VANCOUVER, WA. – The UBC Thunderbirds came second in the combined women and men's team results at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington on Saturday, with both teams bettering their pre-Championships rankings.

The women were ranked fourth in the NAIA, and moved up a spot, to third, while the men came from being ranked way back in 22nd, and raced to sixth.

Men's results

Women's results

“It was a quite successful competition for us, with such a young women's team finishing third, we've got a bright future for the women's team for the next few years,” said head cross country coach Marek Jedrzejek.

Women's race

UBC's women tallied 171 points, behind Azusa Pacific's (Calif.) 91 points, and winners Cal St. San Marcos' 82 points. A single point put the UBC women ahead of fourth placed Northwest Christian (Ore.), who scored 172 points. Obsie Birru, of Grand View (Iowa), won the women's individual five-kilometre race in 17:15.

First-year Maria Bernard led the UBC women with a fantastic fourth place finish, in 17:46, earning her All-American honours. The only first-year to place in the top 15 overall, Bernard ran aggressively from the start, sitting in fifth for most of the race, before flying past the fourth placed runner in the last 400-metres and holding on until the finish.

“The race went out about as hard as I thought it would,” said Bernard. “Towards the end I was feeling good. On the last lap I got some momentum on the downhill and thought I could maybe catch the runner ahead of me on the uphill before the finish. I just drove my arms like coach Besnik [Mece] was telling me to do and passed her.”

“Maria ran an outstanding race as a freshman,” said Jedrzejek. “Placing fourth in that competitive field was an amazing performance.”

Jackie Regan got out strongly and placed 40th in 18:44, followed closely by Sarah Reimer, who moved up in the field the entire race to finish 47th, in 18:49.

Amelie de Fenoyl came on strong in towards the end and was 66th, in 19:08.

Not far behind were Micha Gutmanis, 72nd in 19:11, and Nelly Amenyogbe, 74th in 19:13, who – running in her final cross country race for the T-Birds – finished ahead of Northwest Christian's fifth runner, and gave them the deciding extra point that resulted in their finishing behind UBC. What a way to cap off a career.

Heather Slinn, battling an illness, finished 162nd in 19:51
 
Men's race

Kennedy Kithuka, of Wayland Baptist (Texas), cruised through the eight-kilometre course in 23:15 to take the individual title. Oklahoma Christian took the team title, with 93 points. Next were Cal St. San Marcos, second with 188 points, Southern Oregon, third with 206 points, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), fourth with 228 points, Wayland Baptist (Texas) fifth with 254 points, and UBC, sixth with 257 points.

The T-Birds men's top finisher was Luc Bruchet, who was 33rd in 24:58.

Theo Hunt and Jordan Smith were the only graduating athletes on the men's team, and closed off their cross country careers in style. Hunt was second on the team, finishing 66th, in 25:26, and Smith, running in pain the entire way due to a hip injury, gutted out a 76th place result, in 25:32.

Justin Kent was close behind, crossing the line 82nd, in 25:36, trailed by Tim Huebsch, who closed out the scoring with a 94th place result, in 25:42.

First years Jack Williams and Matt Galea placed 115th (25:51) and 228th (26:50) in their first attempts at Nationals.

“The whole team ran well,” said Jedrzejek. They came through on the day of the race, despite being ranked 21st. By placing sixth we proved the ranking wasn't accurate nor adequate.”

“The leadership and contributions that Nelly [Amenyogbe], Theo [Hunt] and Jordan [Smith] have brought to the team will be missed next year,” Jedrzejek said. “We are very thankful for what they've done.”

Up next

The T-Birds' cross country seasons aren't over yet. Next weekend most athletes will be competing at the Canadian Cross Country Championships, at Vancouver's Jericho Beach Park.

Information on the Canadian Championships can be found on the Athletics Canada official meet website here.

Any runners interested in learning more about UBC while in Vancouver for the Canadian Championships should contact UBC Track & Field and Cross Country recruiting coordinator, Nigel Hole, at [email protected]