The Perfect Score

October 9, 2007

A perfect score on the SAT is a 2400; on the ACT a 36 is perfection. In cross country a perfect score is 15, which means that the five scorers from a team finish first, second, third, fourth, and fifth. A perfect 15 is a rare event in college cross country meets. At the Colorado Classic on September 15, Adams State achieved perfection scoring a 15. The team was lead by sophomore Aaron Braun, RMAC freshman of the Year, 2007 NCAA Division II Outdoor Champion in the 1600m, and four-time RMAC runner of the week.

It was not Adams Stateâ€™s objective to score a 15; the team was racing against several DI schools. â€œWe did not talk about it too much, we knew we would do wellâ€ said Aaron. â€œWe did not realize it till about halfway thru the race. Andres (Urbina) from CSU was leading the race and our top four (Aaron Braun, Brian Medigovich, Babey Wagnew, Reuben Chebon-Mwei,) passed him. After that it was only up to Ryan (McNiff) to pass him.â€ Ryan McNiff did end up passing Andres and finishing more than six seconds ahead of him. Aaron also won in front of a hometown crowd. â€œIt was pretty cool, I did not make my move till the last mile and it was cool having family, friends and old teammates to cheer me on,â€ said Aaron â€œBut not as cool as it would be to win team nationals.â€

After achieving such perfection, Aaron hopes to be able to help his team win team nationals. â€œAfter 3 years of second, we are pretty tired of it.â€ said Aaron. Do not let this streak of 2nd places at nationals fool you. Aaron and Adams State are plenty successful. Aaron credits this to hard work and the attitude of the team. Coach Damon Martin plays his part too. â€œCoach Martin takes good care of us. He tells us-â€˜you never have to think I will think for youâ€™â€ said Aaron.

Aaron says that if it had not been for Coach Martin he probably would not have attended Adams State. â€œI thought that there was no way I was coming here. But after talking to Coach Martin, I realized this was the place for me,â€ Aaron said. Aaron knows he has made the right decision. â€œThere is still plenty of competition in D II,â€ Aaron explains. Running is not the only reason he like Adams State. He likes the small class size and the easy availability of the professors. He is majoring in math and hopes to someday be a high school coach. Aaron hopes not only to leave college with a degree but with a team national title and the accomplishment of â€œbeing the best runner I could beâ€ Aaron said.

This past weekend Adams State sent their â€œBâ€ team to the Fort Hays State Invite in Kansas. Colorado Minesâ€™ Clifton Oertli was the highest division II finisher with a time of 25:54 placing fourth over the 8k course. Colorado Mines also took the menâ€™s competition with 56 points over Butler Community College. In the womenâ€™s 5k race, Nebraska Kearneyâ€™s Kaci Licktieg was the first division II runner with a 18:58 and a third place finish. They won the womenâ€™s competition with 36 points over Butler Community College.

At the Boarder Wars held in Edwardsville, Illinois Southwest Baptistâ€™s Michal Pierce was the first division II finisher with a time of 26:01 over the 8k course and had a third place finish. Southwest Baptist also took the team competition with 86 points over Northern Kentucky. Missouri Southernâ€™s Kimi Shank won the womenâ€™s title in 18:19 and led her team to the womenâ€™s title with 61 points.

Also this weekend was the Brooks Memphis Twilight Cross Country meet in Memphis, Tennessee. Hardingâ€™s James Cheruiyot was the first Division II finisher with a time of 24:16 over the menâ€™s 8k course. University of Missouri-Rolla was the highest Division II School in the team competition placing 6th. Hardingâ€™s Janee Jones ran the womenâ€™s 5k course in 17:42 and was the highest Division II runner coming in 3rd place. Harding was also the highest placing Division II school in the team competition with a 3rd placement.

At Belmont Abbey, Spartanburg Methodistâ€™s Becca Prichard won the womenâ€™s 5k. Carson Newman won the womenâ€™s team competition with 59 points. Spartanburg Methodistâ€™s Jeremy Vangsnes won the menâ€™s 8k and led his team to win the menâ€™s team competition with 26 points.

At the Michigan Intercollegiate meet, Wayne Stateâ€™s Rachel Malette finished won the womenâ€™s 6k in 22:09. Grand Valley State University won the womenâ€™s competition over Wayne State with 61 point to their 68. Wayne Stateâ€™s Abdullah Saleh was the first Division II finisher with a 25:50 over the 8k course finishing second. Hillsdale College came in second in the menâ€™s competition with 47 points and was behind Lansing Community College.

Western Washington Universityâ€™s Anthony Tomisch won the menâ€™s 10k at their home meet finishing in the time of 32:15. Western Washington University also captured the menâ€™s competition with 20 points over Central Washington. Seattle Pacificâ€™s Jessica Pixler took the womenâ€™s 6k with a time of 21:55 and leading her team to win the womenâ€™s competition with 25 points.

* photo credits to http://ascgrizzlies.athleticsite.com/article.asp?articleID=1836

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#3	Billhawk October 12, 2007 at 1:40pm Really enjoyed the article...waiting for the next one! reply
#2	Anonymous Coward October 9, 2007 at 3:48am Missouri-Rolla was actually 6th at Memphis. Just trying to maintain accuracy. reply
#1	Tony Casey October 9, 2007 at 3:45am Ohhh, that's exciting! Well done! And I think they may be a lock to win. reply

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