Sports

Best in the West: Cheseto gives UAA another region champ

Following a path blazed by his brother, Henry Cheseto continued an impressive streak for the UAA cross country team on Saturday.

Cheseto, a freshman from Kenya, won the men's 10-kilometer race at the NCAA Division II West Region championships in Billings, Montana, giving the Seawolves a region champion for the sixth straight year.

UAA kept another streak alive by qualifying both of its teams for the NCAA national championship meet. The men placed second and the women placed third to earn spots in the Dec. 6 meet in Louisville, marking the seventh straight year both UAA teams have advanced to nationals.

Cheseto's victory was resounding. He finished the 6.2-mile race at Arend Park in 30 minutes, 33.99 seconds, an effort that put him nearly 15 seconds ahead of teammate and runnerup Dominik Notz, who edged Cal Poly Pomona's Mark Huizar by .28 of a second to claim second place for the Seawolves.

Cheseto's championship is the fifth in six years for the UAA men. Cheseto's brother Marko was UAA's first region champion, claiming titles in 2009 and 2010, and Micah Chelimo triumphed in 2011 and 2012.

Add the women's results, and UAA boasts a region champ in every year since 2009. Susan Tanui won region crown in 2012 and 2013, and Ruth Keino claimed the 2011 crown.

Meanwhile, UAA senior Dylan Anthony continued a personal streak of excellence. The Kodiak runner placed 11th to earn all-region honors for the fourth time in his career.

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Generally speaking that's a rare feat, but for the Seawolves it's practically routine. Only six runners from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference have been four-time all-region performers, and five of them competed for UAA -- Chelimo (2009-12), Alfred Kangogo (2008-09, 2011-12), David Kiplagat (2005-08) and Jake Parisien (2008, 2010-12).

All-region honors go to the top 25 finishers, and on Saturday, eight Seawolves made the cut.

Six of them were men -- Cheseto, Notz (30:48.60), Anthony (31:20.89), Victor Samoei (18th in 31:37.25), Michel Ramirez (21st in 31:39.44) and Edwin Kangogo (25th in 31:48.31).

In the 6-kilometer women's race, Amy Johnston placed fifth in 21:22.60 and Caroline Kurgat was 22nd in 22:08.18 to lead UAA. Western Washington's Katelynn Steen won the women's race in 21:06.59.

Team titles went to the Chico State men and Simon Fraser women.

Chico State's top five men finished consecutively to grab fourth through eighth place. The Wildcats, ranked fourth in the nation, took the team title with 30 points, followed by the UAA men with 53.

Simon Fraser placed two runners in the top 10 to claim the women's team title with 103 points. Chico State was second with 112 and UAA was third with 144. The UAA women began the season unranked but have proven stronger than some expected and entered the meet as the nation's 13th-ranked team.

Best in the West

With Henry Cheseto's victory Saturday, the UAA cross country team extended its streak of individual region champions.

2014

Men -- Henry Cheseto

2013

Women -- Susan Tanui

2012

Men -- Micah Chelimo

Women -- Susan Tanui

2011

Men -- Micah Chelimo

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Women -- Ruth Keino

2010

Men -- Marko Cheseto

2009

Men -- Marko Cheseto

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