BOURBONNAIS, Ill. --- NAIA top-ranked University of St. Francis continued its domination at the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men's Cross Country Championships by claiming its second straight crown, its sixth in the past seven years and its tenth in 12 seasons on Saturday at Aspen Ridge Golf Course.
The Saints landed five of the top seven finishers in the field to run away with the title, totaling 21 points. Olivet Nazarene University was next in line, but a distant 75 points away.
Omar Paramo just missed out on averaging under a five-minute-per-mile pace en route to claiming CCAC Runner of the Year honors with his first-place individual finish. The senior ran a 24:57.95 over the 8K course, which put him at 5:01 per mile. No one else was within 20 seconds of him.
The Saints also boasted two of the next three finishers with
Oscar Tejeda placing third (25:24.65) and
Noah Friske fourth (25:42.05). USF's other scorers were
Michael Reif (6th/25:54.67) and
Caleb Bolus (7th/25:56.19).
Each of those runners claimed a spot on the all-conference team as did
Mark Dames (8th/26:05.91),
Timothy Wade (13th/26:32.33), and
Carlos Martinez (14th/26:34.93).
Capping off the list of award winners was head coach
Jeff Barker, who was recognized as the CCAC Coach of the Year. Â Â Â
Up Next
The Saints will look to improve upon their ninth-place nationals finish from one year ago when they head to Fort Vancouver, Wash. for the NAIA National Championships.
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