Rigaud, Lawson and Winfrey attaining All-CIAA honors.
Turner was excited about the achievements of her athletes, citing that hard work and a positive attitude were key.
“We feel very blessed, and it sets the tone that nothing is impossible,” Turner said.
The cross country team is happy about its success but doesn’t plan on stopping now. Turner and the team are already preparing for next season.
“We need to recruit well and continue to push a positive attitude, and continue to push the ability to win and never settle for less,” Turner said.
Although the Rams cross country program has just a few years under its collective belt, the 2010 team has already contributed to WSSU Athletics’ ‘Return to Glory.’