On the strength of Rono’s third-place showing and Snyder’s finish in 56th place, the Cougar men finished third in the race for the NAIA team crown with 244 points, trailing only 3-time national champion Virginia Intermont (67) and Concordia of California (136). It was the best showing ever by an Azusa Pacific team, bettering the former standard of the 1994 Cougars who finished fourth at the NAIA meet.
“This is very thrilling for us,” said Cougar coach Preston Grey. “The GSAC had a great day with Concordia, us and Westmont finishing sixth. I’m proud of our guys making the best showing in school history.”
Rono, who had won all 4 of his previous races this year and was expected to push for the NAIA individual title, did just that, but a side stitch at the first mile marker began to hamper his title pursuit, allowing Virginia Intermont’s David Cheromei and MidAmerica Nazarene’s Noah Too to pull away. Cheromei won the individual crown with a 24:04, 30 seconds ahead of Rono, who closed with a 24:35 to become the tenth Cougar ever to earn NAIA All-America recognition.
“Aron had to gut this one out today,” Grey added. “He wasn’t himself because of the cramp, but he gave us what we needed.”
Some 90 second behind, Snyder found himself in a mix among elite runners, a place no one expected him. The veteran runner clocked an impressive 26:04 on the very muddy track for his highest finish ever as a Cougar. Snyder had spent most of this season as the Cougars’ No. 5 to No. 7 runner, but in Louisville he stepped to the forefront.
“Christian was our hero of the day,” said Grey. “He ran an amazing race, and what a way to go out as a senior.”
In his first national competition, freshman Caleb Mesa registered a 26:14 to finish 77th overall, and just 8 seconds behind was senior Peter Sherman with his 26:22 that put him at 90th. Junior Caleb Lynch rounded out the Cougar scoring 5 with a 26:30, good enough for 103rd out of the 255-athlete field.
The Azusa Pacific women were not about to take a back seat to their male colleagues, and though they didn’t finish “on the podium” (top 4 finish), the Cougars far exceeded last year’s showing and any pre-meet expectations with a Top 10 placing, finishing ninth with 340 points. Simon Fraser (B.C.) won its fourth consecutive NAIA women’s crown and its ninth overall. The Cougars were the second-best GSAC team, trailing only conference champion Concordia, which finished third.
Sophomore Jaime Canterbury led the Cougar contingent with her first-ever All-America performance, finishing eighth with a very fine time of 18:20, an 80-second improvement over her time on this same course in last year’s NAIA championship meet.
“Jaime became a superstar today and force to be reckoned with in years to come,” said Grey. She was in 16th with 800 meters to go and did a great job running down the field.”
Two-time All-American Whitney Jacobsmeyer clocked an 18:58 to finish 50th in her final collegiate meet. Meanwhile, junior Olivia Richart ran a 19:09 to come in 59th for her best showing in 3 NAIA championship appearances.
Sophomores Kjersti Housman (20:12/179th) and Abi Lillich (20:22/195th) rounded out the Cougar scoring 5 among the 268 athletes.
For the fifth time in school history and the third time in the past 4 years, the Cougar men’s and women’s programs both posted Top 10 NAIA finishes in the same year.
