Bowie State Wins First CIAA Men's Title, St. Augustine's Takes Women's Crown
Bowie State Wins First CIAA Men's Title, St. Augustine's
Takes Women's Crown
October 22, 2009
CARY, N.C. - Bowie State University had its best ever showing at
the 2009 CIAA Cross Country Championships on Thursday (Oct. 22) at
WakeMed Soccer Park.
The Bulldogs won the school's first men's title and the Lady
Bulldogs lost the women's championship in a tiebreaker with Saint
Augustine's College.
St. Aug swept individual honors. Johnny Shuping of Saint Augustine's College defended his men's championship, and Barbara Pierre earned the women's title.
"Nothing can replace the joy that we are feeling," said
fourth-year Bowie State head coach Michelle Latimer. "It is an
awesome feeling to make history."
The Bulldogs scored 42 points in the men's 8K race to finish ahead
of Saint Augustine's College (67) and Virginia State University
(83). Shaw placed fourth with 103 points followed by Virginia Union
University (126), Johnson C. Smith University (147), Saint Paul's
College (171), Livingstone College (177), Fayetteville State
University (268) and Elizabeth City State University (272).
Shuping of Saint Augustine's College won the men's run for the
second straight year after crossing the finish line in 24:59.3.
Geoffrey Langat of Virginia State was second in 25:37.9, and George
Smith of Saint Augustine's College was third in 26:23.2.
Bowie State won the team title behind the running of Darryl
Sanders (4th place), Joseph Philpot (7th place), Damian Montgomery
(8th place), Jamin Gallman (11th place) and Bryon Lewis (12th
place).
The Lady Falcons and Lady Bulldogs finished tied for first place
in the women's 5K run with 44 points from the first five finishers
in the race. CIAA procedures use the results of the sixth and
seventh (if necessary) finishers to break the tie. St.
Augustine's sixth finisher scored 10 positions higher than BSU's
sixth runner, giving the Lady Falcons the title.
Virginia State was third with 59 points followed by Shaw (112), Johnson C. Smith (145), Saint Paul's (147), Livingstone (203), Fayetteville State (224), Virginia Union (233) and Elizabeth City State (287).
Pierre, known for her track and field exploits, showed she can
run long distance as well. A 2008 Olympic sprinter who has won NCAA
and CIAA track and field titles, Pierre took the women's run in
20:10.6. Winnie Chepchumba of Livingstone placed second in 20:31.1
and Shamika Patton of Bowie State was third in 20:47.2
The Lady Falcons got strong running from Pierre, Racquel Daly
(4th), Jasmin Peterson-Hassan (9th), Jasmine Cobbs (12th), and Kyra
Mobley (18th) for their 17th women's championship, including their
third in a row. Brittney Griffin's 19th place finish, just :04
behind Mobley, gave St. Aug the tiebreaker advantage.
The Lady Bulldogs kept pace with the Lady Falcons behind the
running of Patton, Shayla Davis (6th), Brittany Williams (8th),
Michelle Palmer (13th) and Jasmine Butler (14th).
After both races, the All-CIAA teams were announced during the
awards ceremony. The men's squad consists of Timothy Davidson of
Virginia State, Aaron Dudley of Saint Augustine's College,
Jefferson Thondique of Virginia Union, and Lawrence Lewis of Shaw
in addition to Shuping, Langat, Smith, Philpot, Sanders and
Montgomery.
The All-CIAA women's team includes Jenna Arnold of Virginia State,
Raychelle Johnson of Shaw, and Sierra Clayton of Virginia State in
addition to Pierre, Chepchumba, Patton, Daly, Davis,
Peterson-Hassan and Williams.
