BATON ROUGE - Sophomore Kalphys Kemboi covered an eight kilometer course in just 24:32.2 to claim first place by a 30 second margin of victory at the LSU Cross Country Festival on Saturday in just one of four top three performances by members of the Southeastern Louisiana University men's and women's cross country teams on Saturday.
Joining Kemboi was sophomore Henry Rop, senior Everlyne Matonyei and sophomore Dorcus Kapkiai. The combined efforts of Southeastern's four top runners on the day ensured top five team finishes from both the Lions (5th/11) and the Lady Lions (3rd/9).
"This is as well as we've ever run at this meet," head coach Sean Brady said. "Our top runners did everything we expected of them and we saw some very strong performances from our younger runners despite some adverse circumstances. Kalphys and Henry are tremendous competitors and they ran their hearts out today. Everlyne was very impressive and did what we needed her to do and Dorcus has worked very hard and improved a lot, which really showed today."
Kemboi, who was making his 2008 debut after sitting out Southeastern's first meet two weeks ago while battling an illness, returned to the form that saw him claim 2007 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year honors with a 30 second win over Louisiana Tech's Kinsey Dinnel.
Rop, who developed a cramp in the first kilometer of an 8K race, toughed things out over the final seven kilometers to claim third with a time of 25:20.03.
Meanwhile, Matonyei, who had battled an illness of her own heading into competition, posted a time of 22:06.12 to claim second among the women. Kapkiai was right on her heels at 22:12.53 to claim third.
The Lions saw an additional top ten finish from sophomore Nelphat Boit, whose tenth place time of 26:07.61 gave Southeastern three top ten finishers on the men's side.
The Southeastern men got additional help from junior Zack Dufrene (54th, 30:16.448), freshman MJ Ahmad (58th, 31:15.552), junior Mitchell Kattengell (61st, 34:02.655) and freshman Christian Herman (66th, 34:55.260) as the Lions claimed 5th in the 11 team field.
Meanwhile, on the women's side, freshman Katherine Cade posted her second consecutive top 20 finish by placing 19th with a time of 24:19.317. She was joined in helping the Lady Lion cause by senior Kim Gastinell (21st, 24:30.619), junior Courtney Schultheis (36th, 25:56.832), sophomore Esther Kemboi (44th, 27:04.640), senior Jaylynn McDonald (48th, 27:28.343) and junior Ernestine Carodine (52nd, 28:10.6) as the Lady Lions claimed third place among nine teams.
"It was great to see a lot of our young athletes come out and post some really good times for them," Brady said. "We're going to need them to keep progressing, and if they do, we should be in good shape when it's time for the Southland Conference meet."
The Lions and Lady Lions will return to action when they head to the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn University on Oct. 4.
Women's Team Scores
1. Houston 32
2. Tulane 61
3. Southeastern 73
4. McNeese State 111
5. LSU119
6. Jackson State 134
7. UL-Lafayette 176
8. Southern 223
9. Loyola-New Orleans 230
Southeastern Women's Individual Scores
Place Name Time
2) Everlyne Matonyei 22:06.12
3) Dorcus Kapkiai 22:12.53
19) Katherine Cade 24:19.317
21) Kim Gastinell 24:30.619
36) Courtney Schultheis 25:56.832
44) Esther Kemboi 27:04.640
48) Jaylynn Mcdonald 27:28.343
52) Ernestine Carodine 28:10.6
Men's Team Scores
1. LSU 54
2. Louisiana Tech 56
3. McNeese State 70
4. Houston 114
5. Southeastern 114
6. UL-Lafayette 148
7. Jackson State 206
8. Tulane 210
9. Southern 287
10. Loyola-New Orleans 295
11. Southern-New Orleans 336
Southeastern Men's Individual Scores
Place Name Time
1) Kalphys Kemboi 24:32.2
3) Henry Rop 25:20.03
10) Nelphat Boit 26:07.61
54) Zack Dufrene 30:16.448
58) MJ Ahmad 31:15.552
61) Mitchell Kattengell 34:02.655
66) Christian Herman 34:55.260