RESULTS || SHAWNEE, Okla. – East Central’s men’s cross country team posted a 1-2-3 finish to claim the title at the 2018 Great American Conference Cross Country Championships. Larry Filer won with a time of 25:21.4.
Filer, the GAC Runner of the Year, finished 11 seconds ahead of his teammate, Eliud Koech, to become the fifth Tiger to win the individual title. Jakaveon Shaw took third and also earned the GAC Freshman of the Year award. Tommy Grebe, seventh, and Carson Sandvik, 12
th, rounded out the top five for the Tigers. They finished with a team score of 25 points. Tiger head coach Steve Sawyer claimed his sixth Coach of the Year accolade.
2018 CROSS COUNTRY ALL-GAC TEAMS AND YEARLY AWARDS
Oklahoma Baptist totaled 48 points to place second. The top three Bison runners crossed the line in fourth, fifth and sixth. Freshman Noah Eskew paced the Bison, followed by Blaine Whitson and DeAngelo Robles. Jarrett Ellis took 15
th while Cameron Mills finished in 18
th.
Southern Arkansas finished in third at the GAC Championships for the seventh time in eight years. Three Muleriders turned in top-10 finishes. Bradyn Gower took eighth followed closely by Lane Alexander and Anthony Vasquez.
Harding took fourth in the standings. Dylan Douglas led the Bisons by finishing in 11
th. Keneth Chelelgo took 14
th. Bartek Kwiecinski, Harding’s top runner at all three of its regular-season meets, suffered an injury and had to pull out of the competition.
Southern Nazarene edged Northwestern Oklahoma State for fifth place while Arkansas-Monticello took seventh. The Rangers’ Garrison Blanton made school history as his 13
th-place finish made him the program’s first men’s All-GAC performer. Jackson Witt posted a time of 26:59.1 to take 20
th and lead the Crimson Storm.
The top 10 runners earned First-Team All-GAC honors while finishers 11 through 15 placed on the All-GAC Second Team.
The GAC also recognized its top scholar athletes. Filer doubled up as he earned the Elite Scholar Athlete award. He owns a 4.00 grade-point average in biology. Oklahoma Baptist’s Nathan Crowson received the Distinguished Scholar Athlete honor.