SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Freshman Mathayo Bundotich cruised to the individual title and the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pack narrowly held off UIW to claim the Islanders' first-ever Southland Men's Cross Country Championship on Friday morning at the Windcrest Golf Club in San Antonio.
Behind Bundotich's first place finish, Dennis Kipngeno's third place finish (24:46.9), and Kelvin Kimaiyo's fifth place finish (24:56.6), the Islanders scored 37 points, narrowly holding of defending champion UIW by a single point.
Bundotich kicked it into gear on loop three, shaving eight seconds off his previous two loops and pulling away for the victory at 24:17.6, taking home Southland Runner of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors in the process.
Rounding out the scorers for the Islanders were Enock Kimutai with a 10th place finish at 25:20.9 and Roy Gomez at 25:55.8.
UIW was led by a runner-up finish from Griffin Neal at 24:27.9 and a fourth place finish by Christopher Daniels at 24:50.8. Ryan Garza also earned a top 10 finish, placing ninth with a time of 25:19.3.
McNeese placed third with 95 points followed by New Orleans in fourth with 106 points and HCU in fifth with 117 points.
The all-conference first team is made up of Bundotich, Neal, Kipngeno, Daniels, and Kimaiyo.
The all-conference second team conssits of Justice Artisst of HCU, Gilbert Kimutai of McNeese, Evan Pardo of UNO, Garza, and AMCC's Enock Kimutai.
TEAM STANDINGS – FULL RESULTS
| Pl |
School |
Pts |
| 1 |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
37 |
| 2 |
UIW |
38 |
| 3 |
McNeese |
95 |
| 4 |
New Orleans |
106 |
| 5 |
HCU |
117 |
| 6 |
Texas A&M-Commerce |
148 |
| 7 |
Lamar |
176 |
| 8 |
Nicholls |
237 |
| 9 |
Southeastern |
260 |
| 10 |
Northwestern State |
286 |