ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Benedict College men's cross country team had four runners finish in the top 10 and claimed the 2019 SIAC Men's Cross Country Championship on Friday morning at Winthrop University.
After finishing as runner-up in 2018 after losing a tiebreaker to Morehouse, the Tigers had a pack of three runners lead for much of the race to secure their first men's championship since 2015.
Benedict scored 34 points, while runner-up Spring Hill had 82 points. Savannah State was third with 104 points and Morehouse, last year's champion, was fourth with 110 points. Central State was fifth with 123 points, followed by Albany State (126), Kentucky State (155), Tuskegee (242), Clark Atlanta (253), Paine (266), Fort Valley State (276), Lane (303), and Miles (367).
Mathew Chesum won the 8K race in a time of 26:06.0, while teammate
Kelvin Kiplagat was close behind in second with a time of 26:11.7. Chesum was named the SIAC Runner of the Year.
Evans Korir finished fifth with a time of 27:01.0.
Japheth Kipruto was Benedict's fourth All-Conference runner with a ninth-place finish in a time of 27:27.2.
Dennis Kiprono was the fifth scorer for the Tigers, crossing the finish line in 28:05.6 for a 17
th-place finish.
Benedict's other finishers were
Amos Chebii (18
th, 28:14.7) and
Ryusei Takahashi (27
th, 28:57.5).
Benedict head coach
Frank Hyland was named the SIAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.
The Benedict men's team will compete at the NCAA South Region Championship in Lakeland, Fla., on Nov. 9.
