Oct. 24, 2008

Aquinas College will host the inaugural NAIA Great Lakes Cross Country Challenge Saturday, October 25 at Riverside Park. The meet has attracted twenty-five schools, including some of the top NAIA Schools in the country.

The women’s race will feature the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country in Azuza Pacific University (CA) and Cedarville University (OH). The field will also include # 9 Indiana Tech, #11 Indiana Wesleyan, #14 Aquinas College, #16 Embry-Riddle (FL), #17 Shawnee State (OH) and #18 St. Xavier (IL).

 Top individuals in the women’s race include the top two finishers from last year’s national championships, Jaime Caneterbury and Jacky Kipwambok, both running for Azuza Pacific. They will be pursued to the finish line by Indiana Tech’s Alissa McKaig (last year’s 5k and 10k national champion in track) and All-Americans Nicole Santos (Cedarville), Amanda Strouse (Aquinas), Joyce Woki (Spring Arbor) and Lydia Wong (Cedarville) among others.

The men’s race will be just as competitive as ranked teams in the field include #2 Azuza Pacific University (CA), #3 Embry-Riddle (FL), #4 Indiana Tech and #6 Aquinas College. will battle for the team title. Also expected to battle for top team honors are  #14 Olivet Nazarene (IL), #19 Indiana Wesleyan and #21 Shawnee State (OH) as well as unranked Cedarville University (OH).  

Top individuals to watch include last year’s individual national champion Aron Rono from Azuza Pacific as well as All-Americans Abednego Magut (Azuza Pacific) and Cameron Walter (Indiana Tech).

The men’s race will start at 11:00 AM with the women’s race to follow at 12:00 PM.